On June 21st, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of South Dakota in South Dakota v. Wayfair, deciding that states can apply sales tax to out-of-state transactions, even if the seller has no physical presence in the buyer’s state. This ruling overturns the famous Quill Corp. v. North Dakota ruling, which had previously prevented states from taxing ecommerce purchases.
This new ruling has serious implications for ecommerce merchants, who will now need to calculate state-imposed sales tax on future out-of-state orders. This has online merchants across the country wondering just how much this ruling will change the way they do business.
Let’s start with the good news…
It’s now up to the states to draft and enact legislation for the South Dakota v. Wayfair decision. Until then, ecommerce stores cannot be penalized for non-compliance. That’s the good news. The bad news is that this decision provides a new way for states to increase their tax revenue, so most are likely to seize this opportunity and roll out legislation as soon as possible.
In the meantime, how can ecommerce stores prepare for new state tax legislation?
When it comes to surviving new business tax legislation, knowing is at least half the battle. Unfortunately, hardly anyone has the time to read up on the subject enough to make informed decisions for their ecommerce business. With new ecommerce tax laws on the way, remote sellers need to be proactive about state business tax compliance. This is why it’s important to seek out expert advice as soon as possible.
Miva partnered with the business tax compliance experts at Avalara to produce a free webinar explaining the impact of South Dakota v. Wayfair on ecommerce businesses. This 1-hour webinar feature Steve Hoffmann, Strategic Alliance Manager, and is now available for on-demand viewing.
In this webinar, Steve Hoffmann discussed the South Dakota v. Wayfair ruling’s impact on sales tax laws. He also addressed the following: