FL Shopping Center Insider Q3 2018 Edition | Page 4

SHOPPING CENTER INSIDER - Q3 2018
E-commerce taxing...
O
ne of the largest debates in retail is
if states should require e-tailers to
collect and remit state sales tax?
North Dakota is trying to decide
if a retailer should pay state sales
tax in their state solely based on the fact that a
store has a physical presence in North Dakota,
or is it fair to also tell an e-tailer they are
obligated to pay state sales tax on purchases
made in their state over a certain threshold
or number of transactions. Some might say
that out of state sellers have an advantage
since they currently do not have to pay in
state sales tax. The lack of state sales tax paid
for e-commerce has led to a decrease in tax
revenue. South Dakota lost between $48-58M
annually due to the current law. The current law
encourages e-commerce since there is no tax
liability.
“By giving some online retailers an arbitrary
advantage over their competitors who collect
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state sales taxes, Quill’s physical presence
rule has limited states’ ability to seek long-
term prosperity and has prevented market
participants from competing on an even playing
field,” Kennedy also noted in his opinion
This e-commerce tax is seen as a means to level
the playing field between brick & mortar stores
as well as e-tailers.
Small 3rd party e-commerce businesses will be
the ones most affected.
“Wayfair and Overstock commented saying they
would not be significantly affected by the ruling
and that they would comply. However, we are
not sure if this statement was regarding the
entire United States changing their state sales
tax law.”
Source: Retail Dive