Really Bad Precedent: Allowing Governments to Tax Non-Constituents
April 20, 2018
The Supreme Court is currently considering South Dakota v Wayfair. A case debating whether or not state and municipal governments can collect their respective sales taxes – on non-resident business and people who have the temerity to complete a transaction in their jurisdictions.
President Donald Trump is on this absolutely correct – in one sense. Online retailers like the case-cited Wayfair – do have a tax-less advantage over brick-and-mortar stores in localities that impose sales taxes.
If you live in one or more sales tax jurisdictions and you shop brick-and-mortar – you pay the sales taxes. If you live there and shop Wayfair – you do not necessarily render unto Caesar. (Some online companies – Amazon, for instance – collect many of the sales taxes in much of the nation.) More