Eyes on Ecom Law

Trans Pacific Partnership: No More “Made In the USA”?

An essay in the Washington Times claims that that the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement (the “TPP”), if ratified by Congress, would ban labeling products with their country of origin.  According to writer Judson Phillips: Do you want to buy American? Forget about it. Under this deal, there can be no labeling to tell you a product is made in America....

Arbitration Redux: Supreme Court Speaks Again

Just seven days after my last blog post on arbitration clauses, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in DIRECTV, Inc. v. Imburgia finding, yet again, that a class action waiver provision was enforceable against a consumer.  Although the decision turned on a rather nuanced question of contract interpretation, it serves as a powerful reminder of...

Web Sites Targeted For Disabilities Law Compliance

As Internet commerce continues to grow, retailers are increasingly facing allegations that their websites are inaccessible to individuals with disabilities, including those with hearing and visual impairments. The legal landscape in this area remains unsettled, and retailers awaiting formal guidance from the Department of Justice have been frustrated by lengthy delays in issuing a promised...

Arbitration Clauses Under Attack, Again

David W. Bertoni: On November 7, 2014, I wrote about the implications for direct marketers of the FTC’s case against AT&T for unfair and misleading trade practices.  (To bring you up to speed, since that time, the federal court rejected AT&T’s motion to dismiss claims based upon so-called “data throttling” on the grounds of its...

B&I Lawyers Write About the Latest Developments in State Taxes For ACMA Members

On December 1, 2015, Martin I. Eisenstein and David W. Bertoni published “Inside the See-Saw Of State Taxes,” the latest entry for their Legal Corner blog available only to members of the American Catalog Mailers Association.  In their blog post, the authors review the status of federal legislative efforts, including the Marketplace Fairness Act, the Remote Transactions Parity...

B&I State Tax Lawyers Launch Column in State Tax Notes

In the November 9, 2015 edition of leading industry publication State Tax Notes, George Isaacson and Matthew Schaefer explain “What Europe’s Excessive Tax Burdens On E-Commerce Can Teach Us.”  Their article, which is featured on the cover of the publication, is the first of a regular quarterly column written by Brann & Isaacson’s state and...

B&I Files Second Set of Merits Briefs with the Ohio Supreme Court in Cases Challenging the Constitutionality of the Ohio Commercial Activity Tax on Behalf of Remote Sellers

Brann & Isaacson partners Martin Eisenstein, David Bertoni, and Matthew Schaefer filed a second set of merits briefs with the Ohio Supreme Court on November 19, 2015, in three separate cases challenging the constitutionality of the statutory, gross receipts nexus standard applicable to the Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (“CAT”). B&I represents Internet retailers Newegg Inc.,...

The “See-Saw” Of Sales Tax Nexus

Recently, states have taken somewhat different approaches to the question of nexus for sales and use tax collection. The Alabama Department of Revenue, for example, recently adopted Rule 810-6-2-.90.03, which is effective on January 1, 2016. It provides that a company with only an economic presence in Alabama—i.e., annual sales of more than $250,000 to...

“Factor Presence” Gone Wild

“Factor Presence,” which is the standard first proposed by the Multistate Tax Commission in 2002 for determining nexus for business activity taxes, means that a company has nexus in a state if its sales in the state exceed a specified threshold, or if the company maintains payroll or property in the state above specified amounts....

Some clarity and bad news regarding taxation of cloud computing in Chicago

A trap for the unwary has been the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax, which is currently imposed at the rate of 9% on certain leases of tangible personal property. The Chicago Department of Finance, which enforces the Chicago Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax, interprets the term “lease of tangible personal property” broadly, to include...