B&I Attorneys Pen Cover Story for State Tax Notes

On March 16, 2020, an article by David W. Bertoni, David Swetnam-Burland, and Jamie Szal, “Crossfire Hurricane: Perils in a Post-Wayfair World,” was featured as the cover story in State Tax Notes. The authors address three unanticipated consequences for business from the 2018 Supreme Court opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc. First, home-rule jurisdictions have used the opinion to justify a broad expansion of their taxing authority. Second, states have begun to use Wayfair as a basis to extend their income tax jurisdiction over out-of-state businesses. Third, private parties and plaintiff’s lawyers are seeking to use state false claims act and class action litigation to assert claims for the under- or over-collection of tax. Rather than clarifying the rules governing the collection of sales and use taxes, Wayfair has made compliance with state tax requirements more complex and less certain.