Isaacson Addresses Congressional Internet Caucus Academy on Wayfair’s Effects

Senior Partner George Isaacson joined a distinguished panel of experts on Monday, July 9, 2018, to consider the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. In that opinion, the Court overruled long–standing precedent and held that a state tax authority may require an out–of–state business to collect and remit...

SUPREME COURT ISSUES 5–4 OPINION IN HIGH–PROFILE STATE TAX CASE

On June 21, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., the most significant state tax case to face the high court in decades. In a narrow, 5-4 decision, the Court overruled long–standing precedent, announced first in National Bellas Hess v. Department of Revenue of Illinois (1967) and...

B&I Wins High-Profile Alabama Tax Dispute Over “Kill Quill” Rule

On June 14, 2018, the Alabama Tax Tribunal entered an Opinion and Final Order voiding a sales/use tax assessment issued against Newegg Inc. by the Alabama Department of Revenue under the Department’s economic nexus regulation, Ala. Admin. Code r. 810-6-2-.90.03. The regulation and Newegg’s appeal received considerable attention because the rule targeted of out-of-state retailers...

Indiana “Economic Presence” Nexus Law Suspended Pending Litigation

On August 28, 2017, the Indiana Department of Revenue acknowledged that it has no authority to enforce Indiana’s new “economic presence” nexus statute (House Enrolled Act 1129) as a result of ongoing litigation regarding the law’s constitutionality now pending in state Superior Court in Indianapolis.  Under the new law, which took effect on July 1,...

ACMA and NetChoice File Suit Challenging Wyoming and Indiana Anti-Quill Laws

Last week, on behalf of the American Catalog Mailers Association and NetChoice, Brann & Isaacson initiated lawsuits in state court in Wyoming and Indiana, challenging the constitutionality of each state’s “economic nexus” statute, due to take effect July 1, 2017.  On Wednesday, June 28, the associations filed suit in Circuit Court in Laramie County, Wyoming...

ACMA and NetChoice Prevail In Challenge To Massachusetts Tax Rule For Internet Sellers

On June 28, 2017, in response to a lawsuit filed by Brann & Isaacson on behalf of the American Catalog Mailers Association and NetChoice, the Massachusetts Superior Court entered an immediate judgment halting implementation of Massachusetts Department of Revenue Directive 17–1, “Requirement that Out-of-State Internet Vendors with Significant Massachusetts Sales Must Collect Sales or Use...

Brann & Isaacson Files Challenge To Massachusetts Rule Targeting Internet Retailers

On Friday, June 9, 2017, American Catalog Mailers Association and NetChoice filed suit against the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to block implementation of a Massachusetts rule, due to go into effect on July 1, 2017, under which certain Internet retailers without any physical presence in Massachusetts would nonetheless be required to collect...

Substantial Nexus Under Siege: Industry Fights Back!

Martin Eisenstein and David Bertoni have published their latest blog for members of the American Catalog Mailers Association:  The Industry Is Fighting Back.   The blog goes over each of the major battlefronts in the states’ multi-pronged effort to overturn the long-settled Commerce Clause rule of “substantial nexus,” which requires that companies have a physical presence...

Eisenstein Argues Economic Nexus Challenge Before Ohio Supreme Court

On May 3, B&I senior partner Martin Eisenstein argued before the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of retailers Newegg Inc., Crutchfield Inc., and The Mason Companies, in a constitutional challenge to the gross receipts nexus standard of the Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (CAT).  Eisenstein was joined by partners David Bertoni and Matthew Schaefer as co-counsel...

Oregon Following in Ohio’s Footsteps?

Its being reported that the State of Oregon is considering enacting a tax modeled on Ohio’s infamous Commercial Activity Tax (the “Ohio CAT”).  “The plan,” according to reports, “would scrap Oregon’s corporate income tax system in favor of a 0.39 percent Commercial Activity Tax, or CAT, modeled after Ohio’s system. It would also cut taxes...