Baker McKenzie attended the U.S. Supreme Court’s oral arguments yesterday in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Docket No. 17-494. At issue in the case is whether the Court should abrogate the physical presence nexus standard that it first articulated in National Bellas Hess v. Dep’t of Revenue, 386 U.S. 753 (1967), and later affirmed in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992). The Court’s decision could have a profound impact on sales and use tax nexus in the United States by altering the limitations currently imposed on a state’s ability to require out-of-state retailers to collect such tax.
President Trump and Congressional Republicans appear eager to move onto federal tax reform given their recent failed attempt to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. But, enacting the first major overhaul to the Internal Revenue Code since the Tax Reform Act of 1986 will be no small task, especially considering that the proposed legislation greatly differs in its effects on corporate taxpayers.