The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that an online retailer was not required to collect and remit the state’s sales and use tax prior to the United States Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair because its use of apps, cookies, and content delivery networks (CDNs) did not create “physical presence” nexus, as required prior to the Wayfair decision, and the Wayfair “economic nexus” standard could not apply retroactively. U.S. Auto Parts Network,…
A new lawsuit filed by Wayfair, LLC in Jefferson County Court (Colorado) seeks to address a question left open by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 2018 Wayfair decision that permits states to impose a sales or use tax collection obligation based on an economic nexus threshold: Does this decision apply to locally-administered sales or use taxes? While many localities have asserted that the same economic nexus standards should apply at the state and local levels,…
Governor Hochul rang in the new year by vetoing a bill that expanded the New York State False Claims Act (“FCA”) to permit claims against non-filers. Specifically, on December 31, 2021, Governor Hochul vetoed Senate Bill S4730 (Assembly Bill A2543), explaining in Veto Message No. 83 that “the language in the bill is broader than impacting only non-filers, and would implicate more tax filing controversies to the False Claims Act than just non-filers. This would…
In Matter of LendingTree Inc., DTA No. 829714 (N.Y. Div. Tax App. ALJ Div. Dec. 9, 2021), a New York administrative law judge (“ALJ”) found that the matching of prospective borrowers with lenders was not a taxable information service. While certain components of the matching process may constitute taxable information services, the ALJ found that the “primary function” of the matching process was not a taxable information service. In New York, information services are…