Sales Tax Blog
What’s New with Marketplace Fairness in 2017?
When sales tax laws first came into existence in the early to mid-part of the 20th century, the vast majority of sales were made from brick-and-mortar stores to local customers. However, with the rise of the internet and the increasing reach of ecommerce into every corner of the market, a number of new challenges have become apparent. States that depended on sales tax revenue to fund a wide variety of services and programs have suddenly found that cash flow decreasing rapidly. There has been movement on several fronts over the past decade or so to try and expand the authority… Read More
How Legalizing Marijuana Has Affected States’ Revenues
On November 6, 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington passed amendments that made them the first states in the country to legalize marijuana for recreational use. This statute went into effect in January of 2014 in Colorado, and since then, several other states have followed their lead. One major benefit of the legalization of marijuana in these states has been the huge infusion of cash due to taxes on the sales to both state and local government budgets, and this revenue is being used to finance new programs as well as fill the void created by the loss of some… Read More
Exploring the Taxability of Uber and Lyft
Since the enactment of most state sales tax laws in the middle of the 20th century, the economies in these states have grown and evolved considerably. It used to be that the sale of tangible goods from brick-and-mortar stores made up a bulk of the economic activity across the country, and so sales tax laws were built around this structure. Services have begun to take a larger and larger share of total consumer sales over time, however, and that has led states to begin rethinking their sales tax laws and what they cover. Ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft… Read More