Business Commons^™

Invasive Species And E-Commerce, Invasive Species Advisory Committee

National Invasive Species Council

ISSUE

Internet commerce (hereafter e-commerce) is a growing and vital part of the United States economy. Total e-commerce sales in the United States for 2011 totaled $194 billion, an increase of 16% over 2010. From 2002 to 2011, the proportion of reported e-commerce sales in the U. S. grew from about 1.4% to 5.5% of total retail sales (United States Census Bureau News 2012). Globally, e-commerce is expected to increase at a rate of 13.5% annually, amounting to $1.4 trillion in yearly sales by 2015 (Enright 2011). A portion of this activity includes the sale and trade of living organisms. …

Vendor Compensation As An Approach For State "Amazon" Laws: Part 2, David Gamage, Devin J. Heckman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this essay, the second of a two-part series, we propose an approach for the U.S. states to tax interstate e-commerce. If the states adequately compensate remote e-commerce vendors for all tax compliance costs, we argue that the states can constitutionally impose use tax collection obligations on the remote vendors in a manner compatible with the Quill framework.

The Saga Of State "Amazon" Laws: Reflections On The Colorado Decision, David Gamage, Darien Shanske

Articles by Maurer Faculty

We analyze the Colorado district court’s decision in Direct Marketing Association v. Huber – a decision that permanently enjoined Colorado’s "Amazon" law. Had it not been enjoined, the Colorado law would have mandated information reporting by remote e-commerce vendors so that Colorado could levy its sales and use tax on the e-commerce purchases made by Colorado residents. We evaluate the applicability of the Tax (Anti-)Injunction Act and whether the Colorado statute and regulations should be reviewed as a tax or as a regulation. We also suggest alternative approaches that state legislatures might use in order to levy taxes on remote …

Vendor Compensation As An Approach For State "Amazon" Laws: Part 1, David Gamage, Devin J. Heckman

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this Essay, the first of a two-part series, we analyze the approaches U.S. states have been using in their attempts to tax interstate e-commerce. We argue that these existing approaches are unlikely to be effective. In our companion Essay, the second in the series, we outline a novel approach that states might employ in order to more effectively tax interstate e-commerce – based on adequately compensating remote vendors for all tax compliance costs. But before we can argue for our new approach, we must first survey the current constitutional and statutory landscape.