Business Commons^™

History Of The Use Tax In The United States, Christopher Jones, Yuyun Sejati, Spencer Usrey

The North American Accounting Studies

The use tax was developed by states to complement the sales tax. The aim was to prevent residents from being able to avoid paying the sales tax by simply going to a different state to make a purchase. Unlike the sales tax, which is collected by businesses at the point of sale, the use tax is self-reported by individuals. Since its inception in the United States in the 1930s, compliance with the use tax has been close to zero. This article examines the history of the use tax in the United States, including its original intent, enforcement issues, numerous court …

Total Taxation: An Examination Of The Total Tax Burden Of Individuals In The West Michigan Area, Connor C. Meech

Honors Projects

Have you ever thought about how much you might pay in tax each year, across all tax types? If you have, a chill probably went down your spine before you gave up thinking about it. When the subject is brought up, most people think primarily of income. The truth of the matter is that income tax is far from the only tax we pay. Throughout the year, Americans may end up also paying sales tax, property tax, fuel taxes, various sin taxes, and estate tax, just to name a few. With so many ways to be taxed, some of which …

Wayfair Sales Tax Nexus: An Illustrative Case Study Of Data Analytics And Data Visualization In An Introductory Tax Course, David Horn, Jacob Enger

The North American Accounting Studies

Data analytics and data visualization technologies are changing the skills needed for future tax accountants. Higher education accrediting bodies have recognized the need for incorporating data analytics and emerging technologies into the curriculum of business schools and accounting programs to meet these changing needs. This paper presents a case study developed to accommodate the need for accounting faculty to incorporate data analytics and data visualization technology into an undergraduate tax course. The case study focuses on the impact of the sales tax economic nexus standards established by the U.S. Supreme Court in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. Students must …

South Dakota V. Wayfair Inc. And Streamlined Sales And Use Tax Agreement: Effects On State Sales Tax Collections, S. Keith Lowe, Julie Staples, Cassandra L. Ward

Research, Publications & Creative Work

In South Dakota v. Wayfair Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court reversed precedent cases addressing collection standards and regulations for sales taxes. These two precedent cases held that an out-of-state retailer's liability to collect and remit sales tax to the consumer's respective state was contingent on whether the seller had a physical nexus in that state. Additionally, a collaboration among states led to the creation of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA), which offered voluntary guidelines and policies to assist states in not only modernizing but maximizing sales tax collection amounts. This research paper utilizes quantitative analyses to examine …

Do Equity And Accountability Get Lost In Losts? An Analysis Of Local Return Funding Provisions In California’S Local Option Sales Tax Measures For Transportation, Jaimee Lederman, Peter Haas, Stephanie Kellogg, Martin Wachs, Asha Weinstein Agrawal

Mineta Transportation Institute

This study explores how local return provisions of local option sales taxes (LOSTs) for transportation are allocated and spent to meet local and regional transportation needs. Local return refers to the component of county LOST measures that provides funding directly to municipalities in the county to be used to meet local needs. Local return has become a fixture in LOSTs; 58 LOST measures placed on the ballot in California (as of 2019) that have included local return in their expenditure plan have an average of 35% of revenues dedicated to local return. Local return provisions in the ballot measures often …

Taxing E-Commerce In The Post-Wayfair World, David Gamage, Darien Shanske, Adam Thimmesch

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

From Bellas Hess To Wayfair: An Analysis Of Supreme Court Jurisprudence On The Physical Presence Rule, Alice E. Keane

The North American Accounting Studies

For 51 years, the physical presence rule has hampered states in collecting sales and use taxes from sellers with no property or personnel within state borders. The U.S. Supreme Court established this rule in 1967 in National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of the State of Illinois, based on the formalistic Due Process Clause and dormant Commerce Clause jurisprudence of that time, under which states had no authority to tax interstate commerce. However, in 1992, the Court upheld the physical presence rule under the dormant Commerce Clause in Quill Corporation v. North Dakota, notwithstanding dramatic changes in dormant …

Wayfair And The Retroactivity Of Constitutional Holdings, David Gamage, Adam Thimmesch, Darien Shanske

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This essay analyzes the issue of retroactivity with respect to the Supreme Court case of South Dakota v. Wayfair.

A Potential Game Changer In E-Commerce Taxation, David Gamage, Andrew J. Haile, Darien Shanske

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this essay, we evaluate recent legislative proposals for Congress to authorize state taxation of e-commerce. We argue that these proposals contain a potential game-changing innovation — the requirement that states provide remote sellers with “adequate software” for calculating use tax due within the state. Properly implemented, we explain how this innovation could force states to internalize the compliance costs of levying tax collection obligations on remote sellers, thereby incentivizing the states to simplify their sales and use tax statutes and resolving concerns about states overburdening interstate commerce.

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.

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.

Should Kentucky Tax Professional Services As A Way To Raise Revenue? An Economic Analysis Of Possible Revenue Options, Meghan Mando

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Currently Kentucky is facing a budget deficit of $108 million dollars for the fiscal year 2010. As some lawmakers search for revenue options, one possibility is to consider a sales tax on professional services.

Professional services are considered any kind of service that requires skill, knowledge, reputation, ethics, and creativity. For the purpose of this study, medical services are not included in this category. Many of the services are infrequent, such as the services of an attorney or an accountant. A professional services tax could be used for both businesses and individuals, or could make businesses tax exempt. As of …

The Dilemma Of County And Municipal Open Space Programs: The Case Of Jefferson County, Colorado, Ron Holliday

Outdoor Recreation: Promise and Peril in the New West (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

7 pages.

Fallacies Of The Sales Tax, Walter A. Staub

Journal of Accountancy

No abstract provided.

Overturn Sales Tax On Commodities, B. S. Orcutt

Journal of Accountancy

No abstract provided.