Last fall, when a Maryland County Circuit Court held that the Maryland Digital Ad Tax violated the dormant commerce clause, the supremacy clause, the Internet Tax Freedom Act, and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,...more
Lawmaking in the COVID Era - The legislature adjourned on June 26 at 8:41 p.m. Sort of. After holding what was nearly the longest and certainly the strangest session in history, the legislature has really only recessed,...more
Court ruling confirms that online sales restrictions can amount to a serious infringement of competition law. On 21 January 2020, the UK’s Court of Appeal ruled that the online sales restrictions contained in Ping’s...more
On January 16, a bill (H. 756) was introduced in the Vermont Assembly that would repeal the sales and use tax exemption for remotely accessed prewritten computer software. If enacted as introduced, the exemption would no...more
Maryland State Senators Miller and Ferguson have introduced legislation (Senate Bill 2) that would impose a new Digital Advertising Gross Revenues Tax for all taxable years beginning after December 31, 2020. If signed into...more
The Missouri House of Representatives is considering legislation (House Bill 648) that would impose sales tax collection obligations on payment processors. House Bill 648 was introduced on January 23, 2019, was read in the...more
In stark contrast to the rapid development of e-commerce in China, it has taken nearly five years and no less than four drafts for China to finalise its first e-Commerce Law. The new law will enter into force on 1 January...more
A bill passed in Connecticut’s 2018 legislative session seeks to expand the conditions under which certain out-of-state retailers must collect and remit Connecticut sales tax....more
The SEC has opened a probe into Guggenheim Partners’ asset-management arm over an $85-million real-estate transaction and a series of other deals involving ABS Capital—including a loan to BCBG Max Azria just months before the...more
On April 24, 2017, the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation (Committee) voted unanimously to postpone for at least one year a bill that would temporarily ban California localities from taxing streaming video services. ...more
On January 31, 2017, California Assembly Bill 252 was introduced by Assembly Member Sebastian Ridley-Thomas to prohibit California cities and counties from subjecting streaming video to tax. As we have previously...more
On February 11, 2016, the Senate passed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (H.R. 644) by a 75-20 vote. Today’s action constitutes acceptance by the Senate of a conference agreement reached by House and...more
On February 11, the United States Senate approved a permanent extension of the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) contained in the Conference Report accompanying H.R. 644, the “Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of...more
On September 30, the U.S. House of Representative voted in favor of H.R. 719, which includes provisions extending the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA) through December 11, 2015. The bill, passed earlier in the day by the...more
On June 9, 2015, the city of Chicago released two rulings that significantly expand the city’s 9 percent gross receipt tax to charges for cloud computing and other services delivered over the Internet. The first ruling (City...more
The Chicago Department of Finance (the "Department") issued Lease Transaction Tax Ruling No. 12 with respect to application of Chicago's Personal Property Lease Transaction Tax (the "lease tax") to non-possessory computer...more
NUMBER OF THE WEEK: 61. The number of countries that have signed on to implement the OECD’s multilateral agreement for the automatic exchange of tax information, in conjunction with the ongoing Base Erosion and Profit...more
The Order tries to minimize the potential that state or local taxes on broadband Internet access service (BIAS) will increase as a result of reclassifying BIAS as a telecommunications service. BIAS providers, however, have...more
The Williams Mullen Southeast State and Local Tax (SESALT) team is pleased to provide you with a comprehensive recap of important tax developments around the Southeast....more
After more than a decade of trying to gain traction on Capitol Hill, brick-and-mortar retailers could be close to leveling the playing field with online merchants if the Marketplace and Internet Tax Fairness Act (“MITFA”)...more
On July 15, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (PITFA), by a voice vote. PITFA would permanently extend the moratorium on state and local taxation of Internet...more
On June 18, the Judiciary Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of H.R. 3086, the Permanent Internet Tax Freedom Act (PITFA) by a vote of 30-4. PITFA permanently extends the moratorium on state and...more
E-tail Foreign Market Opportunity - The growth of online retail sales has globally outstripped the growth of all other retail channels, including during the last recession. For example, in England during 2012, it has...more
In This Issue: Ringing in the New Year: Issues from 2013 That Will Likely Impact 2014; Upcoming Speaking Engagements; Defending Against Penalties; and Dueling “Doing Business” Interstate-Commerce Exemptions:...more
U.S. Supreme Court - On August 23, 2013, an online retailer filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking review of the New York Court of Appeals’ determination that a New York statute...more