Following a 5-4 Supreme Court decision allowing states to require collection of sales taxes by online retailers, the Auto Care Association endorsed the decision, calling it a victory for brick and mortar retailers.
“This is an important decision for many of Auto Care’s retail members, and we are pleased that the Supreme Court saw the unfairness in the current system and determined to make everyone play by the same rules,” Aaron Lowe, senior vice president of regulatory and government affairs for the Auto Care Association, said. “We hope that implementation of the sales tax will be done uniformly across state lines to ensure a fair and efficient system of tax collection.”
Traditionally, industries with physical presences had to charge sales taxes by that state’s laws. Online retailers have not been so bound, garnering the criticism of state governments in the process. Nevertheless, those retailers had been backed by a previous Supreme Court decision, which stated that, in order to charge a sales tax, companies had to have a physical presence in the state where the purchaser resided.
The new decision overturns that standard, which was exactly what the Auto Care Association hoped would happen. Earlier, they had been part of a joint amicus brief alongside other retail groups urging the Supreme Court to hear the states’ case based on the price advantage the modern system gave to online retailers.