The National Sporting Goods (NSGA) filed a brief along with other retail trade associations on November 2 urging the U.S Supreme Court to hear South Dakota’s case that would require online sellers to be treated the same as local stores for collecting state sales tax.
South Dakota is asking the justices to overturn a state Supreme Court ruling against a 2016 state law requiring online merchants with more than $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions with in-state residents to collect sales tax. The South Dakota case comes two years after Justice Anthony Kennedy said that the U.S. Supreme Court made a mistake in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota by relying on an outdated precedent on physical presence. Kennedy invited opponents of the decision to bring a new case that would allow the Court to correct its mistake. NSGA’s Amicus Curiae (Friends of the Court) brief asks the Supreme Court to hear South Dakota’s case, which would give the Court the opportunity that Justice Kennedy is seeking. Similar briefs were filed by government, business and related organizations, urging the Supreme Court to hear the case. Each brief focused on a different critical aspect of the appeal and how the current situation is detrimental to traditional retailers.
“NSGA’s mission to advocate on behalf of our members is front and center with this Amicus brief,” NSGA President and CEO Matt Carlson said. “The brief illustrates the debilitating impact on physical stores and how – over the last 25 years – the number of stores has decreased dramatically, in large part due to the growth of Internet sales and the unfair sales tax loophole.”
NSGA supports H.R. 2193, the Remote Transactions Parity Act and S. 976, the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would level the playing field by permitting states to require out-of-state Internet sellers to collect state sales tax. These are not new taxes, but rather taxes already on the books that go uncollected in large part on Internet sales. It is estimated that nearly $30 billion in sales taxes go uncollected nationwide due to this loophole. To read the full Amicus brief, please click here. About NSGA The National Sporting Goods Association has served as the leading voice for the sporting goods industry since 1929. NSGA is devoted to providing a competitive edge to sporting goods retailers and team dealers through industry leading research, networking and advocacy, and unmatched customer support. For more information about membership or NSGA’s products and services, please visit nsga.org. ####
