States are struggling, with tax collections having nosedived as much as 50% in the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. But there is a silver lining that wasn’t available in earlier economic downturns.
Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s groundbreaking Wayfair decision, handed down almost exactly two years ago, states are collecting billions of dollars on e-commerce sales that were previously uncollected.
In the South Dakota vs. Wayfair ruling, issued June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court tossed out its 25-year-old physical presence standard limiting state collection of taxes from out-of-state vendors. The decision led to tax collection-and-remittance requirements on remote ...