Massachusetts Justices Side With Seller on Cookie Tax Nexus (1)

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rejected attempts by the state to apply Wayfair retroactively and impose sales tax on a California-based internet vendor that only had “cookie nexus” with the state.

The high court Thursday unanimously affirmed a state tax board ruling from December 2021 that granted summary judgment to U.S. Auto Parts Network Inc. and abated the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s $60,000 sales tax assessment dating to Oct. 1, 2017. The court agreed that U.S. Auto Parts’ use of cookies—small chunks of data placed on a user’s computer while web surfing—didn’t constitute “physical presence” in Massachusetts for tax ...