{
  "id": "R41853",
  "type": "CRS Report",
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  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
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      "id": 420569,
      "date": "2013-05-07",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-06T23:28:14.098038",
      "title": "State Taxation of Internet Transactions",
      "summary": "The United States Bureau of the Census estimated that $4.1 trillion worth of retail and wholesale transactions were conducted over the Internet in 2010. That amount was 16.1% of all U.S. shipments and sales in that year. Other estimates, based on different data, projected the 2012 so-called e-commerce volume at approximately $3.9 trillion. The volume, roughly $4 trillion, of e-commerce is expected to increase, and state and local governments are concerned because collection of sales taxes on these transactions is difficult to enforce.\nUnder current law, states cannot reach beyond their borders and compel out-of-state Internet vendors (those without nexus in the buyer\u2019s state) to collect the use tax owed by state residents and businesses. The Supreme Court ruled in 1967 that requiring remote vendors to collect the use tax would pose an undue burden on interstate commerce. Estimates put this lost state tax revenue at approximately $11.4 billion in 2012.\nCongress is involved because interstate commerce typically falls under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Opponents of remote vendor sales and use tax collection cite the complexity of the myriad state and local sales tax systems and the difficulty vendors would have in collecting and remitting use taxes. Proponents would like Congress to change the law and allow states to require out-of-state vendors without nexus to collect state use taxes. These proponents acknowledge that simplification and harmonization of state tax systems are likely prerequisites for Congress to consider approval of increased collection authority for states.\nA number of states have been working together to harmonize sales tax collection and have created the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA). The SSUTA member states hope that Congress can be persuaded to allow them to require out-of-state vendors to collect taxes from customers in SSUTA member states.\nIn the 112th Congress, S. 1452 and H.R. 2701 would have granted SSUTA member states the authority to compel out-of-state vendors in other member states to collect sales and use taxes. H.R. 3179 would have also granted states the authority to compel out-of-state vendors to collect use taxes provided selected simplification efforts were implemented. S. 1832 would have granted SSUTA member states and non-member states that met less rigorous simplifications standards the authority to compel out-of-state vendors to collect sales and use taxes. For a constitutional analysis of the legislation, see CRS Report R42629, \u201cAmazon Laws\u201d and Taxation of Internet Sales: Constitutional Analysis, by Erika K. Lunder and Carol A. Pettit. \nIn the 113th Congress, S. 743, which was approved in the Senate on May 6; S. 336; and their House counterpart, H.R. 684, would grant SSUTA member states and non-member states that meet less rigorous simplifications standards the authority to compel out-of-state vendors with greater than $1 million in remote sales to collect sales and use taxes.\nA related issue is the \u201cInternet Tax Moratorium.\u201d The relatively narrow moratorium prohibits new taxes on Internet access services and multiple or discriminatory taxes on Internet commerce. Congress has extended the \u201cMoratorium\u201d twice. The most recent extension expires November 1, 2014. An analysis of the Internet tax moratorium is beyond the scope of this report.\nThis report will be updated as legislative events warrant.",
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc462442/",
      "id": "R41853_2013Apr19",
      "date": "2013-04-19",
      "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41",
      "title": "State Taxation of Internet Transactions",
      "summary": "This report intends to clarify significant issues in the remote sales tax collection debate, beginning with a description of state and local sales and use taxes. Congress has a role in this issue because interstate commerce, in most cases, falls under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution.",
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      "topics": [
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          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Technology",
          "name": "Technology"
        },
        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Internet",
          "name": "Internet"
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        {
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      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc818349/",
      "id": "R41853_2012Aug06",
      "date": "2012-08-06",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "State Taxation of Internet Transactions",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc807276/",
      "id": "R41853_2011Nov01",
      "date": "2011-11-01",
      "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26",
      "title": "State Taxation of Internet Transactions",
      "summary": null,
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORT",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    },
    {
      "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department",
      "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc83968/",
      "id": "R41853_2011Jun07",
      "date": "2011-06-07",
      "retrieved": "2012-04-27T15:49:45",
      "title": "State Taxation of Internet Transactions",
      "summary": "This report intends to clarify significant issues in the remote sales tax collection debate, beginning with a description of state and local sales and use taxes. Congress has a role in this issue because interstate commerce, in most cases, falls under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Congress will likely be asked to choose between taking either an active or passive role in the debate. In the 111th Congress, H.R. 5660 (former Representative Delahunt) would have granted SSUTA member states the authority to compel out-of- state vendors to collect sales and use taxes.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
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      "topics": [
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          "id": "Technology",
          "name": "Technology"
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        {
          "source": "LIV",
          "id": "Internet - State taxation",
          "name": "Internet - State taxation"
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          "id": "Taxation",
          "name": "Taxation"
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          "id": "State and local government",
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  "topics": [
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}