The Ninth Circuit concluded that a plaintiff had standing to continue her lawsuit against a clothing company alleging that the company wrongly failed to pay interest on refunded Alaska sales taxes. After a related lawsuit was filed alleging that sales taxes were incorrectly collected, LuLaRoe, Inc. refunded the plaintiff $531.25 in sales tax charges. The
sales tax
Read This! South Carolina Court of Appeals Holds Book Club Membership Fees Are Subject to Sales Tax
The South Carolina Court of Appeals affirmed the Administrative Law Court’s holding that proceeds from a book retailer’s sales of book club memberships should have been included in the retailer’s “gross proceeds of sales” and subject to sales tax. The Court of Appeals concluded that South Carolina case law provides that the gross proceeds of…
Mississippi Senate Approves Marketplace Facilitator Legislation
The Mississippi Senate has passed HB 379, a marketplace facilitator bill, by a vote of 43-0. The bill requires marketplace facilitators with annual in-state revenues above $250,000 to collect and remit sales tax. The Senate amended the House bill – adding an exemption for third-party food delivery and adding an election for marketplace sellers…
“Pay up or shut up”: California Court of Appeal holds that taxpayer must pay up before challenging a tax regulation’s validity
The California Court of Appeal recently held that a taxpayer must pay a tax assessment before seeking a declaration that the regulation giving rise to the tax assessment is invalid. California taxpayers cannot challenge unpaid tax assessments under Article XIII, section 32 of the California Constitution (“Section 32”). Therefore, a taxpayer seeking to challenge an…
Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania Holds that Receipts Sufficiently Describe Coupon’s Application to Taxable Items
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania reversed the Board of Finance and Revenue’s (Board) order, in part, and determined that when a retailer’s receipt separately states the coupon presented and sufficiently identifies the item to which the coupon applies, a taxpayer is only liable for sales tax based on the price as reduced by the coupon…
Taxable by Deference: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Holds Remote Access Software is Subject to Sales Tax
Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court held that receipts from subscriptions to remote access software were subject to sales tax as taxable transfers of prewritten software. Following a change in the law to tax sales of prewritten software regardless of medium of delivery, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue promulgated a regulation stating that such taxable sales include…
Maryland House of Delegates Introduces Sales Tax Expansion to Nearly All Services
On February 20, 2020, the Maryland House of Delegates introduced HB 1628, which would reduce the sales tax rate from 6% to 5% and expand the base to tax almost all services. If passed, the bill would take effect January 1, 2021. This bill is sponsored by key members of House leadership, including the…
Washington Supreme Court Allows Bad Debt Deductions for Taxes Paid on Private Label Credit Card Purchases
On January 16, 2020, the Supreme Court of Washington, in an en banc decision, held that a retailer was entitled to take bad debt deductions for sales and Business and Occupation (“B&O”) taxes when its customers defaulted on purchases made using private label credit cards.
The retailer contracted with banks to offer private label credit…
Colorado Department of Revenue to Hold Stakeholder Work Group on Draft Digital Goods Sales Tax Rule
The Colorado Department of Revenue will hold a stakeholder work group to discuss a draft sales tax rule that will “clarify the Department’s treatment of digital goods as tangible personal property.” In advance of the meeting, the Department has prepared a draft rule. Interested parties can attend the work group meeting on March 4,…
Is Free Really Free? New York Tax Appeals Tribunal Holds “Free” Promotional Gift Cards Do Not Reduce Taxable Sales Price
The New York State Tax Appeals Tribunal (TAT) held that Apple improperly collected sales tax on sales of Apple computers and iPads because it discounted the purchase price by the amount of gift cards it gave to customers as part of a back-to-school promotion. Under New York tax regulation, the amount of a discount of…



