Governments at every level throughout the nation can be expected to lick their chops after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned this week a loophole on online retail sales tax.
“The Kansas Legislature should greet this with arms wide open,” said Atchison, Kansas, City Commissioner Dave Butler.
He reacted to Thursday’s news that states will be allowed to force online retailers to act as brick-and-mortar shops for sales tax purposes, even if they have no physical presence in a state. The court had previously ruled in 1992 that businesses with no such presence had no tangible connection, and so didn’t necessarily owe sales tax solely because residents of a given state purchased something online. For his part, Mayor Allen Reavis said it is a long-awaited opportunity for officials which shouldn’t be squandered.
“If (legislators) don’t take advantage of this, they need to be thrown out of office,” he said. “This could be huge for our town.”
City Manager Becky Berger said the local dividend from any new infusion of sales tax revenue is currently difficult to estimate. Current rough estimates anticipate revenues going up 10 to 15 percent, she said.
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