60 Tax Profs File Amicus Brief Urging Supreme Court To Overrule Quill v. North Dakota

Sixty tax law professors and economists filed an amicus brief at the Supreme Court Monday urging the Justices to overrule the Dormant Commerce Clause holding of Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298 (1992), which bars states from enforcing sales taxes against retailers who lack a "physical presence" in the state. From the brief:

In Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, the Court emphasized that its dormant Commerce Clause analysis was based on “structural concerns about the effect of state regulation on the national economy.” 504 U.S. 298, 312 (1992). The Court was especially concerned about the effect of taxation on the mail-order industry, and it believed that maintaining the physical presence rule would “foster[] investment by businesses and individuals.” Id. at 315-18. It also believed that its rule would reduce compliance costs for businesses and individuals engaged in commerce across state lines. See id. at 313 n.6. For those reasons, the Court reaffirmed the physical presence rule first announced in National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, 386 U.S. 753 (1967).

Continue reading

Weekly SSRN Tax Article Review And Roundup

This week, David Gamage (Indiana) reviews a new draft paper by Daniel Hemel (Chicago), Easy on the SALT: A Qualified Defense of the Deduction for State and Local Taxes.

Prompted — at least in part — by Congressional Republicans’ recently released tax reform proposals, Daniel Hemel has written a thoughtful new piece on the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Although Hemel’s paper is currently in preliminary draft form, this draft is nevertheless well worth a read for anyone interested in taxation at either the federal or state levels in the United States.

Hemel thoughtfully reviews arguments both for and against the SALT deduction, concluding that “the case against the SALT deduction fails on its own terms, and that the status quo of partial deductibility offers a number of underappreciated advantages vis-à-vis the alternative of full repeal.”

Continue reading