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Today, Americans for Tax reform submitted an Amicus Brief to the United States Supreme Court in the case South Dakota v. Wayfair asking the court to deny South Dakota’s petition and affirm the holding of the South Dakota Supreme Court, holding the law unconstitutional.

The case involves a South Dakota law that compels out of state businesses to act as tax collectors on products sold into the state, making the out-of-state business subject to regulations, court proceedings and tax liens in a state where it has no recourse at the ballot box – effectively regulation without representation.

The Supreme Court has already established a firm precedent preventing states from taxing out-of-state retailers that dates back to the 60’s. South Dakota is aware of the precedent and drafted the law hoping to antagonize the Supreme Court into overturning half a century of precedent.

In our brief we explore the legal history of the argument, and raise some strong public policy concerns if the South Dakota law is upheld.  There would be a detrimental impact on small businesses, who as a result of this decision, could be forced to follow over 10,000 different tax codes, in order to meet state, local, and municipal tax codes.

Finally, it is not the Court’s role to legislate Commerce Clause policy, which is best left up to Congress.

We have urged the Court to deny South Dakota’s petition challenging the South Dakota Supreme Court’s decision, and will be following the case closely.

The brief can be found here