SE Valley Times

The Arizona Senate recently advanced SCM 1003, a memorial that urges Congress to put in place legislation to simplify sales tax collection, according to a press release from the Arizona Senate Republicans.

After the 2018 decision in the court case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, the need for uniform legislation became more apparent. The Supreme Court ruling allows states to require businesses to collect sales taxes from transactions, regardless of whether the company has a physical presence in the state or not. States have enacted a variety of laws that outline how that tax should be collected, and these are different.

During the Senate vote, Vince Leach, sponsor of SCM 1003, was joined by Prescott residents and business owners Brad and Hillary Scott.

"The unanimous passing of SCM 1003 is great news for small businesses across Arizona," Brad Scott said. "The collection, filing, and remittance of sales tax should not be an activity that could potentially cause businesses to close, but due to the complexity of trying to navigate and comply with 50 states’ rules and regulations, it could be. Since the South Dakota v. Wayfair decision in June of 2018, our 30-person company has spent more than $183,500 and 3,800 hours to collect just $79,250 in sales tax."

Creating uniformity and simplicity across policies in different states will allow business owners like the Scotts and other small businesses to remain compliant with tax law and get back to their business, instead of focusing on how to pay different taxes in different states.

In the June 21, 2018 ruling, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states can require businesses that don’t have a physical presence in a specific state, with more than 200 transactions, or $100,000 in-state sales to collect and remit sales taxes on those transactions in the state.