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News Tip: Supreme Court Online Sales Tax Ruling ‘Better Late Than Never,’ Expert Says

Supreme Court: States can collect sales tax from online retailers with no physical presence there

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that states can collect sales tax from online retailers with no physical presence there. Duke Law professor Lawrence A. Zelenak, one of the law professors who signed on to an amicus brief cited in the court’s majority opinion, is available to discuss the ruling.

Quote:
“It’s about time, but better late than never,” says Lawrence A. Zelenak, a law professor at Duke University who signed on to an amicus brief cited in the court’s majority opinion. “This is a big and well-deserved victory for all states with sales taxes, for bricks-and-mortar retailers, and for honest taxpayers who have been paying use tax all along on their internet purchases.”

Bio:
Zelenak teaches income tax, corporate tax and a tax policy seminar. His publications include numerous articles on tax policy issues and a treatise on federal income taxation of individuals. His most recent books are “Figuring Out the Tax: Congress, Treasury, and the Design of the Early Modern Income Tax” (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and “Learning to Love Form 1040: Two Cheers for the Return-Based Mass Income Tax” (University of Chicago Press, 2013).
https://law.duke.edu/fac/zelenak/

For additional comment, contact Zelenak at:
zelenak@law.duke.edu 

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Media Contact:
Forrest Norman
(919) 613-8565
norman@law.duke.edu

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