Ease of cross-border business activity has led to what Thomas Friedman describes as a flat world. However, our quagmire of state nexus rules leaves domestic commerce in a non-flat world.
States tend to take broad approaches in finding multistate sellers subject to income or gross receipts tax in the state. The 1959 federal law known as PL 86-272 provides guidance for sellers and states regarding when a state can impose income tax obligations on a seller of tangible personal property. A lot more businesses today, relative to 1959, sell something other than tangible personal property and so have no federal statute to rely on to know when they may owe income tax in a state.
Some states take the approach that an economic connection is enough - that a physical presence in the state is not needed before a seller is subject to state income tax. And, rules can vary from state to state leading to the possibility of double taxation of some income.
The 1959 law needs to be updated. It was intended to be temporary (!), but was never updated. Congress has looked at a few possibilities over the past several years, but nothing has come close to enactment.
For more on this issue that presents a challenge to interstate commerce, see my short article - Not Flat: State Income Tax Nexus.
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