Opposing view: Court unleashes a tax and paperwork nightmare

The Supreme Court decision allowing state and local governments to tax internet sales will damage American businesses nationwide. Now politicians from over 10,000 state and local taxing jurisdictions are empowered to tax out-of-state businesses, and these tax powers could be retroactive. Smaller businesses will find themselves threatened with audits and tax liens by counties they cannot pronounce. Imagine the paperwork. The number of potential tax returns is mind-boggling.

Every business large and small will be responsible for knowing the sales tax rates in all the counties, towns, cities and states in the nation.

The ruling is a Pandora’s box for expansive state taxing authority. This court decision is not limited to expanding the targets of the state sales tax. Politicians will use this court decision as a green light to export their income tax to individuals and companies in other states.

If physical nexus is no longer required to hit someone with a sales tax, there is no reason he or she has to live in your state to be the target of corporate or individual income taxes. Now, California (or any state or city that loses people fleeing high taxes) can tax people and businesses who do their best to avoid that state or city.

Worse, this decision opens up all U.S. businesses to taxation by the European Union, which is looking for excuses to export its tax burden to America’s leading innovative and profitable enterprises. And, look, the French will say, “Even the U.S. Supreme Court admits that one can tax outside one’s own jurisdiction. If California can tax a business in Missouri, so can France.” This is wrong.

Politicians shouldn’t be able to tax people who do not live or work in their state; Americans fought a war over taxation without representation. Now it is necessary for Congress to protect Americans by establishing firmly in law that a business or person must be within a state’s physical borders in order for politicians to impose any tax.