Senators Hassan and Daines Lead Bipartisan Call for Congress to Examine Impact of Supreme Court Wayfair Ruling on Small Businesses

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Steve Daines (R-MT), members of the Senate Finance Committee, led a bipartisan call to the Senate Finance Committee to examine the impact of the Wayfair Supreme Court ruling on small businesses that now have to collect and remit sales taxes for out-of-state governments. The letter follows the 2018 Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision which required businesses – even if they are located in non-sales tax states – to collect sales tax for other states and jurisdictions, creating a burdensome new tax collection system that small businesses in New Hampshire, Montana, and across the country are struggling to comply with.

In the letter, the Senators write, “Because of the Wayfair ruling, many small online businesses must now collect and remit sales taxes on behalf of states in which these businesses have no physical presence. Holding a hearing would allow the Finance Committee to hear from small online businesses and experts familiar with the patchwork of tax laws spanning the roughly 12,000 tax jurisdictions across the country. A public hearing would also provide an important forum for Committee members to discuss proposals to cut red tape for small businesses.”

Senator Hassan has been a leader in efforts to try to reverse the Wayfair decision and protect New Hampshire small businesses from mountains of red tape. Senator Hassan was part of a group of Senators who reintroduced legislation that would stop states with a sales tax from creating red tape for small businesses as a result of the Supreme Court’s Wayfair ruling. Senator Hassan also joined Senator John Tester in reintroducing the Stop Taxing Our Potential (STOP) Act to overturn the Wayfair decision. In 2019, Senator Hassan participated in a field hearing on the internet sales tax collection requirement in Concord to highlight the impact of the backwards Supreme Court Wayfair decision on small businesses. 

For years, Senator Daines has been working to bring attention to and reverse the Wayfair decision. In 2018, Daines signed an amicus brief, Amici Curiae South Dakota v. Wayfair, which urges the Supreme Court to rule against allowing states to implement an internet sales tax that would harm small businesses and consumers. 

Read the Senators’ full letter here or below. 

Dear Chairman Wyden and Ranking Member Crapo:

As you plan the Senate Finance Committee’s upcoming agenda, we urge you to schedule a hearing examining the impact on small businesses of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. Because of the Wayfair ruling, many small online businesses must now collect and remit sales taxes on behalf of states in which these businesses have no physical presence.

Holding a hearing would allow the Finance Committee to hear from small online businesses and experts familiar with the patchwork of tax laws spanning the roughly 12,000 tax jurisdictions across the country. A public hearing would also provide an important forum for Committee members to discuss proposals to cut red tape for small businesses.

We appreciate your consideration of this request. We look forward to working with the Committee to examine how the Wayfair ruling is affecting small online businesses in New Hampshire, Montana, and all across the country.

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