Supreme Court could decide fate of online shoppers' sales tax free ride
In Illinois, shopping on Amazon used to feel like it came with a discount: no sales tax charged at checkout. That ended three years ago, when the Seattle e-commerce behemoth opened its first distribution centers in the state, gaining an obligation to collect taxes like any bricks-and-mortar retailer.
Shoppers could end up paying sales tax at many more online retailers if the U.S. Supreme Court sides with South Dakota in a case being heard next week.
Under a 2016 law, South Dakota requires any retailer that conducts at least 200 transactions or has least $100,000 in annual sales within its borders to collect sales tax, regardless of whether the business has a location in the state. Soon after the law went into effect, South Dakota sued online retailers Wayfair, Overstock and Newegg for allegedly failing to comply.
In a 1992 case involving mail-order office supply
