Episode 84

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Published on:

27th Mar 2024

Challenging California's Underground Regulations: Exploring the ACMA's Advocacy Efforts with Paul Miller (Part 2)

This week we continue our discussion with Paul Miller, Vice President & Deputy Director of the ACMA, and David Swetnam-Burland, Partner at Brann & Isaacson. As remote sellers navigate the new state tax laws and consumer privacy regulations, the need for federal legislation to provide clarity and consistency for businesses operating across multiple states has increased. Listen as we discuss the impact of local home rule cities, such as in Colorado, on compliance efforts and how the ACMA advocates for federal solutions to protect their members and promote industry growth. 

Topics discussed in this episode:

  • The MTC's updated interpretation attempts to align tax laws with the digital era, impacting businesses that operate online.
  • The definition and application of 86-272 is a central point of contention, with states leveraging different interpretations to expand their tax bases.
  • Legal challenges, especially in California and New York, are proving pivotal in establishing how nexus laws apply and are enforced.
  • Local compliance, notably in Colorado's home rule cities, adds complexity to the remote sellers' tax obligations and merits close legal attention.

Quotables

  • “From the ACMA's perspective, our approach, as I mentioned earlier, is always to try to get a federal bill passed into law, because organizations like ours, we're very small comparison to, say, the milk industry or something. We're serving a pretty specific constituent, and they are located throughout the states and they're being chased by different states, and we don't have the means to chase after those states to defend them.” -Paul Miller [17:51]
  • “It is one thing for the Supreme Court to say we created a rule in 1992, now we're in 2018. We don't like our rule as much as we did then, or the composition of our court has changed sufficiently so that we no longer have five votes in favor of that rule.” -David Swetnum-Burland [03:50]

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Are you a Sales Tax Nerd? Do you feel alone in your work? Do others understand what you deal with on a daily basis? Are you looking for your “people”? You need to check out The Sales Tax Nerd Community! It brings together helpful resources, ongoing training, and camaraderie. With free webinars, on-demand courses, and quarterly Office Hours with the original Sales Tax Nerd, Diane Yetter, you’re never short on accessible information and relief from the chaos of sales tax. Get your toughest questions answered by knowledgeable members of the community. Network with peers, access exclusive content, get discounts on our live courses, and gain over 28 CPE credits each year. Click the Sales Tax Institute link in the description, and use the code SALTOV10 for 10% off your membership today! https://www.salestaxinstitute.com/sales-tax-education/sales-tax-nerd-community-membership

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About the Podcast

SALTovation: Making Sense of State and Local Tax
Welcome to SALTovation. The SALTovation show is a podcast series featuring the leading voices in state and local tax (SALT). Here we talk about issues, strategies, and planning tools to help you make sense of SALT. Because, in SALT, there is no “one and done.” SALT is a puzzle of ever-changing pieces. Solving that puzzle is our business at SALTovation. Tens of thousands of listeners know they won't get tax talk as usual with the SALTovation team. Our team is known for straight-talk with a flair for fun, providing clarity and opinions that move businesses forward with confidence.

Attorney, CPA, speaker, and writer Judy Vorndran leads the SALTovation team as they go inside business to help deal with the daily operations and long-term strategies of making SALT less “taxing.” Judy has spent more than 25 years advocating for businesses with innovative strategies, renowned knowledge and experience. She has helped guide thousands of taxpayers across the nation and globally through the morass of SALT, freeing them to concentrate on growth. Joining Judy are the wickedly smart members of the SALTovation team, who have seen, worked with and tamed some of the most prickly issues in SALT. They enjoy sharing their stories and knowledge with listeners.

Solving the SALT puzzle doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it takes a community. So, we invite leaders in business and state and local tax to share their stories, challenges and successes on this show. Drop us a line at SALTovation.com if you'd like to join the conversation and tune into our regular series at TaxOps.com.