Tax News

CCH (cch.taxgroup.com) reports:

  Introduced legislation would create a rebuttable presumption for Maryland sales and use tax purposes that a seller is soliciting business in the state through an agent if the seller enters into an agreement with a state resident under which the resident, for a commission or other consideration, refers potential customers to the seller through a Web site link or otherwise. The presumption would apply if the seller's cumulative gross receipts from sales to Maryland customers referred by residents with such an agreement exceed $10,000 during the four preceding quarterly periods ending on the last day of February, May, August, and November. The presumption could be rebutted by proof that the state resident did not engage in any solicitation on behalf of the seller that would satisfy the nexus requirements of the U.S. Constitution during the four quarterly periods in question.

  This legislation is similar to New York's so-called Amazon law, which was upheld in January by a New York state court. Similar legislation has been introduced this year in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

  Subscribers can view the introduced bill.
 

S.B. 1071, as introduced in the Maryland Senate on March 28, 2009