American Business USA Corp: The Cloudy Lines of the Dormant Commerce Clause in Sales Taxation

Abstract

Meeting the Dormant Commerce Clause requirements to levy a state sales tax requires interpreting decades old precedent and applying it to a modern digital world. These issues were highlighted in the Florida Supreme Court’s problematic Florida Dep’t of Revenue v. American Business USA Corp. decision. This article uses the Florida decision to illustrate the confusing and dangerous sales tax landscape, and proposes Congressional legislation to simplify and streamline the Dormant Commerce Clause test for sales tax.