Allegany County responds to Supreme Court decision regarding sales tax for online retailers

On Thursday, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling in South Dakota v. Wayfair that will impact millions of consumers. The Court said the states can require online retailers to pay state sales tax, even if the retailer doesn't have a physical location in the respective state. One of the key advantages in the online shopping world was that shoppers were often tax-free. Pundits had indicated the move begins to level the playing field for brick and mortar operations.
Wellsville Regional News (WRN) reached out to Allegany County officials on Thursday seeking a response. WRN asked, essentially, is this good news for local retailers? Legislature Chairman Curt Crandall issued this statement this morning:
 

For a long time, Allegany County along with the New York State Association of Counties (NYSAC) has been in support of collecting sales tax from online, out-of-state vendors. These sales have hurt the Mom and Pop retailers as well as larger retailers with brick and mortar establishments in Allegany County.

The recently announced U.S. Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, et al. is good news indeed. This decision allows states to require a company with no physical presence in the state to collect and remit sales tax on internet sales. This could help level the playing field between the online vendors and our local businesses as well as providing the lost revenue through sales tax which is not currently being collected with these online sales.

While this comes as good news, we must wait and see what action is taken in Albany as to the structure of New York State Law requiring the collection of these taxes. The exact financial impact for Allegany County is yet unknown; however, state-wide estimates range from $500 million to $900 million annually in uncollected sales tax.

WRN also reached out to state senator Cathy Young of Olean. She did not respond to our request for comment.