Business

Trump praises Supreme Court ruling in internet sales tax case

by Naomi Jagoda - 06/21/18 5:26 PM ET

President Trump praised a Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that allows states to require out-of-state online retailers to collect sales taxes.

“Big Supreme Court win on internet sales tax – about time!,” Trump tweeted. “Big victory for fairness and for our country. Great victory for consumers and retailers.”

Big Supreme Court win on internet sales tax – about time! Big victory for fairness and for our country. Great victory for consumers and retailers.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 21, 2018

In a 5-4 ruling Thursday, the Supreme Court overturned a 1992 decision that barred states from compelling businesses without a physical presence in the jurisdiction to collect sales tax.

The Trump administration and more than 40 states participated in oral arguments in the case, South Dakota v. Wayfair, asking the court to support South Dakota’s law that requires online retailers with a significant amount of business in the state to collect sales taxes.

Trump has repeatedly made clear that he thinks online retailers should collect sales taxes.

He has often raised the issue while referencing Amazon and its CEO and founder, Jeff Bezos. Amazon began collecting sales taxes on purchases in every state last year, though it does not collect sales taxes on purchases made through third-party vendors. Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post, has been a frequent target of Trump’s, along with Amazon and the Post.

The Supreme Court’s ruling was praised by a number of retail groups, organizations representing state and local governments, right-leaning think tanks such as the Tax Foundation and American Enterprise Institute, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers.

But it drew criticism from other lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as conservative groups like the National Taxpayers Union and Americans for Tax Reform.

Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume took aim at Trump’s tweet on Thursday, tweeting, “For consumers? Please,” quoting Trump’s original tweet.