Utah Governor Signs Sales Tax Fairness Bill

On Wednesday, April 4, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert signed H.B. 384 [1], sales tax fairness legislation, into law. The legislation requires remote retailers with nexus in Utah via distribution centers or subsidiaries to collect and remit sales tax for purchases made by state residents. The law makes clear that any remote retailer seeking to open a distribution center in the state, for example, would be unable to skirt collecting and remitting sales tax by opening the center under a separate entity.

Dave Davis, president and chief legal officer for the Utah Retail Merchants Association — who, along with ABA Board Member Betsy Burton of The King’s English Bookshop [2], attended the bill signing ceremony told BTW that the new law is a really a good first step along a path toward sales tax fairness. “This is not a panacea,” Davis said. “It’s not going to solve all the problems. The best solution is going to be a federal solution that addresses the issues across the entire country. But this is another patch in the quilt … and it increases the pressure on Congress to act.”

Davis added that the bill’s passage in a conservative state like Utah shows that sales tax fairness is not a right or left issue, but a “fairness issue.”

ABA CEO Oren Teicher praised the efforts of the Utah Retail Merchants Association as well as the hard work of ABA members such as Burton. “We are grateful for the tremendous leadership shown by Dave Davis and the Utah Retail Merchants Association, and the tireless efforts of booksellers like Betsy Burton, in getting sales tax fairness legislation passed in Utah,” Teicher said. “Betsy’s persistence in this campaign was nothing short of amazing, and we cannot thank her enough for her efforts.”

ABA is asking its members to contact Gov. Herbert’s office to thank him for standing up for Main Street businesses.