A Missouri policy organization is urging lawmakers to quickly pass legislation addressing the Wayfair decision to help the state respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
Missouri is one of the remaining states that have yet to pass economic nexus legislation for remote sellers.
In a March 25 report, the Missouri Budget Project said, “To allow the state and localities to capture sales tax for online retail purchases” legislators should quickly pass “Wayfair fix” legislation, which could help the state stabilize its budget.
“The issue has broad bipartisan support but has remained mired in discussions of other tax reform,” according to the report. “Given the urgent need to shore-up state revenue, lawmakers should pass a clean version of the bill without delay.”
Several bills were introduced this year to require remote sellers and marketplace facilitators to collect and remit sales and use taxes. Those proposals include H.B. 1957, S.B. 648, and S.B. 529.
The bills were left pending when the General Assembly adjourned its session early because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. Legislators are scheduled to return for a short technical session April 7.
House Assistant Majority Floor Leader J. Eggleston (R), who sponsored H.B. 1957, told Tax Notes April 6 that policy changes proposed during the legislative session, including those related to Wayfair, are on hold for the time being.
“We will return for a day this week to pass a budget bill dealing with the coronavirus. At some point in the next couple months we will likely return to finish the fiscal 2021 budget,” Eggleston said. “It remains to be seen if we will return later in the year to address any policy bills, and if so, which bills will be of high enough priority to be debated in the limited amount of time we will have.”
Missouri Budget Project spokesman Jeremy LaFaver told Tax Notes April 6 that “right now all the bills have significant general revenue reductions in them, and so I don’t think we’re supporting any of them.”
“Large general revenue reductions were a policy idea before we had seen the latest economic catastrophe and global pandemic with coronavirus,” LaFaver said. “While there was limited support for those . . . reductions then, I think there’s even less support for those now.”