The constant evolution of e-commerce requires passage of regulations for the industry. But how do they truly work in relation to those affected? On this episode, Internet lawyer Richard Chapo shares valuable insights on sales tax, GDPR, and copyright issues.

“In the Wayfair decision, basically the Supreme Court said that states can collect sales tax regardless of where you're located.” - Richard Chapo

Wayfair and the Amazon Wars

Richard has clients who deal with physical product sales. The debate as to whether states could tax certain Internet sales has finally culminated with the recent Supreme Court ruling on the Wayfair case. The so-called Amazon wars took 20 years in total.

“One of the problems with the Internet is it takes the supreme court a long time to get around to deciding on something.” - Richard Chapo

Sales Tax Discourse

The Supreme Court sets the law for the land as far as court systems go. Once they have made a decision, all courts in the country must follow, whether they are state or federal. This is why everyone has been watching the Wayfair decision since news of it broke out.

Tax authorities in some states... they were never really gonna look at small guys and look at just the larger guys because of the amount of time and effort they spend isn't gonna be commensurate with the amount of money they would get out of hunting small guys. - Richard Chapo

This ruling understandably sent everyone into panic mode. But people who were writing articles missed a very important caveat. Sales tax may be collected as long as it’s not excessively burdensome on small businesses.

Thresholds Set and Details to Iron Out

Certain thresholds have been set to regulate the collection of sales tax. However, sales tax is not only charged at the state level. Details must be ironed out and a program must be implemented if sales tax is truly to be regulated.

To hear more about taxation, how GDPR affected e-commerce, and issues on copyright, download and listen to the episode.

Connect with Richard Chapo:

Richard A. Chapo, Esq.Internet Lawyer Advising Online BusinessesP: (619) 637-6043SoCalInternetLawyer.comLinkedIn

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