Supreme Court's E-Commerce Ruling Could Help Amazon
Shares of online retailers Wayfair, Overstock, eBay, and Etsy all tumbled Thursday after a landmark decision by the Supreme Court took away one of the key advantages some e-commerce companies had over traditional retailers.
And one of the biggest winners from that ruling, maybe ironically, could be Amazon, said Tom Forte, managing director at research firm D.A. Davidson.
"This now gives Amazon\[, which already collects sales tax,\] insurance against there not being a Jet.com-like start-up using the sales tax advantage against them," he said.
Up until the high court's ruling Thursday, retailers were not required to collect sales tax from consumers unless they had a physical presence in the shopper's state. The loophole sprang out of a 1992 ruling, well before the rise of digital commerce, which specifically applied to mail-order retailers.
That decision did allow for the then-nascent e-commerce industry to grow in the early days of the internet, but Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion that it was now outdated.
Subjecting all online retailers to the same rules as brick-and-mortar, though, may not ultimately help the mom-and-pop shops that have struggled most in the shift to online, Forte said, "unless they're a mom-and-pop focused on big ticket items."
"If you could buy a computer at Circuit City for $1,000 and on Amazon for $1,000 and not pay sales tax, it gave you an incentive to buy on Amazon."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/supreme-court-gives-states-a-win-against-e-commerce).
Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their cease-fire for two more days past Monday, the Qatari government said, bringing the prospect of a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war and further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
A four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war has taken effect, setting the stage for the exchange of dozens of hostages held by militants in Gaza for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
A group of Lahaina wildfire survivors is vowing to camp on a popular resort beach until the mayor uses his emergency powers to shut down unpermitted vacation rentals and make the properties available for residents in desperate need of housing.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan is calling on the assistant U.S. attorney for Delaware, Lesley Wolf, to appear before the committee by Dec. 7 to respond to allegations that she interfered in the yearslong case into the president’s son.
Israel and Hamas have reached an agreement for a four-day halt to the devastating war in Gaza and the release of dozens of hostages held by the militant group as well as Palestinian prisoners.
New Jersey will prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035 as part of an effort to improve air quality and reduce planet-warming pollutants, officials announced Tuesday.
