Halstead Bead Challenges Louisiana Sales Tax System in Lawsuit
Litigation could open the door for a federal legislative response against Wayfair overreach laws in many states.
For more than two years, several groups opposed to interstate sales tax laws have been looking for an opportunity to challenge the overreach seen in some states since the Supreme Court's Wayfair decision in 2018. On Monday, November 15, 2021, Arizona company Halstead Bead, Inc., filed an action in US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, asking the court to declare Louisiana's approach to collecting sales taxes a violation of federal constitutional protections against an undue burden on interstate commerce. Louisiana currently uses more than 50 different governmental entities to collect sales tax, requiring out-of-state businesses to file reports in each parish where sales are made and creating a compliance nightmare. Unlike most aggrieved parties, Halstead has the financial support of several groups, including the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, Goldwater Institute, and Pelican Institute for Public Policy. This litigation could open the door for a federal legislative response against Wayfair overreach laws in many states.
Jimmy Hayes, consultant for the Coalition for Equitable Regulation and Taxation, is very familiar with the efforts to find the right case at the right time to challenge these laws. In our next edition of Member News, he will write in detail about the significance of this legal challenge filed in his home state of Louisiana but affecting every state that has overburdened constitutionally guaranteed free commerce.
Jimmy Hayes is a numismatist and former member of Congress. He has also served as Commissioner of Financial Institutions and Commissioner of Securities in Louisiana. Jimmy Hayes and Anthony J. Correro (Securities professor at LSU Law School) wrote the current Louisiana Securities Code.
CERT is a separate entity that functions as the lobbying arm of NCBA. As such, it is at the forefront of industry efforts to educate state and federal government leaders, legislative representatives and staff, and the public regarding issues of concern to the coins, currency, and precious-metals-bullion communities.
For more than two years, several groups opposed to interstate sales tax laws have been looking for an opportunity to challenge the overreach seen in some states since the Supreme Court's Wayfair decision in 2018. On Monday, November 15, 2021, Arizona company Halstead Bead, Inc., filed an action in US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, asking the court to declare Louisiana's approach to collecting sales taxes a violation of federal constitutional protections against an undue burden on interstate commerce. Louisiana currently uses more than 50 different governmental entities to collect sales tax, requiring out-of-state businesses to file reports in each parish where sales are made and creating a compliance nightmare. Unlike most aggrieved parties, Halstead has the financial support of several groups, including the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, Goldwater Institute, and Pelican Institute for Public Policy. This litigation could open the door for a federal legislative response against Wayfair overreach laws in many states.
Jimmy Hayes, consultant for the Coalition for Equitable Regulation and Taxation, is very familiar with the efforts to find the right case at the right time to challenge these laws. In our next edition of Member News, he will write in detail about the significance of this legal challenge filed in his home state of Louisiana but affecting every state that has overburdened constitutionally guaranteed free commerce.
Jimmy Hayes is a numismatist and former member of Congress. He has also served as Commissioner of Financial Institutions and Commissioner of Securities in Louisiana. Jimmy Hayes and Anthony J. Correro (Securities professor at LSU Law School) wrote the current Louisiana Securities Code.
CERT is a separate entity that functions as the lobbying arm of NCBA. As such, it is at the forefront of industry efforts to educate state and federal government leaders, legislative representatives and staff, and the public regarding issues of concern to the coins, currency, and precious-metals-bullion communities.