A Supreme Court decision in June allowed states to charge a sales tax on vendors who don’t have a physical presence in the state, but the Indiana Department of Revenue isn’t quite sure how the decision will impact the state’s finances.
Department Commissioner Adam Krupp thinks he was invited to the state budget committee’s August meeting to talk about how much revenue the court’s decision in South Dakota vs. Wayfair will bring in.
But he said he doesn’t have an answer.
"There are all kinds of predictions. Lots of numbers have been thrown out all across the country," Krupp said. "A word of caution is sort of prudent here because we don’t know the universe of all of these remote sellers outside of Indiana."
The state has a law on the books that levies a seven-percent sales tax on remote vendors that surpass certain transaction minimums.
But the law’s constitutionality was challenged in court prior to the Supreme Court decision. That case is still pending resolution.
The state is telling remote vendors that the tax will go into effect October 1 if the court upholds it, which Krupp believes will happen.
Krupp said he will have better data once more companies register with the state.