On February 20, 2019, TEI filed an amicus brief seeking review with the Louisiana Supreme Court in the Jefferson Parish v. Wal-Mart.com USA case. The court accepted review and, on June 19, 2019, TEI filed an amicus brief supporting Wal-Mart.com on the merits.
The case involves Jefferson Parish’s attempt to hold Wal-Mart.com liable for sales tax on transactions between third parties that took place over Wal-Mart.com’s online platform. TEI’s brief argued that the statute was not intended to apply to online marketplace facilitators, and that the Parish did not provide taxpayers with notice of its intent to hold them responsible for this purported liability or guidance regarding how it would administer the sales and use tax if marketplace facilitators were to undertake such responsibilities. TEI maintains that if Louisiana and its parishes wish to impose tax collection and remittance responsibilities upon marketplace facilitators fairly and legitimately, they must enact the appropriate laws and regulations.
TEI's brief was prepared under the aegis of TEI's State and Local Tax Committee, whose chair is Marji Gordon-Brown. TEI Tax Counsel Pilar Mata coordinated the preparation of the brief and was its principal author.