In 2018, the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision allowed states to require remote – online — sellers to collect and remit sales tax, but states still lack an effective way of making sure businesses comply, said Scott Peterson, vice president of U.S. tax policy and government relations at Avalara, a provider of tax-compliance software.
“States need to develop more real-time pictures of their economies,” Peterson said. “All the information that exists on how the economy is doing is reported to governments on a very infrequent basis. If you’re a governor, at best you learn once a month how the retailers in your state are doing.”