I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5893 
To regulate certain State impositions on interstate commerce. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 14, 2016 
Mr. SENSENBRENNER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on the Judiciary 
A BILL 
To regulate certain State impositions on interstate commerce. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘No Regulation Without 
Representation Act of 2016’’. 
SEC. 2. MINIMUM JURISDICTIONAL STANDARDS FOR STATE 
AND LOCAL SALES AND USE TAX COLLEC-
TION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—A State may— 
(1) impose an obligation on a person for— 
(A) the collection of a sales, use, or similar 
tax, or 
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(B) the reporting of any information with 
respect thereto, on a person, 
(2) assess a sales, use or similar tax on a per-
son, or 
(3) treat a person as doing business in a State 
for purposes of such a tax, 
only if such person had a physical presence in the State 
during the calendar quarter with respect to which the obli-
gation or assessment is imposed. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS FOR PHYSICAL PRESENCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of subsection 
(a), a person has a physical presence in a State only 
if such person’s business activities in the State in-
clude any of the following during the calendar 
year— 
(A) owns, holds a leasehold interest in, or 
maintains real property such as a retail store, 
warehouse, distribution center, manufacturing 
operation, or assembly facility in the State; 
(B) leases or owns tangible personal prop-
erty (other than computer software) of more 
than de minimis value in the State; 
(C) has one or more employees, agents or 
independent contractors present in the State 
who engage in specific solicitations toward ob-
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taining product or service orders from cus-
tomers in that State, or prospective customers 
in that State, on behalf of the person; 
(D) has one or more employees or inde-
pendent contractors present in the State who 
provide on-site design, installation, or repair 
services on behalf of the remote seller; or 
(E) maintains an office in the State at 
which it regularly employs three or more em-
ployees for any purpose. 
(2) DE
MINIMIS
PHYSICAL
PRESENCE.—For 
purposes of this section, the term ‘‘physical pres-
ence’’ shall not include— 
(A) entering into an agreement under 
which a person, for a commission or other con-
sideration, directly or indirectly refers potential 
purchasers to a person outside the State, 
whether by an Internet-based link or platform, 
Internet Web site or otherwise; 
(B) any presence in a State, as described 
in section 2(b)(1), for less than 15 days in a 
taxable year (or a greater number of days if 
provided by State law); 
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(C) delivery and product placement serv-
ices offered by an interstate or in-State com-
mon carrier; and 
(D) Internet advertising services provided 
by in-State residents which are not exclusively 
directed towards, or do not solicit exclusively, 
in-State customers. 
(c) PROTECTION OF NON-SELLERS.—A State may 
not impose a sales or use tax collection obligation, or an 
obligation to report any information with respect thereto, 
on a person or assess a sales, use or similar tax on any 
person other than a purchaser or a seller having a physical 
presence in the State. 
SEC. 3. DISPUTE RESOLUTION. 
The district courts of the United States shall have 
original jurisdiction over civil actions to enforce the provi-
sions of this Act, including authority to issue declaratory 
judgments pursuant to section 2201 of title 28, United 
States Code, and, notwithstanding the provisions of sec-
tion 1341 of such title, injunctive relief, as necessary to 
carry out this Act. 
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS AND EFFECTIVE DATE. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act: 
(1) 
MARKETPLACE
PROVIDER.—The 
term 
‘‘marketplace provider’’ includes any person, other 
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than a seller, who facilitates a sale. For purposes of 
this subsection, a person facilitates a sale when the 
person both— 
(A) lists or advertises tangible personal 
property and services for sale in any forum, in-
cluding a catalog or Internet Web site; and 
(B) either directly or indirectly through 
agreements or arrangements with third parties, 
collects gross receipts from the customer and 
transmits those receipts to the marketplace sell-
er, whether or not such person deducts any fees 
from the transmission of those receipts to the 
marketplace seller. 
(2) MARKETPLACE SELLER.—The term ‘‘mar-
ketplace seller’’ means a person that has any sales 
facilitated by a marketplace provider. 
(3) REFERRER.—The term ‘‘referrer’’ shall 
mean every person who— 
(A) contracts or otherwise agrees with a 
seller to list multiple items of tangible personal 
property and services for sale and the sales 
prices thereof in any forum, including a catalog 
or Internet Web site; 
(B) receives a fee, commission, or other 
consideration from a seller for the listing; 
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(C) transfers, via telephone, Internet link, 
or otherwise, a customer to the seller or the 
seller’s Web site to complete a purchase; and 
(D) does not collect receipts from the cus-
tomer for the transaction. 
(4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ has the 
meaning given such term by section 1 of title 1 of 
the United States Code. Each corporation that is a 
member of a group of affiliated corporations, wheth-
er unitary or not, is itself a separate ‘‘person’’. 
(5) SELLER.—The term ‘‘seller’’ does not in-
clude— 
(A) any marketplace provider; 
(B) any referrer; 
(C) any carrier, in which the seller does 
not have an ownership interest, providing trans-
portation or delivery services with respect to 
tangible personal property; and 
(D) any credit card issuer, transaction or 
billing processor, or other financial inter-
mediary. 
(6) SIMILAR
TAX.—The term ‘‘similar tax’’ 
means a tax that is imposed with respect to the sale 
or use of a product or service, regardless whether 
the tax is imposed on the person making the sale or 
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the purchaser, with the right or obligation of the 
person making the sale to obtain reimbursement for 
the amount of the tax from the purchaser at the 
time of the transaction. 
(7) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the sev-
eral States, the District of Columbia, the Common-
wealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the 
United States Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of 
the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other terri-
tory or possession of the United States and includes 
the State government or political subdivision entity 
responsible for tax collection and audits. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall apply with re-
spect to calendar quarters beginning on or after January 
1, 2017. 
Æ 
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