(2) the petition is denied by the Governing 
Board in whole or in part with respect to that issue, 
or the Governing Board fails to act on the petition 
with respect to that issue not later than the 6-month 
period beginning on the day after the date on which 
the petition was submitted. 
(c) TIMING OF ACTION FOR REVIEW.—An action for 
review under this section shall be initiated not later than 
60 days after the denial of the petition by the Governing 
Board, or, if the Governing Board fails to act on the peti-
tion, not later than 60 days after the end of the 6-month 
period beginning on the day after the date on which the 
petition was submitted. 
(d) STANDARD OF REVIEW.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—In any action for review 
under this section, the court shall set aside the ac-
tions, findings, and conclusions of the Governing 
Board found to be arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of 
discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. 
(2) REMAND.—If the court sets aside any ac-
tion, finding, or conclusion of the Governing Board 
under paragraph (1), the court shall remand the 
case to the Governing Board for further action con-
sistent with the decision of the court. 
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(3) NONMONETARY
RELIEF.—In connection 
with any remand under paragraph (2), the court 
may not award monetary relief, but may award de-
claratory and injunctive relief. 
(e) JURISDICTION.— 
(1) GENERALLY.—Chapter 91 of title 28, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 1510. JURISDICTION REGARDING THE STREAMLINED 
SALES AND USE TAX AGREEMENT. 
‘‘The United States Court of Federal Claims shall 
have exclusive jurisdiction over actions for judicial review 
of determinations of the Governing Board of the Stream-
lined Sales and Use Tax Agreement under the terms and 
conditions provided in section 5 of the Main Street Fair-
ness Act.’’. 
(2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO TABLE OF 
SECTIONS.—The table of sections for chapter 91 of 
title 28, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following new item: 
‘‘1510. Jurisdiction regarding the streamlined sales and use tax agreement.’’. 
SEC. 6. MINIMUM SIMPLIFICATION REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The minimum simplification re-
quirements for the Agreement are as follows: 
(1) A centralized, one-stop, multistate registra-
tion system that a seller may elect to use to register 
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with the Member States, provided a seller may also 
elect to register directly with a Member State, and 
further provided that privacy and confidentiality 
controls shall be placed on the multistate registra-
tion system so that it may not be used for any pur-
pose other than the administration of sales and use 
taxes. Furthermore, no taxing authority within a 
Member State or a Member State that has with-
drawn or been expelled from the Agreement may use 
registration with the centralized registration system 
for the purpose of, or as a factor in determining, 
whether a seller has a nexus with that Member State 
for any tax at any time. 
(2) Uniform definitions of products and prod-
uct-based exemptions from which a Member State 
may choose its individual tax base, provided, how-
ever, that all local jurisdictions in that Member 
State with respect to which a tax is imposed or col-
lected, shall have a common tax base identical to the 
State tax base of that Member State. A Member 
State may enact product-based exemptions without 
restriction if the Agreement does not have a defini-
tion for the product or for a term that includes the 
product. A Member State shall relax the good faith 
requirement for acceptance of exemption certificates 
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in accordance with section 317 of the Agreement, as 
in effect on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
(3) Uniform rules for sourcing and attributing 
transactions to particular taxing jurisdictions. 
(4) Uniform procedures for the certification of 
service providers and software on which a seller may 
elect to rely in order to determine Member State 
sales and use tax rates and taxability. 
(5) Uniform rules for bad debts and rounding. 
(6) Uniform requirements for tax returns and 
remittances. 
(7) Consistent electronic filing and remittance 
methods. 
(8) Single, State-level administration of all 
Member State and local sales and use taxes, includ-
ing a requirement for a State-level filing of tax re-
turns in each Member State. 
(9) A provision requiring the elimination by 
each Member State of caps and thresholds on the 
application of sales and use tax rates and exemp-
tions based on value, provided that this limitation 
does not apply to the items identified in sections 
308C, 322, and 323 of the Agreement, as in effect 
on the date of the enactment of this Act. 
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(10) A provision requiring each Member State 
to complete a taxability matrix, as adopted by the 
Governing Board. The matrix shall include informa-
tion regarding terms defined by the Agreement in 
the Library of Definitions. The matrix shall also in-
clude, pursuant to the requirements of the Gov-
erning Board, information on use-, entity-, and 
product-based exemptions. 
(11) A provision requiring that each Member 
State relieves a seller or service provider from liabil-
ity to that Member State and local jurisdiction for 
collection of the incorrect amount of sales or use tax, 
and relieves the purchaser from penalties stemming 
from such liability, provided that collection of the 
improper amount is the result of relying on informa-
tion provided by that Member State regarding tax 
rates, boundaries, or taxing jurisdiction assignments, 
or in the taxability matrix regarding terms defined 
by the Agreement in the Library of Definitions. 
(12) Audit procedures for sellers, including an 
option under which a seller not qualifying for the 
small business exception may request, by notifying 
the Governing Board, to be subject to a single audit 
on behalf of all Member States for sales and use 
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taxes. The Governing Board, in its discretion, may 
authorize such a single audit. 
(13)(A) Subject to subparagraphs (B), (C), 
(D), and (E), a provision requiring that in order for 
a Member State to require collection with respect to 
remote sales under section 4, the Member State 
shall provide compensation for expenses incurred by 
a seller directly in administering, collecting, and re-
mitting sales and use taxes to that Member State. 
Such compensation may vary in each Member State 
as provided in the Agreement. 
(B) Congress hereby finds that the compensa-
tion for expenses incurred by sellers required of 
Member States under the terms of the Agreement, 
as in effect on the enactment of this Act, is the min-
imum compensation necessary, when considered in 
connection with the simplification requirements con-
tained in the Agreement on the date authority to re-
quire collection commences under section 4, to sat-
isfy the requirement under subparagraph (A) on 
such date. 
(C)(i) A provision requiring that the minimum 
compensation required of a Member State under 
subparagraph (A) may be modified as follows: 
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(I) Adjusted in relationship to changes in 
the size of the small business exemption adopt-
ed by the Governing Board. 
(II) Decreased as additional simplifications 
and improvements in technology reduce collec-
tion costs. 
(III) Increased if provisions of the Agree-
ment are adopted that increase collection costs. 
(ii) Any such modification in the minimum re-
quired compensation must be based on an inde-
pendent review of the expenses incurred by sellers in 
administering, collecting, and remitting sales and 
use taxes and shall consider all changes impacting 
such expenses and take into account and be propor-
tional to the increase or decrease in the expenses in-
curred by sellers in administering, collecting, and re-
mitting sales and use taxes. 
(D) The compensation required by subpara-
graph (A) shall be provided pursuant to the imple-
mentation schedule set out in the Agreement. Noth-
ing in this Act shall prohibit a Member State from 
providing compensation greater than the amount re-
quired by this Act or the Agreement or on a date 
earlier than required by this Act or the Agreement. 
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(E) Compensation necessary to meet the re-
quirement of subparagraph (A) may be provided to 
a seller or a third party service provider whom a 
seller has contracted with to perform the sales and 
use tax responsibilities of a seller. 
(14) Appropriate protections for consumer pri-
vacy. 
(15) Governance procedures and mechanisms to 
ensure timely, consistent, and uniform implementa-
tion and adherence to the principles of the stream-
lined system and the terms of the Agreement. 
(16) A uniform rule to establish a small seller 
exception to a requirement to collect authorized by 
this Act. 
(17) Uniform rules and procedures for sales tax 
holidays. 
(18) Uniform rules and procedures to address 
refunds and credits for sales taxes relating to cus-
tomer returns, restocking fees, discounts and cou-
pons, and rules to address allocations of shipping 
and handling and discounts applied to multiple item 
and multiple seller orders. 
(b) REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE SIMPLIFIED TAX 
SYSTEMS.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—The requirements of this 
section are intended to ensure that each Member 
State provides and maintains the necessary sim-
plification to its sales and use tax system to warrant 
the collection authority granted to such Member 
State in section 4. 
(2) REDUCTION
OF
ADMINISTRATIVE
BUR-
DENS.—The requirements of this section should be 
construed— 
(A) to require each Member State to sub-
stantially reduce the administrative burdens as-
sociated with sales and use taxes; and 
(B) as allowing each Member State to ex-
ercise flexibility in how these requirements are 
satisfied. 
(3) EXCEPTION.—In instances where exceptions 
to the requirements of this section can be exercised 
in a manner that does not materially increase the 
administrative burden on a seller obligated to collect 
or pay the taxes, such exceptions are permissible. 
(c) NO REQUIREMENT TO EXEMPT FROM OR IMPOSE 
TAX.—Nothing in this Act or the Agreement shall require 
any Member State or any local taxing jurisdiction to ex-
empt, or to impose a tax on any product, or to adopt any 
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particular type of tax, or to impose the same rate of tax 
as any other taxing jurisdiction. 
SEC. 7. LIMITATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this Act shall be con-
strued as— 
(1) subjecting a seller to franchise taxes, in-
come taxes, or licensing requirements of a Member 
State or political subdivision thereof; or 
(2) affecting the application of such taxes or re-
quirements or enlarging or reducing the authority of 
any Member State to impose such taxes or require-
ments. 
(b) NO EFFECT ON NEXUS, ETC.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—No obligation imposed by 
virtue of the authority granted by section 4 shall be 
considered in determining whether a seller has a 
nexus with any Member State for any other tax pur-
pose. 
(2) PERMISSIBLE
MEMBER
STATE
AUTHOR-
ITY.—Except as provided in subsection (a), and in 
section 4, nothing in this Act permits or prohibits a 
Member State from— 
(A) licensing or regulating any person; 
(B) requiring any person to qualify to 
transact intrastate business; 
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(C) subjecting any person to State taxes 
not related to the sale of goods or services; or 
(D) exercising authority over matters of 
interstate commerce. 
SEC. 8. EXPEDITED JUDICIAL REVIEW. 
(a) THREE-JUDGE DISTRICT COURT HEARING.— 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any civil ac-
tion challenging the constitutionality of this Act, or any 
provision thereof, shall be heard by a district court of 3 
judges convened pursuant to the provisions of section 
2284 of title 28, United States Code. 
(b) APPELLATE REVIEW.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 
provision of law, an interlocutory or final judgment, 
decree, or order of the court of 3 judges in an action 
under subsection (a) holding this Act, or any provi-
sion thereof, unconstitutional shall be reviewable as 
a matter of right by direct appeal to the United 
States Supreme Court. 
(2) THIRTY-DAY
TIME
LIMIT.—Any appeal 
under paragraph (1) shall be filed not more than 30 
days after the date of entry of such judgment, de-
cree, or order. 
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SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS. 
For the purposes of this Act the following definitions 
apply: 
(1) GOVERNING BOARD.—The term ‘‘Governing 
Board’’ means the governing board established by 
the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. 
(2) MEMBER
STATE.—The term ‘‘Member 
State’’— 
(A) means a Member State as that term is 
used under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax 
Agreement as in effect on the date of the enact-
ment of this Act; and 
(B) does not include associate members 
under the Agreement. 
(3) NONDISCRETIONARY
DUTY
OF
THE
GOV-
ERNING BOARD.—The term ‘‘nondiscretionary duty 
of the Governing Board’’ means any duty of the 
Governing Board specified in the Agreement as a re-
quirement for action by use of the term ‘‘shall’’, 
‘‘will’’, or ‘‘is required to’’. 
(4) PERSON.—The term ‘‘person’’ means an in-
dividual, trust, estate, fiduciary, partnership, cor-
poration, limited liability company, or any other 
legal entity, and includes a State or local govern-
ment. 
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