Opinion ID: 1868607
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: taxation

Text: To ensure that revenue taxes do not violate the principle that no state may impose a tax which discriminates against interstate commerce... by providing a direct commercial advantage to local business, Northwestern States Portland Cement Co. v. Minnesota, 358 U.S. 450, 458, 79 S.Ct. 357, 362, 3 L.Ed.2d 421 (1959), the Supreme Court has required that any state tax on interstate commerce must be (1) applied to an activity with a substantial nexus with the taxing state, (2) fairly apportioned, (3) nondiscriminatory against interstate commerce, and (4) fairly related to the services provided by the state, in order to pass constitutional muster. Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady, 430 U.S. 274, 97 S.Ct. 1076, 51 L.Ed.2d 326 (1977). Under this analysis, the Supreme Court has held that out-of-state mail order sales companies like Credicorp, which have no physical presence in the taxing state, are immune from state sales or use tax liability. See, e.g., Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, 504 U.S. 298, 112 S.Ct. 1904, 119 L.Ed.2d 91 (1992); National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Dept. of Revenue of Ill., 386 U.S. 753, 758, 87 S.Ct. 1389, 1392, 18 L.Ed.2d 505 (1967). We have recently reaffirmed that principle in the case of Department of Revenue v. Share International, Inc., 676 So.2d 1362 (Fla.1996), wherein we held that an out-of-state mail order sales company could not be compelled to pay or collect Florida sales or use taxes on its mail-order sales to Florida residents. In essence, this is the standard that was applied by the district court in holding that Credicorp, because it lacked a physical presence in Florida, could not be subject to licensing and regulation in Florida.