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States will be able to force more people to pay sales tax when they make online purchases under a Supreme Court decision Thursday that will leave shoppers with lighter wallets but is a big financial win for states.
The Supreme Court’s opinion Thursday overruled a pair of decades-old decisions that states said cost them billions of dollars in lost revenue annually. The decisions made it more difficult for states to collect sales tax on certain online purchases.
The cases the court overturned said that if a business was shipping a customer’s purchase to a state where the business didn’t have a physical presence such as a warehouse or office, the business didn’t have to collect sales tax for the state. Customers were generally responsible for paying the sales tax to the state themselves if they weren’t charged it, but most didn’t realize they owed it and few paid.
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that the previous decisions were flawed. “Each year the physical presence rule becomes further removed from economic reality and results in significant revenue losses to the States,” he wrote in an opinion joined by four other justices. Kennedy wrote that the rule “limited states’ ability to seek long-term prosperity and has prevented market participants from competing on an even playing field.”
The ruling is a victory for big chains with a presence in many states, since they usually collect sales tax on online purchases already. Now, rivals will be charging sales tax where they hadn’t before. Big chains have been collecting sales tax nationwide because they typically have physical stores in whatever state a purchase is being shipped to. Amazon.com, with its network of warehouses, also collects sales tax in every state that charges it, though third-party sellers who use the site don’t have to.
Until now, many sellers that have a physical presence in only a single state or a few states have been able to avoid charging sales taxes when they ship to addresses outside those states. Sellers that use eBay and Etsy, which provide platforms for smaller sellers, also haven’t been collecting sales tax nationwide. Under the ruling Thursday, states can pass laws requiring out-of-state sellers to collect the state’s sales tax from customers and send it to the state.
Retail trade groups praised the ruling, saying it levels the playing field for local and online businesses. The losers, said retail analyst Neil Saunders, are online-only retailers, especially smaller ones. Those retailers may face headaches complying with various state sales tax laws. The
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council advocacy group said in a a statement, “Small businesses and internet entrepreneurs are not well served at all by this decision.”
The Supreme Court decision Thursday will ________.
根据题干可知这是一道典型的细节题。根据题干关键词”The Supreme Court Decision Thursday”定位到首段首句，States will be able to force more shoppers to pay sales tax when they make online purchases under a Supreme Court decision Thursday that will leave shoppers with lighter wallets but is a big financial win for states.由该句可知，最高法院的裁决可以让州政府去强制消费者在网上购物时要上缴销售税(营业税)，直接得出选项[C] make more online shoppers pay sales tax，让更多在线购物者支付销售税。
It can be learned from paragraphs 2 and 3 that the overruled decisions________.
根据题干可知这是一道典型的推理题。根据题干定位范围确定为第二，三段，再根据题干细节： overruled decisions确定定位句为第二段的第一句与第二句，第二句that states said cost them billions of dollars in lost revenue annually州政府抱怨之前的政策导致每年税收损失惨重。第三句The decisions made it more difficult for states to collect sales tax on certain online purchases，原政策让州政府很难收取网上购物的营业税。综合两句情感色彩都为负向，对州政府不利，从而得出答案[D] were considered unfavorable by states 州政府认为原政策对州不利。
According to Justice Anthony Kennedy, the physical presence rule has________.
根据题干可知这是一道典型的观点细节题。根据题干定位Anthony Kennedy定位在第四段，再根据题干细节physical presence rule确定定位句为第四段的第二句与第三句。第二句"Each year the physical presence rule becomes further removed from economic reality and results in significant revenue losses to the States，实体店规定导致州政府税收亏损严重，第三句the rule "limited States' ability to seek long-term prosperity and has prevented market participants from competing on an even playing field.该规定限制了州政府持长期繁荣，并妨碍了所有市场参与者公平竞争，从而得出答案[D] harmed fair market competition破坏了公平市场竞争 。
Who are most likely to welcome the Supreme Court ruling________.
根据题干可知这是一道推理题。根据题干定位范围确定为第五段，再根据题干细节： more likely to welcome the Supreme Court ruling确定定位句为第五段的第一句，第一句the ruling is a victory for big chains这项裁决对于大型连锁公司来说是个胜利。从而得出答案[B] Big-chain owners 大型连锁公司。
In dealing with the Supreme Court decision Thursday, the author________.
根据题干可知这是一道行文架构题，考查学生对文章结构的把握。整篇文章首段直接点名最高法院通过新的裁决，征收在线营业税。第二段介绍原来的判决及其后果，不利州政府。第三段描述原来判决涉及到的案例。第四段列举大法官观点，以前判决有瑕疵。 第五段论述新判决的影响：对大型连锁店有利。第六段谈及新裁决对州外卖家的影响。第七段明确新裁决受到零售界的肯定。根据各段主旨可以看出作者的行文思路为：首段先介绍新判决，然后二三四段列出一些与此有关的案例，五六七段论其对行业内各界的影响。由此得出正确选项[D] cites some cases related to it and analyses their implications 引用相关案例，并论其影响。