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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
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smaller ones. Those retailers may face headaches complying with various state sales tax laws. The
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council advocacy group said in a statement, “Small
businesses and internet entrepreneurs are not well served at all by this decision.”
36. The Supreme Court decision Thursday will ________.
[A] deter business relations with states
[B] put most online business in a dilemma
[C] make more online shoppers pay sales tax
[D] force some states to cut sales tax
37.
It can be learned from paragraphs 2 and 3 that the overruled decisions ________.
[A] have led to the dominance of e-commerce
[B] have cost consumers a lot over the years
[C] were widely criticized by online purchases
[D] were considered unfavorable by states
38.
According to Justice Anthony Kennedy, the physical presence rule has ________.
[A] hindered economic development
[B] brought prosperity to the country
[C] harmed fair market competition
[D] boosted growth in states revenue
39.
Who are most likely to welcome the Supreme Court ruling ________.
[A] Internet entrepreneurs
[B] Big-chain owners
[C] Third-party sellers
[D] Small retailers
40.
In dealing with the Supreme Court decision Thursday, the author ________.
[A] gives a factual account of it and discusses its consequences
[B] describes the long and complicated process of its making
[C] presents its main points with conflicting views on them
[D] cites some cases related to it and analyzes their implications
36. 【答案】 C
【解析】 此题为细节题。根据题干关键词“The Supreme Court decision Thursday”，可
回文定位到首段。根据首段首句“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”可知，根据最高法院的裁
决，消费者在网上购物时，各州可强制其上缴销售税，故[C]让更多在线购物者支付销
售税，符合题意。故选[C]。
37. 【答案】 D
【解析】 此题为推理题。根据题干，可回文定位至第二、三段，再根据题干关键词
overruled decisions 可定位至第二段。由第二段第一句 that states said cost them billions of
dollars in lost revenue annually 可知各州抱怨之前的政策导致每年税收损失惨重，而根据
第二段第二句 The decisions made it more difficult for states to collect sales tax on certain
online purchases 可知，原政策让各州很难收取网上购物的销售税。综合两句可知，被
推翻的政策，即原来的政策对各州不利。故选[D]。
38. 【答案】 C
【解析】 此题为细节题。根据题干关键点 Anthony Kennedy 及 the physical presence
rule 可回文定位至第四段。根据该段最后一句 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”可知，the physical presence rule 限制了各州寻求长久繁荣的能力，
并妨碍了市场参与者在公平的环境下进行竞争。故选[C]。
39. 【答案】 B
【解析】 此题为推理题。根据题干细节“most likely to welcome the Supreme Court
ruling”可回文定位至第五段。由第五段首句可知“The ruling is a victory for big
chains”，意为此项裁决对于大型连锁店来说是一次胜利。故选[B]。
40. 【答案】 A
【解析】 根据题干可知此题考查的是对文章结构的把握度。文章一开始就点出了全文
的主题，即最高法院通过新的裁决，将征收在线销售税。第二段介绍原来的判决及其
后果—不利各州。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，说明
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，然后实事求是地叙述，并讨论其后果。由此得
出正确选项为[A]给出客观叙述，并讨论其影响。故选[A]。