SJC: MA can't collect taxes on tires sold in NH
Published: Aug 25, 2009 12:00 am
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts' highest court has ruled the state has no right to collect taxes from a retail chain that sold tires to Massachusetts residents in New Hampshire.
Massachusetts authorities said their case was narrowly focused, but others saw broader implications. Massachusetts recently raised its sales tax; New Hampshire has none.
The state Department of Revenue tried to collect about $109,000 in taxes from Connecticut-based Town Fair Tire Centers after a records examination found 313 invoices in the New Hampshire stores listed Massachusetts addresses for buyers.
The state said it was owed the sales tax those customers would have been charged in Massachusetts.
But the court ruled Tuesday those invoices weren't enough under state law to presume the tires were actually used in Massachusetts.
Town Fair also has stores in Rhode Island and Maine.
Mainah49 says
Maine already does do it.It's called the Use Tax and it's been on Maine Tax forms for years.