Agenda Date: 11/17/2020
Subject:
Title
Ordinance 42-2020: An ordinance on second reading amending various sections of Title 3, Chapter 9 to require collection and remittance of Littleton sales tax by remote sellers
Body
Prepared by:
Tiffany Hooten, Finance Director
PURPOSE:
Does council support amendments to the Littleton City Code Title 3, Chapter 9 to require collection and remittance of Littleton sales tax by remote sellers?
PRESENTATIONS:
Staff Presenter(s): Tiffany Hooten, Finance Director
Additional Presenter(s): N/A
SUMMARY:
Colorado's sales tax system is perceived by multijurisdictional businesses as complex and burdensome. As part of a statewide taxation simplification movement organized by the Colorado Municipal League (CML), Staff is proposing amendments to our sales tax code while maintaining the integrity of our taxation system and preserving our rights as a home rule city. The purpose of the proposed ordinance is to simplify the sales tax collection process for businesses, including "remote sellers" as discussed below, while ensuring that Littleton receives the sales tax revenues it is owed.
PRIOR ACTIONS OR DISCUSSIONS:
This ordinance passed on first reading on October 20, 2020.
ANALYSIS:
Staff Analysis
Littleton levies sales tax on all sales and purchases of tangible personal property or taxable services at retail unless doing so is prohibited by law. In 2018, the United States Supreme Court in South Dakota v. Wayfair held that a State is not prohibited from requiring a retailer to collect sales tax based solely on the fact that such retailer does not have a physical presence in the State (sales by these remote retailers are sometimes called "remote sales"). In other words, a retailer's obligation to collect taxes from remote sales is no longer based on the retailer's physical presence in the jurisdiction. As a result, Littleton's sales tax ordinance needs to be amended to clearly reflect retailers' remote sales obligations.
This ord...
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