Colorado Jumps On The Economic Nexus Bandwagon

Increasingly, eCommerce vendors face potential exposure to state corporate income and similar taxes (such as certain franchise, gross receipts and business activity taxes) in jurisdictions where they have no physical presence, based on the doctrine of so-called “economic nexus.”  Judicial decisions from a number of jurisdictions, such as New Jersey and West Virginia, and recently enacted tax laws, such as the Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (“CAT”) and the Michigan Business Tax (“MBT”), are based on the notion that an out-of-state company may be subject to a state’s corporate tax laws based solely on having significant “economic activity” related to or directed at the state.  The issue of whether the doctrine (and each of its different incarnations) is consistent with the limits on state taxing power imposed by the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution remains unsettled.  Remote sellers have raised objections and challenges to many of these laws.  However, for now, at least, under laws such as the CAT and MBT, an out-of-state company that makes total sales to customers in the state that exceed a certain prescribed threshold, even without any offices, employees, or property in the state, will be deemed to have “bright line” nexus with the state for corporate tax purposes.

The latest state to jump on the “economic nexus” bandwagon is Colorado.  What is unusual about Colorado’s new standard, however, is that it derives not from a legislative enactment or decision of Colorado’s courts, but rather from a new administrative regulation, Colorado Code of Regulations §39-22-301.1 (effective April 30, 2010), promulgated by the Colorado Department of Revenue.   Under the guise of (re-)interpreting the statutory definition of “doing business” in the state, the Colorado DOR adopted a so-called “factor presence” standard of nexus for corporate income tax purposes which sets certain minimum levels for Colorado payroll ($50,000), property ($50,000) and, most importantly, for eCommerce businesses and Internet sellers, sales ($500,000), over which a company will deemed to be subject to Colorado corporate income tax.  While the establishment of such payroll and property thresholds may relieve certain companies with very limited physical presence in Colorado from having to report Colorado income tax, the determination that vendors having Colorado sales over $500,000 subjects them to Colorado income tax purports to extend significantly Colorado’s taxing power to many out-of-state direct marketers.

While it seems likely that the regulation will, like similar laws in other states, be challenged on constitutional grounds, direct marketers should weigh their options in consultation with counsel and based on their own particular circumstances.  When considered together with Colorado’s new law requiring out-of-state retailers to report the names and addresses of their purchasers to the Department of Revenue for use tax purposes (see our March 11 post), it appears that Colorado lawmakers are prepared to test (or even outright disregard) the time-honored principles of the Commerce Clause.   Stay tuned.