---
title: Revenue Committee Supports Internet Sales Tax Grab - Wyoming Liberty Group - Wyoming Liberty Group
description: Wyoming Revenue Committee backed an internet sales tax; WyLib argues the measure targets online purchases to extract revenue outside legislative accountability.
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\[!\[Wyoming Liberty Group\](https://wyliberty.org/images/2020/06/01/wy-logo-lg-trees.png)!\[Wyoming Liberty Group\](https://wyliberty.org/images/2020/06/01/wy-logo-sm-trees.png)\](https://wyliberty.org/) \[\](#)- \[Home\](https://wyliberty.org/) - \[About\](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) - \[Who We Are\](https://wyliberty.org/about/who-we-are) - \[Core Principles\](https://wyliberty.org/about/core-principles) - \[Staff &amp; Board\](https://wyliberty.org/about/staff) - \[Current Posts\](https://wyliberty.org/current-posts) - \[Topics\](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) - \[Wyliberty Policy Compass\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/wyliberty-policy-compass) - \[Economic\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic) - \[Education\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/education) - \[Election Security Standards\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/election-security-standards) - \[Energy and Resources\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/energy-and-resources) - \[Eye on the Issues\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/eye-on-the-issues) - \[Government Programs\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-programs) - \[Health Care\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/health-care) - \[Keep Wyoming Strong\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/keep-wyoming-strong) - \[Legal\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/legal-perspectives) - \[Limited Government\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/limited-government) - \[Marijuana/THC\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/marijuana-thc) - \[Political\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/political-perspectives) - \[Property Rights\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/property-rights) - \[Regulation\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-regulation) - \[Spotlight on WyLiberty\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/spotlight-on-wyliberty) - \[Timeless Topics\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/timeless-topics) - \[Transparency\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-transparency) - \[Get Involved\](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) - \[Donation/Membership\](https://wyliberty.org/get-involved/donate) - \[Newsletter\](https://mailchi.mp/3d5c211df744/newsletter-sign-up) - \[Contact \](https://wyliberty.org/contact) - \[Search\](https://wyliberty.org/search) ## Learn More ### Keep Wyoming Strong <a></a> Font size: \[ &amp;plus; \](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) \[ – \](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) \[ Print \](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic/revenue-committee-supports-internet-sales-tax-grab?tmpl=component&amp;print=1&amp;format=print "Print") # Revenue Committee Supports Internet Sales Tax Grab \[Economic\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic) \[Government Programs\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-programs) \[Keep Wyoming Strong\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/keep-wyoming-strong) Tuesday, 17 May 2016 In Wyoming, some politicians are looking high and low for ways to take your money, especially if they can make it look like someone else is slipping his hand into your pocket. One way that popped up during a recent Revenue Committee meeting is a tax on Internet retail sales. Proponents justify this tax grab in two ways. First, the need for more tax revenue to fund the state budget shortfall and second, the notion that hard-pressed Main Street businesses can't escape collecting the tax so taxing Internet sales would level the playing field. However, government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. An Internet sales tax won't do much for the revenue shortfall and if government really cared about Main Street retailers, they would reduce their tax burden instead of extending the dead hand of government to the Internet. Every state has a different, and sometimes complex, sales tax regime so in 1992 the Supreme Court ruled in \*Quill Corporation v. North Dakota\* that Internet and catalog retailers shouldn't have to collect state sales taxes unless they had a physical presence in the buyer's state. But politicians just don't like to see capitalist acts between consenting individuals go unpunished, so Senator Richard Durbin (D-Ill) sponsored the \*Main Street Fairness Act\* in August 2011. This went nowhere, so in November 2011, Wyoming's own Senator Enzi introduced \*The Marketplace Fairness Act\*, to allow states to collect sales taxes from out-of-state retailers. This also went nowhere. The latest attempt to force Internet retailers to act as tax collectors was Senator Enzi's \*Marketplace Fairness Act\* of 2015, which never made its way out of the senate. Although attempts to tax the Internet appear to be dead, it seems some Wyoming politicians hope the effort is merely on life support. During the Revenue Committee meeting, Senator Ray Peterson asked director of the Revenue Department Dan Nobel how much the state was missing in Internet retail sales tax revenue. According to Director Nobel, the state is missing between $23 million to $46 million per year in lost revenue. But according to a recent Consensus Revenue Estimating Group report, the state may have an additional shortfall of $130 million for fiscal year 2016 alone – and that fiscal year ends at the end of this June! Sorry Senator Patterson, the amount won't fill state coffers. Undeterred, Senator Patterson what more could Wyoming do to get an Internet retail sales tax passed. Director Nobel said the state could work with congress to get it passed or also generate support for legislation. But no matter who takes the blame for a higher tax burden on families, higher taxes won't fix Wyoming's budget shortfall because state legislators have a spending problem, not a revenue problem. But the tax grab is only one justification. The other involves a backwards attempt to help Main Street businesses by raising costs to Internet retailers. However, forcing Internet retailers to be state tax collectors, like retailers on Main Street, just means even more businesses are hit with higher costs. Besides, many Main Street retailers use the Internet to increase their sales. So instead of dragging innovative retailers down into the high tax and regulatory regime now hurting Main Street, why not free Main Street from onerous taxes and regulations so they too have the resources to innovate and create jobs? The Wyoming state government has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, and burdening Internet and some Main Street retailers with more paperwork is unlikely to do much about Wyoming's budget shortfall. What it will do is burden innovative sellers with additional costs. Instead of expanding the dead hand of government into Internet retail sales, make the system less costly and burdensome for Main Street, and leave money in the pockets of the people who can spend it the wisest – the people who earned it. \[ \](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) \[ \](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) \[ \](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0);) Tags: \[Internet Retail Sales Tax\](https://wyliberty.org/blog-tags/internet-retail-sales-tax) \[Marketplace Fairness Act\](https://wyliberty.org/blog-tags/marketplace-fairness-act) \[Tax Grab\](https://wyliberty.org/blog-tags/tax-grab) \[Tax Hikes\](https://wyliberty.org/blog-tags/tax-hikes) \[Budget Shortfall\](https://wyliberty.org/blog-tags/budget-shortfall) \[ Beating a Path to Medicaid Reform \](https://wyliberty.org/blog/health-care/beating-a-path-to-medicaid-reform) \[ Medicaid’s Critical Condition \](https://wyliberty.org/blog/health-care/medicaid-s-critical-condition) #### Related Posts ### \[WY 2026 SF 39 - Long-Term Homeowner Tax Exemption - Sunset Repeal\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/political-perspectives/wy-2026-sf-39-long-term-homeowner-tax-exemption-sunset-repeal) \[Political\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/political-perspectives) ### \[WY 2026 HB 46 - Electricity From Solar and Nuclear Resources - Taxation\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/energy-and-resources/wy-2026-hb-46-electricity-from-solar-and-nuclear-resources-taxation) \[Energy and Resources\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/energy-and-resources) ### \[Keep an Eye Out for Tax Increase Legislation in 2020\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic/keep-an-eye-out-for-tax-increase-legislation-in-2020) \[Economic\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic) ### \[Wind Tax in Wyoming\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-programs/wind-tax-in-wyoming) \[Government Programs\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-programs) ### \[Begging the Question: How Conventional Wisdom Leads to Higher Taxes\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic/begging-the-question-how-conventional-wisdom-leads-to-higher-taxes) \[Economic\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic) ### \[Instead of Tax Hikes: Medicaid Reform\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic/instead-of-tax-hikes-medicaid-reform) \[Economic\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic) !\[logo white 002\](https://wyliberty.org/images/general\_art/logo\_white\_002.png) \*\*Wyoming Liberty Group\*\* P.O. Box 9 • Burns, WY 82053 Phone: (307) 632-7020 ##### Quick Links - \[ Legal\](https://wyliberty.org/legal-center) - \[ News Releases\](https://wyliberty.org/news-releases) - \[ Podcasts\](https://wyliberty.org/podcasts) - \[ Policy\](https://wyliberty.org/policy) - \[ Videos\](https://wyliberty.org/videos) ##### Support - \[ Blog Tags\](https://wyliberty.org/blog-tags) - \[ Contact Us\](https://white-clair-78.tiiny.site/) - \[ Newsletter\](https://mailchi.mp/3d5c211df744/newsletter-sign-up) - \[ Privacy Policy\](https://wyliberty.org/privacy-policy) - \[ Login/out\](https://wyliberty.org/login-out) Search Copyright © 2026 Wyoming Liberty Group. \[\](#)- \[ Home\](https://wyliberty.org/) - <a>About</a> - \[ Who We Are\](https://wyliberty.org/about/who-we-are) - \[ Core Principles\](https://wyliberty.org/about/core-principles) - \[ Staff &amp; Board\](https://wyliberty.org/about/staff) - \[ Current Posts\](https://wyliberty.org/current-posts) - <a>Topics</a> - \[ Wyliberty Policy Compass\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/wyliberty-policy-compass) - \[ Economic\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/economic) - \[ Education\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/education) - \[ Election Security Standards\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/election-security-standards) - \[ Energy and Resources\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/energy-and-resources) - \[ Eye on the Issues\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/eye-on-the-issues) - \[ Government Programs\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-programs) - \[ Health Care\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/health-care) - \[ Keep Wyoming Strong\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/keep-wyoming-strong) - \[ Legal\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/legal-perspectives) - \[ Limited Government\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/limited-government) - \[ Marijuana/THC\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/marijuana-thc) - \[ Political\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/political-perspectives) - \[ Property Rights\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/property-rights) - \[ Regulation\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-regulation) - \[ Spotlight on WyLiberty\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/spotlight-on-wyliberty) - \[ Timeless Topics\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/timeless-topics) - \[ Transparency\](https://wyliberty.org/blog/government-transparency) - <a>Get Involved</a> - \[ Donation/Membership\](https://wyliberty.org/get-involved/donate) - \[ Newsletter\](https://mailchi.mp/3d5c211df744/newsletter-sign-up) - \[ Contact \](https://wyliberty.org/contact) - \[ Search\](https://wyliberty.org/search) \[\](https://wyliberty.org/javascript:void(0))