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N.H. Businesses Asked to Call AG If They Get Sales Tax Bill

N.H. State House
Allegra Boverman for NHPR

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office is asking businesses that receive sales tax bills from other states to notify them so it can investigate possible scams.

The action comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this year that cleared the way for states with a sales tax to require business that sell goods online to collect and remit that tax on their behalf. The Wayfair decision creates concern in New Hampshire, where businesses lack experience collecting a sales tax.

In addition to the steps announced Thursday by the N.H. Department of Justice, the state has launched a website to provide information to businesses potentially impacted by the Wayfair decision.

The actions follow the state legislature’s failure to pass a bill this summer during a special session that would have created procedural hurdles for other states attempting to collect. While the measure cleared the Senate on a 24-0 vote, a bipartisan group in the House passed an amendment that gutted the upper chamber’s plan.

Gov. Chris Sununu, who called for the session and vowed to give other states “the fight of their lives” if they tried to collect a sales tax from a New Hampshire business, was in Colorado during the special session, a trip derided by his critics.

“While we remain hopeful that meaningful legislation can be enacted either this Fall or next session, I have made clear to my administration that State Government must do all it can in the meantime to protect New Hampshire businesses in the weeks and months ahead," said Sununu in a statement.

The DOJ is advising all businesses that receive a tax bill to seek advice from a tax professional. New Hampshire is one of five states that doesn’t impose a broad-based sales tax.

Todd started as a news correspondent with NHPR in 2009. He spent nearly a decade in the non-profit world, working with international development agencies and anti-poverty groups. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Columbia University.
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