On the heels of the Supreme Court's decision in Wayfair, the need for fair and efficient sales tax administration has never been greater.  The Council on State Taxation (COST) recently released its new sales tax scorecard entitled "The Best and Worst of Sales Tax Administration," grading each of the states on various aspects of their sales tax systems.

Specifically, the Scorecard evaluates state sales taxes on their effectiveness in taxing personal consumption (and not business inputs), and on implementing uniform, fair, and centralized administration of their sales taxes.  Based on a unique scoring methodology, COST gave its highest marks to Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin.  Conversely, Colorado, Louisiana, and New Mexico were among the poorest performing states in this study.

In this video, Reed Smith's Jon Maddison sits down with COST's Vice President and General Counsel Karl Frieden and Senior Tax Counsel Fred Nicely to discuss the Scorecard's background, grading criteria, and results – overall and issue by issue.  Their discussion – and the respective state grades – is likely to hit home for many tax professionals that have had to deal with the myriad issues in sales tax administration across the country.

For more on the Wayfair decision, Reed Smith and Adam Krupp, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Revenue, will host a video webinar in July.