United States Supreme Court

In this case, petitioner, a trade association of retailers, many of which sell to Colorado residents but do not collect taxes, allege that a Colorado law requiring noncollecting retailers to notify any Colorado customer of the State's sales and use tax requirement and to report tax-related information to those customers and the Colorado Department of Revenue violates the United States and Colorado Constitutions. The Tenth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of partial summary judgment to petitioner and permanent injunction against enforcement of the notice and reporting requirements, holding that the Tax Injunction Act (TIA) deprived the district court of jurisdiction over the suit. The judgment of the Tenth Circuit is reversed and remanded, where: 1) petitioner's suit is not barred by the TIA, as the relief sought by petitioner would not "enjoin, suspend, or restrain the assessment, levy, or collection" of Colorado's sales and use taxes; 2) petitioner's suit cannot be understood to "restrain" the "assessment, levy, or collection" of Colorado's sales and use taxes merely because it may inhibit those activities; and 3) it is left to the Tenth Circuit on remand as to whether the comity argument remains available to Colorado.

Appellate Information

• Decided 03/03/2015
• Published 03/03/2015

Judges

• Thomas

Court

• United States Supreme Court

Counsel