Akerman tax partner Michael Bowen argued in North Carolina's highest court on August 30th that his client, Wisconsin printing company Quad Graphics Inc., should be exempt from sales tax for goods manufactured in Wisconsin and delivered to North Carolina customers. Law360, in "North Carolina Justices Hear Conflicting Accounts of Wayfair's Scope," reported Bowen's argument before the North Carolina Supreme Court that the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 Wayfair decision does not apply to Quad Graphics tax obligations in sales to North Carolina customers. The governing case should be one from 1944, McLeod v. J.E. Dilworth Co., which made an appropriate distinction between sales and use tax, Bowen argued.
Bowen is opposed in the case by North Carolina Solicitor General Ryan Park, arguing for the state Department of Revenue.
Bowen, based in Jacksonville, chairs Akerman's Local and State Tax Practice Group. For Law360 subscribers: