2019年考研英语一阅读 Text 4 原文翻译及答案解析

States will be able to force more people to pay sales tax when they make online purchases under a Supreme Court decision Thursday that will leave shoppers with lighter wallets but is a big financial win for states.

根据最高法院周四的一项裁决，各州将能够迫使更多人在网上购物时缴纳销售税，这将使购物者钱包变瘪，但对各州而言却是一大财政胜利。

The Supreme Court's opinion Thursday overruled a pair of decades-old decisions that states said cost them billions of dollars in lost revenue annually. The decisions made it more difficult for states to collect sales tax on certain online purchases.

最高法院周四的意见推翻了数十年前的两项裁决，各州称这些裁决每年导致它们损失数十亿美元的收入。这些裁决使各州更难对某些在线购物征收销售税。

The cases the court overturned said that if a business was shipping a customer's purchase to a state where the business didn't have a physical presence such as a warehouse or office, the business didn't have to collect sales tax for the state. Customers were generally responsible for paying the sales tax to the state themselves if they weren't charged it, but most didn't realize they owed it and few paid.

法院推翻的案例指出，如果企业将客户购买的商品运送到该企业没有实体存在（如仓库或办公室）的州，则该企业无需为该州征收销售税。如果客户未被收取销售税，通常由他们自己向州支付销售税，但大多数人未意识到自己欠税，很少有人支付。

Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that the previous decisions were flawed. "Each year the physical presence rule becomes further removed from economic reality and results in significant revenue losses to the States," he wrote in an opinion joined by four other justices. Kennedy wrote that the rule "limited states' ability to seek long-term prosperity and has prevented market participants from competing on an even playing field."

安东尼·肯尼迪大法官写道，先前的裁决存在缺陷。“每年，实体存在规则都进一步脱离经济现实，导致各州收入严重损失，”他在一份由其他四名大法官联署的意见书中写道。肯尼迪写道，该规则“限制了各州寻求长期繁荣的能力，并阻碍了市场参与者在公平的竞争环境中竞争。”

The ruling is a victory for big chains with a presence in many states, since they usually collect sales tax on online purchases already. Now, rivals will be charging sales tax where they hadn't before. Big chains have been collecting sales tax nationwide because they typically have physical stores in whatever state a purchase is being shipped to. Amazon.com, with its network of warehouses, also collects sales tax in every state that charges it, though third-party sellers who use the site don't have to.

该裁决对在多个州有业务的大型连锁店来说是一场胜利，因为它们通常已经在对在线购物征收销售税。现在，竞争对手将不得不在以前不征收的地方征收销售税。大型连锁店一直在全国范围内征收销售税，因为它们通常在商品运往的任何州都有实体店。亚马逊凭借其仓库网络，也在每个征收销售税的州征收销售税，但使用该网站的第三方卖家则无需这样做。

Until now, many sellers that have a physical presence in only a single state or a few states have been able to avoid charging sales taxes when they ship to addresses outside those states. Sellers that use eBay and Etsy, which provide platforms for smaller sellers, also haven't been collecting sales tax nationwide. Under the ruling Thursday, states can pass laws requiring out-of-state sellers to collect the state's sales tax from customers and send it to the state.

直到现在，许多仅在一个或几个州有实体存在的卖家在将商品运送到这些州以外的地址时能够避免征收销售税。使用eBay和Etsy的卖家，这些平台为较小卖家提供服务，也未在全国范围内征收销售税。根据周四的裁决，各州可以通过法律，要求州外卖家向客户征收该州的销售税并上缴给州政府。

Retail trade groups praised the ruling, saying it levels the playing field for local and online businesses. The losers, said retail analyst Neil Saunders, are online-only retailers, especially smaller ones. Those retailers may face headaches complying with various state sales tax laws. The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council advocacy group said in a statement, "Small businesses and internet entrepreneurs are not well served at all by this decision."

零售贸易团体赞扬了该裁决，称其为本地和在线企业创造了公平的竞争环境。零售分析师尼尔·桑德斯说，输家是那些纯在线零售商，尤其是较小的商家。这些零售商可能会在遵守各州销售税法方面遇到麻烦。小企业与创业委员会倡导组织在一份声明中表示：“小企业和互联网企业家完全没有从这一决定中受益。”