Illinois' highest court on Thursday handed online ticket retailer StubHub -- and merchants like it -- a big victory, ruling that the Chicago can't force them to collect the city amusement tax.
"The city has overstepped its home rule authority," Justice Mary Jane Theis wrote in the court’s 7-0 opinion.
City officials wanted StubHub, a subsidiary of San Francisco-based eBay, to collect a tax of up to nine percent on any markups to tickets over face value.
The company said that would have created a precedent that could hurt its business across the country and applauded the court's decision.
"We are pleased with the court’s ruling that Illinois municipalities cannot require online platforms like StubHub to collect and remit amusement taxes on resold tickets," said StubHub's legal affairs spokesman, Lance Lanciault.
