States’ sales tax holidays have been around almost half a century, but only recently have they gained widespread traction, usually as political tools to give taxpaying constituents a purported break and local retailers more foot traffic.

Once upon a time, selling online meant little more than setting up a website and sending both marketing efforts and sales direct to your customers from you.

More states are plowing ahead with adding a new kind of expense to delivering in the eCommerce age. In what states do you have to watch for retail delivery fees (RDFs)?

Not long ago, clicking a computer mouse to buy something was an idea of science fiction. Today, of course, e-commerce is how a significant amount of shopping takes place in general. Capital One reports that global e-commerce retail sales will hit some $6.91 trillion this year, up 9.5% from total e-commerce retail sales in 2023.

Every now and then something comes along that transforms sales tax. The 2018 Wayfair decision was such a milestone. Another was the advent of the likes of marketplace facilitators such as Amazon, Etsy and eBay, among others.

The short answer: Maybe not.

Let’s look at a few factors that could make relying solely on an eCommerce tax platform for compliance risky for your company.

Are subscriptions taxable? Depends on what they’re for and where they’re delivered.

Online selling of products and services triggers sales tax obligations today like never before – and has ever since the Supreme Court’s 2018 Wayfair decision unleashed economic nexus on e-commerce merchants nationwide.

Online selling of products and services has always been in the vanguard of sales tax obligations. The situation has only gotten more complicated in the five years since the Supreme Court unleashed economic nexus with the Wayfair decision.

It seems like a simple part of selling online. You sell an item to a customer, they decide for whatever reason to return it, and you give them a refund. Simple.

Except when sales tax becomes involved.

Online retailers and eCommerce companies have been the focal point of taxing jurisdictions and their updated nexus laws for years.

Our third annual survey of financial professionals revealed a sales tax storm in many industries. Financial leaders continue to lean on internal resources while wrestling with the current economy, inflation and a tight job market.

Retail/eCommerce respondents to our survey reported challenges such as audits, timely filing of sales tax returns and charging the correct sales tax.

Candy, flowers, diamonds, romantic dinners out or a movie snuggled on the couch: The year’s biggest day for dates looms again, and here’s an update on sales tax considerations for Valentine’s Day.

Shipping is indispensable to eCommerce yet sales tax on it remains a mishmash of regulations across the states.

In our previous blog, we looked at how exemptions, the taxability of the item being shipped and selling into tax-free states affect sales tax on shipping. What other factors change your shipping/sales tax obligations and in what states?

Online sales could not exist without shipping, and the charges associated with shipping are subject to sales tax in many states.

Question is, what states charge sales tax on shipping, and who has to pay?

Studies show that some 1.4 million people in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico (more than a third of population) do their shopping online, with annual online purchases in the U.S. territory now at $458 million. The size of the average online transaction in Puerto Rico has almost tripled in the past six years.

It’s a fair bet, then, that sooner or later you’re going to be selling online into Puerto Rico, which has a sales tax. Every U.S. state with a sales tax has economic nexus thresholds – does Puerto Rico?

Shopify is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms. The e-commerce website builder claims that more than 1.7 million businesses have made over $200 billion in sales with the Ottawa, Ontario-based company’s websites.

Free trials, tiered plans, 24/7 support, thousands of app integrations, unlimited storage and bandwidth… Truly does sound like whatForbes called an “all-in-one platform [with] everything you need to launch an online store.”

What about sales tax? How does Shopify handle sales tax?