Several recent court cases show how tricky the legal system can be for online sellers managing sales tax obligations.

If it feels to you like the whole economic nexus and sales tax landscape is one-sided, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and many small businesses seem to agree.

What a 48 months it’s been.

Summer vacation season is here – and it’s yet another area where sales tax shows up.

Determining your sales tax obligations hinges on if your products or services are taxable and whether you have sales tax nexus which can be defined as either a physical presence or economic presence. That by itself is confusing enough, and unfortunately it gets more confusing.

What’s new in May for state sales and use taxes

The exploding world of eCommerce has put a new player front and center: the marketplace facilitator.

Sales of tangible personal property (TPP) are presumed to be taxable unless specifically identified as not taxable. However, certain exemptions could apply making the sale of TPP exempt from sales tax in some situations. An exemption could be related to the type of business that is buying the TPP – a non-profit or government entity in certain states for example. But the most common type of exemption is a resale exemption and is applicable to wholesale transactions.

Taxable sales of products direct to end users has been a staple of business for ages. One relatively new development is the complex overlay of sales tax on these transactions.

Given the complexity that already exists regarding sales tax, it’d be great if states were the only jurisdictions that levied them.

“Sourcing” or as we often call it, situsing, is key when you determine sales tax obligations: It refers to the location where a sale is taxed. According to the Sales Tax Institute there may be changes on the horizon– and though the aim appears to lean towards improving life for remote sellers, the changes only seem to make meeting sales tax obligations harder.

Not paying attention to your sales tax obligations is never wise. 

True, it’s a relatively new requirement to collect sales and use tax from remote customers, but it’s one the taxman has always taken seriously from businesses – and that seriousness is only intensifying. 

It’s also mostly up to you to determine your sales tax obligation, and the rules for complying change frequently. A recent TaxConnex survey found that four out of five respondents were not confident about how their company handled its sales tax obligations.

Sales tax is more complicated than ever, especially in a post-Wayfair world. And what’s worse is that everyone who says they’re simplifying sales tax is still leaving the hardest parts – and the liability – up to you.  This is especially true when it comes to state registrations. For some reason, many of the software and service providers who claim to manage sales tax for you, don’t help with registrations, and if they do it comes at extra cost.

Economic nexus is now pretty much the law of the land for all states with a statewide sales tax. But what has been the impact on states?

There’s always something changing in the world of tax, especially sales tax. Here’s a review of some of the recent changes and updates, with a special focus this month on how more states and jurisdictions look to roll back sales tax.

Businesses have heard a lot about economic nexus over the past few years. But what exactly is economic nexus – and, more importantly, have you kept up with its constant changes in the sales tax realm?