Services · Tax
Sales and use tax
We work out where you must collect sales tax, register you there and prepare returns on each state's calendar, with use tax on your own purchases accounted for as well.
A tax that follows your customers
Since the Supreme Court's decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair in 2018, a state can require a business to collect its sales tax without any physical presence there, once sales into the state pass a threshold the state sets. For a business that sells online or across state lines, the question is no longer whether you have obligations beyond your home state, but where they are and when they began.
Each state with a sales tax sets its own thresholds, product rules, filing calendar and registration process, and many let cities and counties add a tax of their own. We map your obligations, keep the map current as your sales grow and prepare the returns, so that the tax you collect is the tax you owe and both reach the right state.
What the service covers
Scoped to the states and channels you sell through.
Nexus review
Where you have physical nexus, through staff, offices or stock in third-party warehouses, and economic nexus through sales, state by state, with the date each obligation began.
Registrations
Sales tax permits where you must collect, in place before you charge tax there and closed when an obligation ends.
Taxability and sourcing
How each state treats what you sell, from clothing and food to software and services, and whether a sale is taxed where it ships from or where it is delivered.
Returns on each state's calendar
Monthly, quarterly or annual returns as each state assigns them, including any prepayments, with tax collected reconciled to your ledger first.
Marketplace sales
Sales taxed by a marketplace under marketplace facilitator rules, kept apart from your direct sales so that tax is neither missed nor paid twice.
Exemption and resale certificates
Certificates from customers who buy for resale or claim exemption, checked so that untaxed sales are supported if a state examines them.
Use tax on purchases
Use tax accrued on equipment, software and supplies bought without tax, and on stock taken from resale inventory for your own use.
Voluntary disclosure
Where past sales created exposure, a voluntary disclosure agreement with each state concerned, sought before the state contacts you.
State income and franchise tax
Income, franchise and gross receipts tax returns where your activity in a state creates them.
Businesses we work with
Businesses whose sales cross state lines faster than their compliance does.
- Online retailers, direct-to-consumer brands and marketplace sellers (see retail and e-commerce)
- Software and digital businesses unsure where their subscriptions are taxable
- Wholesalers and distributors whose customers buy for resale
- Companies outside the United States selling to US customers, with or without a US entity
- Businesses preparing for a sale or investment, where uncollected sales tax is a common diligence finding (see transaction advisory)
From exposure to routine
A one-off review to establish where you stand, then a filing cycle that keeps you there.
Sales data and nexus study
Your sales by state, channel and month for recent years, and where your staff and stock have been, show where nexus exists and from when.
A plan for each state
For every state with exposure you get a recommendation: register now, register and resolve past periods by voluntary disclosure, or monitor. Nothing is filed until you agree.
Registration and set-up
We prepare the registrations, set up tax codes in your accounting software and agree with you how tax will be applied at the point of sale.
The filing cycle
Returns prepared on each state's calendar from reconciled data and reviewed by a partner before filing, with thresholds in other states checked monthly.
Sales tax at a glance
- Who does the work
- A named partner and an accountant who know your filing calendar
- Past exposure
- Voluntary disclosure, state by state or through a multistate programme
- Your records
- Sales data and certificates exchanged through an encrypted client portal
If you are starting a business in the United States, sales tax registration can be planned from the outset as part of US entity formation.
Questions
If a marketplace collects tax on our sales, do we still need to register?
Sometimes. Marketplace facilitator rules move the duty to collect onto the marketplace for the sales it handles, but states differ on whether those sales count towards your own threshold and on whether you must still register and file. Sales through your own website remain your responsibility.
What if we should have been collecting for years?
A voluntary disclosure agreement is usually the cleanest route. A state will generally consider one only if it has not yet contacted you, often lets you approach anonymously at first, and in return limits how far back you must pay and, in most cases, waives penalties. Tax you collected from customers but never remitted is normally due in full.
Does selling into a state affect income tax as well?
It can. Public Law 86-272 protects sellers of tangible goods from a state's net income tax where their only activity there is soliciting orders that are approved and shipped from outside the state, but it does not cover services or digital products, or taxes measured by gross receipts.
Do we owe use tax if we are not registered for sales tax?
Often, yes. A business that buys taxable items without paying sales tax generally owes use tax to its own state, whether or not it sells anything taxable. Unregistered businesses usually report it on a consumer use tax return; registered sellers include it on their sales and use tax return.
Speak with a partner
Every enquiry is read by a partner and answered within one business day. Meetings are held at our offices, at yours, or by video.