With recent changes in federal and state laws, we are having a lot of conversations about internet sales taxes – who needs to implement them and how.
Changing Laws
Most recently, a Supreme Court ruling (South Dakota v. Wayfair) opens the door to allowing states requiring certain retailers selling to customers within that state to collect and pay taxes. Those laws may vary by state, impacting only certain companies. For instance, the South Dakota law applies to companies with more than $100,000 or 200 sales from that state. We recommend that you speak with a trusted business lawyer if you have any concerns about a specific state law.
Dig Deeper
Since we aren’t lawyers, we don’t the details for every state and every situation, but here are a few great resources we found if you’re interested in learning more:
- The Seller’s Guide to E-Commerce Sales Tax from TaxJar
- Internet Sales Tax: A 50-State Guide to State Laws from NOLO
- What Does the Wayfair Decision Really Mean for States, Businesses, and Consumers? from Tax Foundation
Systems to Address Tax Concerns
At this point in the game, we encourage you to start thinking about your own sales funnels and ecommerce system. Are you currently collecting taxes? Does the system you use allow for tax collection? Which states are you most impacted by?
As with our discussions about GDPR, we reiterate that we aren’t lawyers and can’t give specific guidance about how these laws could affect you. However, we do know quite a bit about the HOW. We specialize in the installation of the tools needed to collect taxes through various ecommerce platforms. We have helped countless clients move forward with implementing taxes in their online sales process, seamlessly and painlessly.
Common ecommerce systems our clients use, such as WooCommerce or Shopify, have built in tax systems which do basic functions well. You may be able to just turn this function on, or off, fairly simply. (In fact, here are the basic steps for setting up in WooCommerce and Shopify). More unique setups may require specialized help. For instance, there are ways to override an automatic tax, if a particular sale doesn’t qualify for taxing, or vice versa. We have the expertise in setting up systems at your point of sale.
Whether you need help with the basic set up or a unique tweak to your sales, we would be happy to help. Contact us today for more information about these and other marketing technology installations.