Whether or not you are required by law to collect sales tax over the internet from your e-commerce customers depends on a number of factors. This has been a hot topic for quite some time now. Principally if your business has a physical presence, known as a nexus, such as a brick and mortar store, an office, or a warehouse in a state that collects sales tax then you must do the same online. Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon do not collect sales tax at all so if your nexus is in any of these states you’re currently exempt. Depending on when you are reading this, you may need to double check with your accountant.
The easiest way to manage e-commerce sales tax is through your online merchant account or shopping cart service. E-commerce website applications are typically programmed to calculate things like shipping and sales tax for you. Some online merchants opt to integrate a comprehensive third-party business management solution that manages all of the accounting, including sales tax.
You should keep in mind that each state has its own rules concerning sales tax for internet sales. If you are unsure you can contact the small business administration for your state. Each state generally publishes a guide that is available online. You can also search for helpful information at www.usa.gov/business. For all of you ‘power searchers’ out there, you can get to the section for your state quickly by typing the following directly into your address bar: www.usa.gov/state-business/your-state/. For example, for information concerning North Carolina you would type: www.usa.gov/state-business/north-carolina
That’s one of the big reasons I am not leaving Oregon any time soon.