Collecting Sales TaxSales tax is a common point of confusion for all growing businesses. In an effort to inform and support all of our clients, this article outlines the four crucial steps to registering once you start to reach economic nexus thresholds and have a...
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What is use tax?
We often see the terms “sales and use tax” bundled together in the same sentence. But, as it turns out, that phrase does a lot of heavy lifting. While sales and use tax are similar, there’s a reason we hear about both. One reason that the term “use tax” can be so...
These States Provide a Sales Tax Discount!
Collecting and filing sales tax is a thankless task. As a retailer, you collect it from your buyers and pass it straight on to the state. While it sits in your account for a month or a quarter, you don’t get to keep it. A few heroic states, though, understand that...
Navigating Sales Tax Audits: A Guide for E-commerce Businesses
Being hit with a sales tax audit notice can induce panic for e-commerce businesses. Yet these audits are becoming more common as states look to close tax gaps and ensure compliance. It doesn’t help that since the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair decision, sales tax nexus...
Voluntary Disclosure Agreements (VDAs): Sales Tax Compliance Tool for Online Retailers
Knowing where your business is supposed to collect sales tax is complicated. It became even more complicated after the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair decision that allowed states to implement economic nexus. At HOST, we’ve worked with e-commerce businesses for 25 years,...
Preparing for Black Friday/Cyber Monday: Sales Tax Edition
This time of year many articles crop up to advise e-commerce sellers on how to prepare for the upcoming selling holidays like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This good advice is meant to boost your bottom line and help you take advantage of an audience ready to click...
What Changing Your Business EIN Means for Sales Tax
Over our 25 years helping businesses stay sales tax compliant, one hurdle we’ve noticed tripping our customers up is the employer identification number (EIN). Most businesses will eventually need an EIN. They are necessary for common business tasks like opening a...
Sales Tax Sourcing: Origin vs. Destination Based Sales Tax, Explained
Forty-six US states and DC all have a sales tax. The fact that each state gets to make their own rules and regulations around sales tax can lead to some confusion. One confusing aspect of sales tax? Sales tax sourcing. What does “sourcing” mean in sales tax?...
Should I charge sales tax on shipping?
Everything sales tax-related is more complicated for e-commerce sellers. Sales tax on shipping charges is no different. As an e-commerce seller, the product has to get to the customer somehow. In most cases, that means the nice guy or gal in the big box truck places...
How to Validate a Resale Certificate in Any US State
Nearly every retailer will encounter a customer with a resale certificate from time to time. (Read our in-depth guide to resale certificates here.) Usually, the buyer is buying your products with the intent to resell them. If you agree to that, your next step is to...