The State and Local Tax Buzz

Understanding U.S. sales tax isn’t always easy for international or foreign (non-U.S.) eCommerce sellers. There is much to understand, such as what sales tax is, what the different sales tax terms mean, how sales tax is calculated but most importantly, what sales tax responsibilities an international or foreign seller that sells to U.S. customers may have. I often say that sales tax is confusing for U.S. eCommerce sellers – but it is even more confusing for out-of-country eCommerce sellers who are unfamiliar with U.S. sales tax.
If you’re following my U.S. Sales Tax for Foreign Sellers posts here at SalesTaxSupport.com, you may have noticed I try to address many of the types of questions and concerns foreign sellers have about U.S. sales tax, such as how using Amazon FBA creates sales tax obligations for foreign sellers, how U.S. sales tax compares to a VAT, why U.S. tax treaties do not prevent or protect foreign sellers from being subject to the various state sales tax laws, and wha…

Often when I blog on U.S. Sales Tax for Foreign Sellers I blog based on questions my clients are asking or information and updates I'm providing. One topic I often discuss with my foreign (non-U.S.) clients and other foreign sellers that send questions my way, is the topic of “other” U.S. state taxes that a foreign seller may be subject to.

That’s correct! A foreign seller may have an obligation to file (lodge) and pay state taxes other than a state’s sales tax.
And indeed this topic is fresh in my mind because it just so happens that today I am quite busy preparing and filing the Texas Franchise Tax return for several of my foreign Amazon FBA clients. 
This is because the Texas Franchise Tax is one such example of an “other” type of state tax that foreign sellers may be subject to.
You see, in the same way that a foreign seller may be required to register, collect and remit (pay) sales tax on product sales to U.S. consumers, a foreign seller may also be required to file (lodge) …

Are you a seller located outside of the United States that sells or plans to sell to U.S. customers? If so, you probably have many questions about the U.S. tax requirements that apply to international businesses. And if you are particularly concerned about how our sales tax laws apply to international (non-U.S.) businesses, then you’ve come to the right place! Helping international businesses understand U.S. sales tax is exactly what we try to do here at the “U.S. Sales Tax for Foreign Sellers” blog.
You see, I know that international businesses, especially international sellers, have many questions about doing business in the U.S. And so the topics that I write about are often based on issues that I am advising my own international clients on or on questions that I receive from international sellers (such as from sellers who post comments at my posts here at SalesTaxSupport).
For instance, I often receive many questions from international Amazon FBA sellers. Because I wanted to addre…

If you’ve made your way to this blog post, you’re probably an international seller that has begun to sell (or will soon be selling) to customers in the U.S. Or perhaps you’re an international seller that is wondering whether you’ll have to collect sales tax if you sell to U.S. customers. Or maybe you are using (or plan to use) a third party order fulfillment service, such as Amazon’s FBA service, to manage your inventory and fulfill your orders and you’re wondering what sales tax requirements this will create for your international business.
Whatever the situation is – you’re an international seller that is concerned with U.S. sales tax and wants to know more about your potential sales tax obligations. So today I’ll be explaining the requirement to register for sales tax collection purposes and some important concepts that an international seller should be aware of.
But before I launch into today’s post, it's important to quickly revisit my last post where I wrote about U.S.Sales…

Are you a foreign company selling on Amazon’s U.S. marketplace? Do you use Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (“FBA”) service?
If you answered “yes” to these questions – you will want to read this post!
When I first started blogging about U.S. Sales Tax for Foreign Sellers, I wrote a post about tax treaties and U.S. sales tax nexus and explained what foreign sellers need to know. I thought that this would be an important topic because many foreign sellers believe that they don’t have to worry about state sales taxes if they are from a country that has a tax treaty with the United States.
And sure enough, the comments, questions and requests for more information began to pour in which confirmed that this was an important topic! I also noticed that many of the comments and questions that I answered came from foreign sellers that use Amazon’s FBA service and that many of those sellers were surprised that using Amazon’s FBA service creates a requirement for them to collect sales taxes in the …

Foreign companies that sell to customers in the United States often find that the U.S. system of taxing the sale of goods and services is vastly different from the taxing system of their country. This is especially the situation if the foreign seller is from a country that imposes Value Added Tax (VAT).
Although there are some similarities between the U.S. sales tax and a VAT system, there are many differences. For foreign sellers that are just beginning to sell into the U.S. market, there is much to know. In addition to understanding how U.S. sales taxes are applied, foreign sellers need to be aware of their responsibilities as “tax collection agents”, that a uniform tax rate does not apply across the entire the United States, or that sellers can be subject to severe penalties for not fulfilling their responsibilities.
Yes, there is a lot to know! So in this post, I’ll provide an overview of a few key concepts of the U.S. sales tax system and highlight how the sales tax differs from…