{"id":5845,"date":"2016-07-26T10:21:44","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T07:21:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.xcartwp.x-cart.com\/?p=5845"},"modified":"2024-07-17T14:47:46","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T11:47:46","slug":"how-your-business-can-stay-ahead-on-sales-taxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.x-cart.com\/blog\/how-your-business-can-stay-ahead-on-sales-taxes.html","title":{"rendered":"How Your Business Can Stay Ahead on Sales Taxes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For many online sellers, sales tax compliance has never been a simple task even if they are only obligated to collect sales tax in a state or two. But if states have their way, sellers could be required to deal with sales tax in a lot more places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online sales get different tax treatment than those in brick-and-mortar stores due to a 1992 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Quill Corp v. North Dakota<\/em>, that companies are only required to collect sales tax for a state if they have a physical presence there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National legislative efforts to change this \u2014 including the\u00a0Marketplace Fairness Act<\/a>, the\u00a0Remote Transactions Parity Act\u00a0and the\u00a0Online Sales Simplification Act<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 have yielded no results in years of trying, so many states are taking matters into their own hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent entry is South Dakota, which passed a law requiring out-of-state sellers with annual South Dakota sales over $100,000, or 200 separate transactions, to collect sales tax. The law took effect May 1 and the state starting enforcing it immediately,\u00a0suing four online sellers, including Newegg and Overstock.com, for noncompliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, a group representing online sellers has challenged the law in court, resulting in an injunction that prevents the state from enforcing the law until the matter is decided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this particular case may be on hold, it\u2019s clear that states will not stop fighting to expand sales tax obligation for online sales. For online sellers, this means that there are even more possible sales tax changes to watch out for in order to reduce the risk of audit, under- or overpayment or fines.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n What you can do <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are several steps that merchants can take to make sure they are one step ahead of ever-changing sales tax regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Do your research<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A wealth of free information exists to help businesses keep up on the latest sales tax rates and regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n