• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Big Ideas for Small Business logo

Barbara Weltman

Big Ideas for Small Business, Inc.

Whitepaper download

Subscribe and download our eBook, "150+ Tax Deductions for Small Business A to Z."

This field is hidden when viewing the form
Get the:

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Big Ideas For Your Business
    • Idea Of The Day ®
    • SMB Legal
    • SMB Taxes
    • SMB Financial
    • Small Business
    • Newsletter Archive
  • Services
  • Books
  • Blog
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Radio Shows/Podcasts
  • Be a Guest Blogger

What You Should Know about the Streamlined Sales Tax

August 21, 2018 / By Barbara Weltman

Streamlined Sales TaxThe Streamlined Sales Tax is an organization that started in 2000 with the goal of finding solutions for the complexity in state sales tax systems. Today there are 24-member states. In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision effectively allowing states to require out-of-state merchants to collect sales tax on transactions within their borders, the activities of the Streamlined Sales Tax are vital to your business.

How the Streamlined Sales Tax works

Because there are more than 10,000 sales tax jurisdictions in the U.S. when you factor in local sales taxes, and the items (and even definitions of items) subject to sales tax differ within these jurisdictions, the Streamlined Sales Tax was formed to create uniformity. Its goals include standardizing tax base definitions and simplifying tax returns and other obligations for remote sellers.

Businesses can try to handle sales tax obligations on remote sales when they are required to collect them. Or they can use a certified service provider (CSP), which is a company approved by the Streamlined Sales Tax:

  • Avalara
  • Accurate Tax
  • Exactor
  • Sovos
  • TaxCloud
  • Taxify by Sovos
  • Taxometry

The CSP works with your accounting system and other enterprise resource platforms (point of sale, e-commerce) to ensure the business’s compliance with sales tax obligations.

States starting to exercise their taxing authority

The case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court concerned South Dakota’s sales tax law, which applies to remote sellers with $100,000 or more in annual sales or 200 in-state transactions. So small sellers, such as many on eBay and Etsy, are exempt from sales tax responsibilities.

Now Washington state announced that it will begin to collect sales tax from out-of-state merchants on transactions beginning October 1, 2018. Remote sellers making either $100,000 or more in sales to Washington purchasers or 200 transactions with Washington purchasers must register their business and collect/submit retail sales/use tax on those sales. (Since January 1, 2018, Washington’s Marketplace Fairness law had already required merchants selling more than $10,000 in the state to either collect sales tax or follow use tax notification and reporting requirements.) Washington said that businesses can register with the Streamlined Sales Tax to meet its new sales tax requirement (this state is a member).

Final thought

Delaware, Montana, Oregon, and New Hampshire have no sales tax. There’s no state sales tax in Alaska but some localities in that state can charge one. So if you sell into these locations, you don’t have don’t have to worry about sales tax collections there. But merchants everywhere, even those located in no-sales-tax locations, must conform to state and local sales tax laws if they transact business remotely where sales tax rules apply. Look for more states like South Dakota and Washington to articulate sales tax rules for remote sellers, and watch for the exemption amounts for small businesses.

Tags online sales tax remote sellers sales tax small businesses state sales tax streamlined sales tax

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • General Business (506)
  • Guest Blog (115)
  • Homepage (28)
  • Small Business (1,008)
  • SMB Financial (330)
  • SMB Legal (67)
  • SMB Taxes (327)

Barbara’s Recent Posts

  • How to Choose the Right Promotional Product Distributor July 11, 2025
  • Is Christmas in July for Your Small Business? July 10, 2025
  • How to Streamline Recruitment and Selection to Enhance Hiring Results July 9, 2025
  • One Big Beautiful Bill: Checklist of Tax Changes for Small Businesses July 8, 2025
  • What the U.S. Supreme Court Told Small Businesses in This Term: Part 1 July 3, 2025
  • Mid-Year Business Planning for 2025 July 1, 2025
  • 10 Ideas for Coping with Cash Flow Challenges June 26, 2025
  • 5 Insurance Traps to Avoid June 24, 2025
  • Creating a Feng Shui Office Layout for Your Business June 20, 2025
  • Scaling Your Business by Optimizing Social Media Marketing June 19, 2025
  • The Timeless Value of Business Cards in a Digital World June 18, 2025
  • What Does the Latest IRS Data Book Tell Us? June 17, 2025
Awarded Top 100 Small Business Blog medal (link will open in a new window or tab)
Marquis Who's Who 2023 Badge
Top Small Business Blogs (Link will open in a new window or tab.)
8 Financial blogs small business Owners Need to Read. Invoice home.  (link will open in a new window or tab)
Best Small Business Blog, Expertido.org
Top 50 Small Business Blogs 2018
Best Small Business Blogs
BizHumm Top 100 Business Blog Award to Barbara Weltman
FitsSmallBusiness.com: Award for Best Small Business Blog 2017 (link will open in a new window or tab)
FitsSmallBusiness.com: Award for Best Small Business Blog 2016 (link will open in a new window or tab)

Footer

Big Ideas for Small Business logo

Small business ideas, business tax news and small business consulting from Barbara Weltman to provide business owners with the information they need to succeed. Visit our small business blog, Idea of The Day®, small business books and articles on small business taxes, small business finance and small business legal advice.

Contact Us

[email protected]

(772) 492-9593

gacor maxwin situs slot thailand terpercaya situs slot gacor situs gacor akun pro thailand slot bandar togel terpercaya

Latest Tweets

bigideas4sb Big Ideas for Small Business® @bigideas4sb ·
July 10

5 Best Apps to Help You Delegate Tasks Easily - LifeHack https://bit.ly/4ktlMs8 #smallbusiness #delegate #workplace

Reply on Twitter 1943438117886726437 Retweet on Twitter 1943438117886726437 Like on Twitter 1943438117886726437 1 Twitter 1943438117886726437
bigideas4sb Big Ideas for Small Business® @bigideas4sb ·
July 10

Motivation vs Discipline: Why One Always Beats the Other (And It's Not What You Think) - LifeHack https://bit.ly/4eCTSIQ #productivity #smallbusiness #motivation

Reply on Twitter 1943384967964229673 Retweet on Twitter 1943384967964229673 Like on Twitter 1943384967964229673 Twitter 1943384967964229673
bigideas4sb Big Ideas for Small Business® @bigideas4sb ·
July 10

Use These 11 Guidelines to Decide When to Bend the Rules for Employees https://bit.ly/3GEPOeH #workplace #smallbusiness

Reply on Twitter 1943360134333276317 Retweet on Twitter 1943360134333276317 Like on Twitter 1943360134333276317 Twitter 1943360134333276317
Load More

Copyright © 2008–2025 Big Ideas for Small Business, Inc  |  Designed by Hudson Fusion

  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap