US Sales Tax for eCommerce businesses
Sales tax is a small percentage added to a sale by a retailer. Most sales taxes vary from state to state and may differ further, as most states allow local areas, such as cities and counties, to have their own sales taxes. Sales tax is typically determined at the state level, which can make it tricky, especially when you are managing an online retailer selling to customers in different states.
On June 21, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of the state in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. This ruling allows the state to begin taxing remote sales under its economic nexus laws, and, as a result, we anticipate regulatory tightening towards the end of 2020 for Gooten.
Additional sales tax resources:
- Dropshipping infographic
- Sales Tax Implications of Drop Shipping
- Sales tax nexus resources
- A State-by-state guide to economic nexus laws
Need additional help with getting tax-exempt?
For any questions regarding exemption certification submission or if you’d prefer assistance with this process, please send a copy of your certificate(s) to GootenEC@sattarinc.com, and we will review and upload the certificate(s) for you and confirm the exemptions.
If you have additional questions about resale certificates or need other guidance on sales & use tax issues, please use the email address provided above, and we’ll help.
Who is Avalara?
Avalara is a team of tax experts that provides a sales tax calculation and compliance platform to assist with business tax compliance. Avalara provides CertCapture, which is a management tool that creates, validates, stores, and manages sales tax exemption and reseller certificates.
Why are we partnering with Avalara?
Currently, Gooten does not charge sales tax to our merchant partners. Still, with these tightening regulations, Gooten began charging a sales tax on all orders in jurisdictions where it had crossed applicable sales tax thresholds. Gooten merchants who are registered or become registered as resellers (with a valid reseller certificate) will not be charged sales tax.
We want to make it clear that we are not tax experts, so we are partnering with Avalara to collect reseller certification information to ensure we do not have to charge you sales tax. Avalara’s soAvalara'snable us to automate sales tax compliance.
How can I get help with getting a reseller certificate?
Gooten support agents cannot provide tax advice. Our Gooten support team can help with any Gooten-related issues, and since we're not tax experts, we do not offer sales tax advice specific to your business.
We highly recommend consulting with a CPA, Tax Attorney, or the relevant State Department of Revenue (Taxation, Comptroller, Equalization, etc.) for sales tax advice and how to get a reseller certificate in your state/nexus thresholds or an equivalent of a reseller certificate if you're a business operating with US customers.
What should you expect as a partner?
All merchant partners (the US and non-US) who sell products within the US are subject to sales tax and will be charged sales tax on orders unless you get certified as a reseller.
All partners can manage their reseller certificates in the CertCapture platform.
- Use the "Setting up "ales Tax Exemption" article to"access the CertCapture platform directly from the Gooten Admin.
Once you are on the CertCapture platform, you will need to provide your reseller certification information.
Gooten collects your registration information so we can certify that you are a reseller and collects and remits sales tax when you charge your customers.
Once you’ve provided your reseller certification information to CertCapture, Gooten will essentially pull the data from CertCapture to validate that you are a reseller, and you will not be charged sales tax for any orders shipped to jurisdictions in which you are certified as a reseller.