State Sales Tax Rates Vary Widely
Each states sales tax rate generally varies from two to six percent. Some states only have a single statewide sales tax rate. For example, the sales tax rate in Connecticut is 6.35 percent. If you were to walk into a store and buy a taxable item anywhere in Connecticut, youd pay the 6.35-percent sales tax rate.
However, most states allow counties, cities, and other local areas to levy a sales tax, too. This is why you would pay six percent sales tax when purchasing an item in the Atlanta suburb of Kennesaw, Georgia. But if you drive into nearby Atlanta and buy that same item, youd pay 8.9 percent in sales tax.
This is where collecting sales tax can get especially tricky for online sellers. In e-commerce, the point of sale is considered the place where the buyer takes possession of the item, generally their house or workplace address. As an online seller, its your responsibility to know the sales tax rate at your buyers shipping address.
When Are The Tax Free Weekends
The Short Answer: Tax free weekends, also known as sales tax holidays, vary from state to state. States can have sales tax holidays any time of year, and many states have tax free weekends in the fall as school starts. Some sales tax holidays are actually longer than weekends, too.
The Detailed Answer:
States can choose to declare “tax free weekends” where certain items are exempt from sales tax.
These sales tax holidays are in general intended to give consumers a break on expensive items like back to school supplies or energy efficient appliances, as well as stimulate the state’s economy.
The video below explains more about sales tax holidays:
Components Of The Statewide Sales And Use Tax
There are seven components to the sales and use tax rate six are state and one is local. Just over half of the sales and use tax goes to the states General Fund. A portion of a percent is sent to the state for local safety, statewide education, and local revenue support for health and social services.
The local component receives just over 1 percent for county transportation and city or county operations.
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Sales Tax Rates Vary Widely
Some countries have one country-wide sales tax rate. Not so in the United States. Each U.S. state sets their own statewide sales tax rate , and then most states allow local areas such as cities, counties and special taxing districts, to add sales tax rates on top of that. States, cities and other local areas then use this sales tax to pay for budget items like schools and hospitals.
For example, the sales tax rate in Centennial, Colorado is made up of:
- 2.9% Colorado state sales tax rate
- .250% Arapahoe County sales tax rate
- 2.5% Centennial city sales tax rate
- 1.10% district tax rate
Someone buying a toothbrush in Centennial, CO would pay a total of 6.75% in sales tax. This money is then distributed to the state of Colorado, Arapahoe Countys government, Centennials government, and the entity governing the district tax for them to use to fund their budgets.
As an online seller, this means you are required to know how much sales tax to collect from your buyers, and then to remit it to the right places. Fortunately, most online shopping carts and marketplaces have built in sales tax collection so you dont have to figure these rates out yourself!
Saves On Sales Taxes When Your Business Buys For Resale
Did you know that your business can save on taxes by not paying sales taxes on certain products you buy? Depending on the state where you do business and the types of products you buy, you could save from 4% to 10% on state and local taxes for qualified products. The savings come on items your business purchases for resale or components you buy to make something for resale.
To get these savings on sales taxes, you must apply to your state for a sales tax certificate. A sales tax certificate may also be called a resale certificate, reseller’s permit, reseller’s license, or a tax-exempt certificate, depending on your state. It allows your business to buy or rent property or services tax-free when the property or service is resold or re-rented.
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Sales Tax Is Governed At The State Stage
Theres no federal income tax in the United States. Instead, every kingdom makes its income tax laws. Those skill U.S. retailers that work around the United States of America can discover themselves dealing with forty-six exceptional units of income tax policies and regulations.
If you have income tax nexus in a country , you must register for an income tax allowed in that state. Sales tax registration strategies range from nation to state, as do character policies for sellers.
And even if you solely take care of income tax collection, reporting, and submitting in two or three states, it can be a significant one-of-a-kind trip from country to nation.
The Marketplace Facilitator Law
Amazon did tax sales on its own products. However, it hasnt always charged VAT on third-party sales. Thats why many US states have begun to enforce Marketplace Facilitator laws since 2017.
This came in part as a consequence of Amazons warehouses. By having a physical location in most US states, Amazon became liable for sales tax nexus.
A sales tax nexus means that you have a significant presence in the state, and that you need to pay sales tax.
- Collect and pay seller sales tax on behalf of merchants.
- Post notices and report dues to customers and the government.
In the latter case, sellers should state that sales tax is due on a product purchase. They can do this using order forms, invoices and receipts to customers and the Department of Revenue.
But overall, its the selling platform who handles sales tax collection. However, third-party brands would still need to collect taxes from their own sales.
The problem is that sellers feel that charging taxes would discourage customers from buying products.
Plus, the reporting process can be quite complex. And the hassle of creating and delivering reports to each customer only adds to the weariness.
Luckily, Amazon has taken the initiative to comply with sales tax collection. Lets find out how Amazon sales tax collection works for sellers.
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What Businesses Need To Know
Small business owners have to be prepared and knowledgeable about their sales tax obligation. Mistakes in reporting or remitting sales taxes or even missing a scheduled payment can result in penalties or criminal charges. The pitfalls are many, and it is easy to overlook or forget something.
Common stumbling blocks are confusion over what constitutes a resale and what to do about them understanding terminology and even what, specifically, to tax.
Specific State And Local Taxes
How do state and local sales taxes work?
Forty-five states and the District of Columbia levy general sales taxes that apply to all goods and certain services. Thirty-seven states also allow general sales taxes at the local level. Most states apply separate sales taxes to particular goods, including tobacco, alcohol, and motor fuels.
HOW MUCH REVENUE DO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS RAISE FROM SALES TAXES?
States rely on sales taxes more than local governments do. States collected $457 billion from sales taxes in 2017, or 35 percent of their own-source general revenue . Own-source revenue excludes intergovernmental transfers. Nearly two-thirds of that total came from general sales taxes, while the other third came from selective sales taxes on specific purchases such as motor fuel, tobacco, and alcohol. Local governments collected $124 billion from sales taxes in 2017, or 11 percent of their own-source general revenue. Of that total, $89 billion came from general sales taxes and $34 billion came from selective sales taxes.
Every state and the District of Columbia collected revenue from selective sales taxes in 2017. The average revenue from these taxes was 8 percent of state and local own-source general revenue, but 15 states collected 10 percent or more from selective sales taxes. Nevadas 17 percent from selective sales taxes was the highest revenue share of any state, while Wyomings 4 percent was the lowest.
HOW DO GENERAL SALES TAX RATES DIFFER ACROSS STATES?
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Review Your Sales Taxes
Use the Sales Tax Summary Report to easily see the amount of Sales Taxes youve collected from your Invoices and Expenses .
If using Accounting, Sales Taxes can be reviewed further with a variety of these Reports:
- Taxes Payable Parent Account – Reflects all sales taxes collected on Credit Notes, Invoices and Other Income
- Taxes Paid Account – Reflects all sales taxes paid on Expenses
- Taxes Paid will not deduct automatically against the Taxes Payable amounts – your accountant can record this via Journal Entries instead
What Are Sales Taxes
Sales taxes are imposed by the states for transactions that occur within their borders. In most states, sales tax kicks in when there is a triggering event. Most often this event is the consummation of a retail sale. Initially, the states were content to limit their taxes to retail sales of tangible personal property. However, in recent years, most states have expanded the scope of their sales taxes to encompass leasing transactions and at least some services.
Generally, each retail sale is presumed to be taxable. However, most states allow some exemptions from sales tax, usually based on the type of item sold or upon some characteristic of the purchaser. As the business owner, you are responsible for knowing what items are taxed at which rates. However, in most cases, the purchaser must affirmatively establish his or her right to claim the exemption. For example, the purchaser may provide evidence that he is making the purchase for a tax-exempt organization.
In general, sales taxes are computed on some measure of gross receipts. In other words, the tax generally applies to the full amount a seller receives from a purchaser as opposed to the net profit the seller realizes on the sale.
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How Us Sales Tax Works
This article is written by our friends at TaxJar.
The sales tax system in the U.S. is anything but simple. With 45 states , over 10,000 sales tax rates, and a whole lot of variability, it can be tough for retailers to make sense of U.S. sales tax. This post explains why U.S. sales tax is so complex, and helps you demystify it.
Sales Tax 101 For Online Sellers
OVERVIEW
Most people are familiar with sales tax that extra percentage stores collect from customers in many states. If you own a store in a state that collects a sales tax, you are usually required to add state and local sales taxes to the customer’s total bill, collect it and send it off to the local tax authority. But if you sell your products online, you may or may not have similar sales-tax-collection duties.
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Tax Deed Sale And Instant Ownership
A tax deed sale is different from a tax lien sale in that it offers complete ownership of a property. In some states, the government will seize homes with unpaid property taxes and then sell the properties at a tax deed sale, which is a public auction. The property at a tax deed sale is usually sold for the amount due in unpaid taxes, plus fees and interest charges. Its also known as a foreclosure auction.
Even though that amount could be relatively low, bidders usually drive up the price during the auction process. Before being transferred to the winning bidder, the property should be cleared of all mortgages and liens against it.
How Does Sales Tax Work In Usa
How Does Sales Tax Work In USA The sales tax structure in the U.S. is anything but easy. With forty five states , over 11,000 sales tax duty, and a lot of roughness, it can be challenging for retailers to make U.S. sales tax intelligence. This post explains why U.S. sales tax is so many-sided and helps you depiction it.
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Sales & Use Tax Frequently Asked Questions
See what others are asking regarding taxation on sales and use tax in South Dakota for individuals.
Do I have to pay both sales tax and use tax?
No, sales tax is collected by the seller, however there are some out-of-state retailers who are not licensed to collect South Dakota state and local taxes. In those instances, the consumer is responsible for remitting use tax.
All business with a physical presence in South Dakota are required to collect and remit state and local taxes.
The contractor I hired wants to know the value of the materials I am providing for the project. I paid sales tax on the materials when I purchased them, why does a contractor need this information?
Contractors are responsible for paying contractors excise tax on the entire value of the materials, including the value of the materials purchased by the project owner. If a contractor is unable to obtain the amount paid for the materials, they will calculate the fair-market value.
What rate of tax is a contractor allowed to charge?
Contractors pay sales tax at the time of purchase on the materials they will use in a construction project. Some contractors will combine these expenses into one line on an invoice and others will break them out. Either way is allowed.
In addition, contractors owe a 2% excise tax on the payments they receive for reality improvement projects. In order to recover the tax they are allowed to pass this expense on to the customer and mark up the bill by 2.041%.
What Is Sales Tax
A sales tax is one that applies to the purchase of goods and services for consumers and to the sale of goods and services for businesses. Its a type of consumption tax, meaning it taxes people for spending money. Its categorized as a consumption tax because sales taxes are generally passed along to consumers at the point of sale.
A sales tax is also a type of indirect tax, which means it isnt paid directly to the government as is income tax. Instead, retailers collect sales taxes from their consumers and then remit them to the appropriate government entity.
Imposed by both state and local governments, sales taxes make up the largest source of tax revenue for states throughout the country.
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What Is Sales Tax Anyway
The Short Answer: Sales tax is a tax on retail purchases. It is used to pay for state and local budget items like schools, roads and fire departments.
The Detailed Answer:
Sales tax is a consumption tax, and is generally charged on the sale of products from retailers to individual consumers.
When people in the U.S. hear the word tax, they generally think about the Internal Revenue Service. In fact, the IRS doesn’t have anything to do with sales tax. Sales tax in the U.S. is governed at the state level. Forty-five states and Washington D.C. all have a sales tax. Each state sets their own sales tax rates, and makes their own sales tax laws and rules. This means you may find yourself paying sales tax at different rates, or sales tax on different types of items depending on what state you are in.
Sales tax is used to pay for state and local budget items like schools, roads and fire departments. Many areas rely on sales tax to fund their budgets, so they are very serious about collecting all the sales tax they are owed.
Motor Vehicles And Building Materials
Specific rules govern the imposition of state-administered local sales taxes on motor vehicles and building materials. Under certain circumstances, motor vehicles and building materials are subject to local use taxes, rather than sales taxes. The Colorado Department of Revenue does not administer use taxes for any city or county. Instead, any applicable city and county use taxes are generally paid directly to the city or county with the application for either motor vehicle titling or construction permitting. Department publication Colorado Sales/Use Tax Rates provides information about local use taxes.
Motor vehicles
The sale of a motor vehicle is exempt from state-administered local sales tax if both of the following conditions are met:
- the purchaser is a nonresident of the city, county, or special district or, if the purchaser is a business, the purchasers principal place of business is outside of the city, county, or special district and
- the motor vehicle is registered or required to be registered outside of the city, county, or special district.
If the sale of a motor vehicle is exempt from any state-administered local sales tax, based upon these conditions, the purchaser may be required to pay use tax to the county clerk at the time of registration for the city, county, and/or special district in which the vehicle is registered.
See Department publication Sales & Use Tax Topics: Motor Vehicles for additional information.
Construction and building materials
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Charge For Shipping It Might Be Taxable
Most states consider shipping to be a taxable part of an eCommerce sale. In their eyes, since you sell online, you must ship the item for the customer to receive it.
Lets look at an example:
Say you sell the hottest Q4 childrens toy to a buyer for $100, plus $5 for shipping. In states where shipping is taxable, youd charge sales tax on the $105 transaction total.
In states where shipping is not considered taxable, youd only charge sales tax on the $100 item price, but not on the $5 shipping charge.
You can see a list of states where shipping is taxable here. Most online shopping carts and marketplaces allow you to specify whether you want to charge sales tax on shipping charges. Of course, you can always get around the need to do this by offering free shipping!