eCommerce Technology Becomes Accustomed to Sales Tax

Our industry partner, Avalara, has written blog posts concerning the recent sales tax changes affecting many eCommerce technology companies (including Amazon) in California and in Pennsylvania. These are the basic points:New

Sales Tax Regulations went into effect in California on September 15, 2012. This new law (Stats. 2011, ch. 313 (AB 155) expands the types of out-of-state retailers required to register with the California State Board of Equalization (BOE) and requires them to begin collecting and remitting use tax on sales of tangible personal property to California consumers. This includes ANY out-of-state retailer that:

• has sold more than $1 million worth of merchandise to California consumers in the past year
• sold more than $10,000 in-state referred sales by an affiliate operating in California.

California is serious about enforcing these new laws, and have also announced they are hiring an additional 100 auditors to enhance their enforcement activities.In addition, the Pennsylvania deadline for registration for ecommerce sellers was September 1. Sales and Use Tax Bulletin 2011-01 explained existing sales tax nexus law for remote sellers, clarifying the law and the department's authority to require ecommerce and other out-of-state sellers with physical presence in Pennsylvania to collect sales tax. This law also gives Pennsylvania the statutory authority to look back at least three years for audit and assessment purposes.Catch the rest of Avalara's blog posts here, here, and here. (Image courtesy of CNN Money)