4 ms·

TaxJar already handles all the sales tax lookups and filings, and is integrated with Stripe, Shopify, etc. And it’s cheap too. The problem comes when you want

TaxJar already handles all the sales tax lookups and filings, and is integrated with Stripe, Shopify, etc. And it’s cheap too. The problem comes when you want them to handle the filing and remittances for you. That can get expensive fast. Really though, I suspect that the number of small (and large) businesses who are 100% compliant here is zero. 50 states, all with different rules, and increasingly international jurisdictions that want to charge sales, income, and VAT taxes on global companies of any size based on where the customer is, not where the company is. I can’t imagine the enforcement can even come close to keeping up with all this. For example, my understanding is that businesses anywhere in the world are supposed to charge EU customers VAT starting this year. Dream on.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
AnssiH 9y ago
> For example, my understanding is that businesses anywhere in the world are supposed to charge EU customers VAT starting this year. Dream on. I've been following the EU VAT plans somewhat closely, and I'm not aware of any such changes affecting non-EU businesses occurring this year. Or maybe I missed it, could well be... Sellers of digital services situated outside the EU already have been supposed to charge VAT from EU customers for a few years now (since Jan 2015 IIRC). For physical goods, some additional measures are in the pipeline for 2021 - e.g. marketplaces become responsible for collecting VAT on some imports, and sellers outside EU can pre-remit VAT for a fast-track customs procedure for some imports, and VAT-exempt small imports will end - but nothing that requires all non-EU businesses to charge VAT from EU customers, they can still leave it to end-customer to pay on delivery (unless the marketplace took care of it).
- ryanwaggoner 9y ago
  Yeah, I’m wrong about this, it happened awhile ago. It just seems insane to me. I don’t understand how some random country thinks they have jurisdiction over the entire globe just because someone else sold their citizen something digital. If you want to tax that transaction, I think the best you can do is hold the citizen responsible for payment. But of course, tax law is not usually about what’s right or logical or fair. It’s about what you can enforce and get away with.
  - fjsolwmv 9y ago
    A random country clearly has the power to ban imports. Would you prefer that over paying taxes?
  - Feniks 9y ago
    EU is not a country. It does however represent the world's biggest unified market. And as the US clearly demonstrates: taxation is better done centrally.
    - JoeAltmaier 9y ago
      Well, its certainly trying to behave like one then! Uniform currency, no border enforcement/passport requirement, law enforcement that spans members. Its as much like a country as the United States individual states are a country? Anyway, taxation is, as the famous dude said, the art of plucking the goose as to get the most feathers with the least squawking. Any semblance to a rational system is only there to appease/content the citizens as they get plucked.
robryan 9y ago
Some jurisdictions also make it almost impossible for an overseas company to register. FBA for international companies is really problematic. If your company has a real physical presence and employees in a state compliance with sales tax is probably a minor amount of extra work attached to operating in a state. If you have sent 1 shipment of items to FBA (a process which might take you an hour to setup) the burden of now having to register and file sales tax in 15 states is massive compared to your operations in those states.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

AnssiH 9y ago

> For example, my understanding is that businesses anywhere in the world are supposed to charge EU customers VAT starting this year. Dream on. I've been following the EU VAT plans somewhat closely, and I'm not aware of any such changes affecting non-EU businesses occurring this year. Or maybe I missed it, could well be... Sellers of digital services situated outside the EU already have been supposed to charge VAT from EU customers for a few years now (since Jan 2015 IIRC). For physical goods, some additional measures are in the pipeline for 2021 - e.g. marketplaces become responsible for collecting VAT on some imports, and sellers outside EU can pre-remit VAT for a fast-track customs procedure for some imports, and VAT-exempt small imports will end - but nothing that requires all non-EU businesses to charge VAT from EU customers, they can still leave it to end-customer to pay on delivery (unless the marketplace took care of it).

ryanwaggoner 9y ago
Yeah, I’m wrong about this, it happened awhile ago. It just seems insane to me. I don’t understand how some random country thinks they have jurisdiction over the entire globe just because someone else sold their citizen something digital. If you want to tax that transaction, I think the best you can do is hold the citizen responsible for payment. But of course, tax law is not usually about what’s right or logical or fair. It’s about what you can enforce and get away with.
- fjsolwmv 9y ago
  A random country clearly has the power to ban imports. Would you prefer that over paying taxes?
- Feniks 9y ago
  EU is not a country. It does however represent the world's biggest unified market. And as the US clearly demonstrates: taxation is better done centrally.
  - JoeAltmaier 9y ago
    Well, its certainly trying to behave like one then! Uniform currency, no border enforcement/passport requirement, law enforcement that spans members. Its as much like a country as the United States individual states are a country? Anyway, taxation is, as the famous dude said, the art of plucking the goose as to get the most feathers with the least squawking. Any semblance to a rational system is only there to appease/content the citizens as they get plucked.

robryan 9y ago

Some jurisdictions also make it almost impossible for an overseas company to register. FBA for international companies is really problematic. If your company has a real physical presence and employees in a state compliance with sales tax is probably a minor amount of extra work attached to operating in a state. If you have sent 1 shipment of items to FBA (a process which might take you an hour to setup) the burden of now having to register and file sales tax in 15 states is massive compared to your operations in those states.