Sales tax for non-US e-commerce sellers: the tax that isn't the IRS's (and still reaches you)
You sell on Amazon, Shopify or your own site to US customers and someone said 'watch out for sales tax.' Breathe: it's neither as terrible as internet panic says nor as ignorable as denial claims. Here's the full map, without either exaggeration.
🌐 También en español: Sales tax para e-commerce
First: what it is (and isn't)
Sales tax is a CONSUMPTION tax collected by states (not the IRS) on product sales — the conceptual cousin of VAT, but with 50 different rulebooks. It has nothing to do with your income tax: you can owe zero income tax and still have sales tax obligations. Separate worlds.
The key word: nexus
Physical nexus: material presence in a state — an office, employees, or the one that surprises everyone: inventory. If you use FBA, Amazon spreads your stock across warehouses in several states, and each warehouse can create nexus there.
Economic nexus: since 2018, selling "a lot" into a state creates an obligation even if you've never set foot there. The typical threshold is USD 100,000 in annual sales into the state (some add a transaction-count test). Each state sets its own — verify per state, don't assume.
The good news: marketplace facilitator laws
If you sell through Amazon, eBay, Etsy or Walmart, practically every state requires the MARKETPLACE to calculate, collect and remit the sales tax on your sales. Amazon does it for you. For the pure marketplace seller, the real operational burden is far smaller than the panic suggests — though some states may still require registering or reporting.
The part that's still yours
Your own site (Shopify, WooCommerce, Stripe). No facilitator here: where you have nexus, registering, charging at checkout and remitting is your job. Platforms have automatic calculation engines — the math is the easy part; knowing WHERE you're obligated is the work.
Registration and filings. Wherever you have nexus: a sales tax permit, collection, and filings at whatever frequency the state assigns — including zero periods. Registering and not filing is worse than never registering.
Digital products and services: it depends. Software, courses and downloads are treated differently state by state. If you sell intangibles, the analysis is per product and per state.
The 4-step action plan
- 1 · Map where your inventory sits (FBA report).
- 2 · Compare your sales by state against the thresholds.
- 3 · If you only sell via marketplaces, confirm which states still require anything.
- 4 · If you sell on your own site and crossed thresholds: register, collect, calendar. And re-check the map once a year — it grows with your sales.
📄 Take this with you as a PDF
This article is also a free printable guide: How a non-resident's LLC is taxed.
Your specific case?
Everything above is the general rule — real cases live in the details. In a 15-minute consultation (USD 29, credited toward any service) we review your situation and you leave with a concrete next step: book here →