US Ecommerce Taxing and Shipping costs

sales tax, shipping costs

[stevieboy]

Sales Tax
If you are selling from a particular state in the US - do you not have to apply the sales Tax for the State you are selling from and not the place you are selling to. So a consumer pays you for the product cost plus your state sales tax, so you can pay your state that Tax?

And if your distributors are in difference states or countries, then according to the location of your distributors, is that where the sales tax is payed?

If this is the case then I would only need to know the state, or state(s), I am selling the products from and apply these sales tax. I could have a list of all my distributors so when a consumer buys a product the website asks where they are situated, and then automatically works out the nearest distributor's State or country to them and applies the appropriate sales tax for that state.

Shipping costs
And then, finally, could shipping costs vary according to the distance between the distributing state or country to where they are
Situated?

So I can apply what ever extra costs for exporting to various countries customs and excise?

[rcjordan]

US ''Sales & Use Tax'' can be a very complex issue. Mostly, for consumer products, the issues evolve around ''nexus'' and type of good or service delivered. But there can even be special tax rates (by state) for types of customers (i.e., farmers get 2% rate rather than 7% on products used in their business, etc.). Check out this old thread, it covers a bit of it.

[webmasterworld.com...]

[pshea]

Stevie, welcome to webmasterworld and congratulations on your fine first post!

Governments all over the globe are trying to figure out how to tax sales made over the internet, but thankfully for us, they have not figured it out just yet. There is a lot of sabre rattling and for political reasons, some of the larger retail chains have begun to tax every sale made on the web, even though they don't have to.

Being in NY, I tax shipments made to NY only, all others, no tax. This puts me in compliance with existing NY laws as I am advised. You should consult a local accountant who has up-to-date knowledge for your state's rules.

As to shipping, the overall answer is Yes, you charge the customer for all shipping charges WHATEVER those charges may be. Advise the out-of-country customers that "Import Tax or Excise" may be charged by their home country for goods brought in and that those costs are not covered by your shipping costs.

Try to work out a simple formula for shipping costs regardless of the state from which you ship to a destination in another state. Making it easy on yourself will translate into a clear policy for your consumer.

Good luck in your new endeavor and remember to keep all of us here posted.