Monika Miles-Online Sales Tax And SAAS

Last year was a big one in the online sales tax debate; everything changed following the Wayfair v. South Dakota Supreme Court decision. Once the ruling was announced in June, states began creating and implementing online sales tax provisions for internet retailers selling to state residents. In addition to adding uncertainty for small business trying to sort out tax code for dozens of states across the country, the ruling complicated another already-confusing situation: the taxability of SaaS (Software as a Service).

Online Sales Tax & SaaS In States Across the Country

How does the taxability of SaaS tie in with the Wayfair ruling? The Wayfair ruling doesn’t relate specifically to SaaS – it’s about nexus – but because states are enacting laws which now make it easier to create nexus (for instance, the South Dakota standards that started this all – sales of over $100,000 in a year OR 200 transactions), companies now need to be more diligent in determining whether their products and services are subject to tax in various states. That’s where the analysis of the SaaS revenue stream fits in. Many of our clients that were, perhaps, based in one state and may have had physical presence nexus in one or two other states didn’t have that much to worry about. But now, we need to know where their revenue streams (SaaS and others) are taxable because they are often reaching the minimum thresholds for registration, collection and filing of sales tax.

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