I sell online to customers in every state. Where do I actually owe sales tax?
You owe sales tax in any state where your sales into that state cross that state’s economic nexus threshold. Since the 2018 Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states no longer need you to have a physical presence to require you to collect sales tax. If you sell enough to customers in a state, you have an obligation there.
Most states set their threshold at $100,000 in annual sales into the state. A few larger states, including Texas and California, set theirs at $500,000. The old 200-transaction tests that some states used alongside dollar thresholds are being phased out. As of early 2026, sixteen states have dropped the transaction-count test entirely and now look only at dollar amounts. This simplifies things somewhat, but you still need to verify each state’s current requirements because the rules keep changing.
What counts toward the threshold also varies. Some states include only taxable sales. Others include all sales, taxable or not. Measurement windows differ too. Some states look at the previous calendar year, others use a rolling twelve-month period, and some trigger registration obligations immediately when you cross the threshold mid-year. ClearLedgers® works with e-commerce sellers across Georgia and South Carolina who deal with exactly these complexities.
States that don’t have sales tax at all, specifically Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon, don’t require collection. Alaska is a special case because it allows local jurisdictions to impose sales tax with their own rules, even though there’s no state-level tax.
The practical reality for an online seller shipping nationwide is that you probably have nexus in more states than you realize, especially if your sales are growing. Ignoring this doesn’t make the obligation go away. States share data with marketplace facilitators and payment processors, and they’re getting better at identifying sellers who should be registered but aren’t.
ClearLedgers handles sales tax management for product sellers, tracking where you have nexus, filing returns on time, and making sure a quiet compliance issue doesn’t turn into a loud problem with penalties attached.
If you’re selling online and not sure where you stand, book a consultation and let’s walk through your situation together.
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