See answers for the most frequently asked questions around the topics below. Check out our recently published videos about sales tax here.
About Wayfair
- How do I find out whether the new sales tax laws apply to the products in my store?
- Is there anything I can do to respond to this decision and its impact on my business?
- Do I need to register with the state before TPT can collect sales taxes?
- How does Wayfair affect Sellers outside the U.S.?
TPT and Your Store
- What were TPT's goals to support Teacher-Authors through the changes in sales tax laws?
- Why isn’t TPT the seller?
- Can TPT become a publisher and take responsibility to collect and remit sales tax?
- What data and information does TPT provide in order to support Sellers’ compliance?
- Can TPT share a state chart with definitions of nexus?
- Will TPT be remitting the taxes as well as collecting them?
- How do I sort my sales by state?
- Why might the order totals be different when I sort my Sales Details report in excel compared to when I use the Transactions by State report?
- Why can’t TPT remit sales taxes in all states for all Sellers?
- Do I need to assign tax codes for my resources?
Remitting Taxes
- How is the sales tax remittance process different if I’m using an accountant?
- Do I have to file returns in marketplace facilitator states or states where TPT has reached a voluntary agreement?
- How do I view my county-level or city-level information?
About Wayfair
1. How do I find out whether the new sales tax laws apply to the products in my store?
For marketplace facilitator states and certain non-MPF states where we've received permission to voluntarily remit on behalf of TPT Teacher-Authors, TPT will be handling the collection and remittance of any applicable sales tax. Avalara explains marketplace facilitator states in more detail. We are not affiliated with these sites so please remember that TPT can’t vouch for the accuracy of the information on these sites.
Not all goods are considered to be taxable by the state, and many states do not tax electronically delivered items. Therefore even if a state has a remote seller law, that does not necessarily mean your TPT products would be subject to sales tax.
For remote seller states, it’s important to keep in mind that states with these new remote seller laws generally have minimum thresholds that you would have to exceed in order for the law to apply to you. For most states, these new laws would generally only be triggered if you make more than 200 sales into that state in a twelve month period.
For many Sellers, this means these new laws may not apply to you. To learn more, see our step-by-step overview about collecting sales tax.
2. Is there anything I can do to respond to this decision and its impact on my business?
Legislation was introduced in both the U.S. House of Representatives and in the U.S. Senate in order to address issues related to the latest Supreme Court decision, particularly as they relate to small businesses. You can find more details about them using the links below. If you support these initiatives, you can reach out to your representative or senator to let them know.
- H.R. 6824 Online Sales Simplicity and Small Business Relief Act (OSSA)
- S. 6180 Stop Taxing Our Potential Act (STOP)
Look up your representative here to contact them about the OSSA bill.
Look up your senator here to contact them about the STOP bill.
3. Do I need to register with the state before TPT can collect sales taxes?
You will have to register for a sales tax license with states in which you choose to collect sales tax through TPT.
In marketplace facilitator states (where TPT is collecting and remitting sales tax for you) and in certain non-MPF states where we've received permission to voluntarily remit on behalf of TPT Teacher-Authors, some Sellers still may be required to register with the state. For example, Sellers may be required to register in their home states, even if TPT is remitting sales taxes there. Or, Sellers may still need to register in some of these states if the Seller is selling outside of TPT's marketplace and is responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax on those sales.
For assistance with registration, you may want to consult with a tax professional. If you don’t have access to a tax professional, you can learn more about registration through third party services such as TaxJar. We are not affiliated with TaxJar so please remember that TPT can't vouch for the accuracy of the information or quality of services provided.
For more information about how to collect sales tax on TPT, click here.
4. How does Wayfair affect Sellers outside the U.S.?
The solution that we’re putting in place will be available for use by all TPT Sellers, regardless of where you live. For states with applicable marketplace facilitator laws, regardless of where the Seller is located, TPT will be collecting and remitting sales tax to those states based on purchases by Buyers in those states.
As to whether the remote seller laws apply to international sellers, we aren’t able to give advice about anyone’s specific situation. What we’re hearing from experts is that the “remote seller” laws that states are adopting don’t provide a clear exception for remote sellers who are not located in the United States. Please remember, however, that these laws have minimum thresholds that you would have to exceed in order for the law to apply to you.
We encourage you to speak with a tax professional for questions you might have about your personal tax needs.
TPT and Your Store
5. What were TPT's goals to support Teacher-Authors through the changes in sales tax laws?
Since the Wayfair decision, Team TPT has focused on two goals: to reduce or eliminate the burden that these laws create for Teacher-Authors and to continue operating as an open marketplace. To reach these goals, we built a technical solution that makes it as easy as possible for Teacher-Authors to handle sales tax collection. Additionally, we lobbied across the federal and state governments to reduce or eliminate the burden this creates for Teacher-Authors, and communicated directly with state and local regulators in non-MPF states to make agreements that allow for TPT to voluntarily collect and remit on behalf of Teacher-Authors.
6. Why isn’t TPT the seller?
Because marketplaces, like TPT, do not own and sell the products listed on their sites, they are not considered to be the seller of the products that their websites host. Marketplaces provide the platform and space for your listings, process payments, provide support, and provide other services to facilitate transactions between Buyers and Sellers.
If we were the seller of record for your content, the structure, and therefore the economics of TPT would fundamentally change. For example, TPT would no longer be an open marketplace, and you would no longer have ownership over your resources. This isn’t how TPT’s relationship with our Sellers or with the resources you post on our site works, and it isn’t a change that we’re considering at this time.
7. Can TPT become a publisher and take responsibility to collect and remit sales tax?
- An online marketplace is where products are posted by third party Sellers, and where transactions are processed by the marketplace operator who provides the platform to host these products. Today, our sellers have the freedom to operate as an independent store in a community of over 3 million educators.
- A publisher is responsible for curating, managing, and posting (publishing) the content.
Since our Founder, Paul, established TPT 12 years ago, we have grown together and are used by over 70% of educators in the U.S., Canada, and Australia today. To change our business model to become a publisher, for example, would be a fundamental shift in the way we work and interact with your content. Making this change would have profound and potentially negative impacts on the fundamental ecosystem of our community.
Putting a sales tax solution in place is our number one priority. We are working to navigate this complicated landscape to provide as simple a solution as possible for TPT Sellers. Over the next few weeks, we will continue to add new FAQs and information to support you through this process.
8. What data and information does TPT provide in order to support Sellers’ compliance?
You can find information on your individual sales, including the location of those sales, through your Sales Details report. This information is available in the downloadable report using the “Download Sales Details” button. You can also view and download your state-by-state sales and transactions under the “Transactions by State” tab. This report also shows where you’ve indicated nexus and where TPT will be remitting taxes on your behalf for marketplace facilitator states and certain non-MPF states where we've received permission to voluntarily remit on behalf of TPT Teacher-Authors.
We updated the Sales Details tab and Sales Details download to include information about how much sales tax is collected, how much TPT will remit, and how much you are responsible to prepare and file in states where you have nexus. Learn more about what we’ve updated here.
9. Can TPT share a state chart with definitions of nexus?
Many of you have requested that TPT provide a simple chart of how to determine nexus. However, because the rules for nexus vary from state to state, because these laws are constantly changing, and because each Seller’s business is unique, providing such a chart is unfortunately not possible.
Here are some of the ways nexus is defined differently by states. For those states that still consider “physical presence,” nexus often depends on things like: what states you live and work in, if you employ a virtual assistant or other staff in different states, and other activities that might give you a “physical presence.” For states adopting “remote seller” laws, you can also have nexus as a result of exceeding a sales threshold (which also vary by state and may take into account sales you’re making on other platforms or websites outside of TPT).
These laws are constantly evolving. While TPT can’t give you the answers to your specific questions, we can point you to information at Sales Tax Institute where these laws have been summarized. There are also several other third party sites that provide information on these rules (one example is Avalara).
Please remember that TPT cannot and does not vouch for the accuracy of the information on these third party sites.
TPT can’t provide tax advice or guidance, so it is important that you speak with a tax professional if you have questions about how to apply the changing laws to your business. Ultimately, your tax advisor will be best positioned to help you assess your unique situation.
10. Will TPT be remitting the taxes as well as collecting them?
Marketplace Facilitator laws allow marketplaces to collect and remit sales taxes for transactions taking place on their marketplace. In states that permit the Marketplace Facilitator to collect and remit sales tax, and certain non-MPF states where we've received permission to voluntarily remit on behalf of TPT Teacher-Authors, we absolutely will. Some examples of those states include Washington and Pennsylvania. For any state with an applicable Marketplace Facilitator law, TPT will take care of both the collection and the remittance of sales tax in that state on behalf of our Sellers. In short, wherever we are legally permitted to collect sales tax on behalf of Sellers, we will.
As a reminder, if you have any questions specific to your business, we encourage you to check in with a tax professional. If you do not have a tax professional, you may want to look into the services offered by Avalara or Tax Jar. These are solutions that help assist with tax collection and remittance.
11. How do I sort my sales by state?
You can view and download your state-by-state sales and transactions on your Sales Details page under the “Transactions by State” tab. This report also shows the states where you’ve indicated nexus and which states TPT will be filing taxes on your behalf for marketplace facilitator states and certain non-MPF states where we've received permission to voluntarily remit on behalf of TPT Teacher-Authors.
12. Why might the order totals be different when I sort my Sales Details report in excel compared to when I use the Transactions by State report?
You can find information about purchases of your resources in two places: your Transactions by State report and your downloadable Sales Details report. If you’re trying to determine your total amount of transactions (for example, if you’re using your total transactions on TPT to understand where you may have nexus), we recommend you use the Transactions by State report. While both reports are accurate, they’re counting slightly different things. There are a couple of reasons that you may find the total number of purchases are different on these two reports.
The Sales Details report is more detailed and shows individual resources sold on each line. In this report, for example, if a Buyer purchases three products from your store at the same time (i.e., in one order), those three products appear on three separate lines and count as three purchases. The Sales Details report counts the number of resources that have been sold, regardless of whether those resources were included in the same transaction. This is a great report to get the most detailed view of each of your Buyers' purchases.
In contrast, the Transactions by State report counts the total number of transactions instead of the total number of individual items sold. In this report, for example, if a Buyer purchases three products from your store at the same time (i.e., in the same order), those three products are counted as one transaction. The Transactions by State report counts the total amount of orders that have been made that include your resources, regardless of how many resources are included in each order.
The second factor that may contribute to differing totals is Buyer location. The Transactions by State report only includes purchases by U.S. based Buyers. This report does not include purchases from Buyers outside of the U.S. (or any transactions with conflicting or inaccurate location information).
If you want to double-check your totals, you can count the number of unique Order IDs in your Sales Details report and compare that to the number of transactions in your Transactions by State report. To learn more about these reports, visit our reporting page on TPT U.
13. Why can’t TPT remit sales taxes in all states for all Sellers?
In states where we can collect and remit, we absolutely will. Unfortunately, the laws in some states don't permit us to remit on behalf of sellers.
Many state laws require an individual seller (such as a TPT Seller) to remit applicable sales tax to the state on behalf of a buyer. This is true whether the seller has their own physical store or website, or they operate their stores through a marketplace like TPT. While we can help you calculate and collect sales tax in these states, and will pass the collected funds to you, we cannot remit your taxes for you.
More recently, a few states have adopted “marketplace facilitator” sales tax laws (for example, Washington and Pennsylvania). When a marketplace is remitting sales tax on your behalf, they are only doing this in states where the law requires a marketplace facilitator, and not the seller, to collect and remit sales tax. These laws explicitly enable the state to shift the tax collection and remittance obligation to the marketplace for sales facilitated through their website. Where these laws have been passed, and certain non-MPF states where we've received permission to voluntarily remit on behalf of TPT Teacher-Authors, TPT can take care of both the collection and the remittance, and this is what we will do.
14. Do I need to assign tax codes for my resources?
Yes, you must assign a tax code for your resources. If a tax code has been assigned to your resource, please make sure you review it and verify we have assigned the correct code. You know your resources best, so it is very important that you review and adjust your tax code assignments as needed to make sure they reflect your resources accurately. Note that only paid resources will need a tax code, since free resources will not be taxable. You can find more information about the available tax codes here.
Remitting Taxes
15. How is the sales tax remittance process different if I’m using an accountant?
It's up to you and your accountant to determine which remittance option is best for your business. Regardless of what option you pick, you’ll likely still have to provide your sales tax information from TPT to your accountant. You can find your sales tax information on the Sales Reports page.
16. Do I have to file returns in marketplace facilitator states or states where TPT has reached a voluntary agreement?
Some Sellers may still be required to file tax returns with the state in marketplace facilitator states (where TPT is collecting and remitting sales tax for you) and in certain non-MPF states (where we've received permission to voluntarily remit on behalf of TPT Teacher-Authors). You could try checking your state's website to find out what your responsibilities are.
17. How do I view my county-level or city-level information?
You can view your city or county-level information by viewing or downloading a report from the Sales Details tab. If you download a report, it will export your data into a CSV file.
If you’re filing taxes and a tax form requires you to break down your collected tax by city or county, you can then sort the information by city or county in Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
Should you need it, here are some additional instructions for how to sort and filter in Google Sheets. And here are directions to sort and filter in Microsoft Excel.