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Sales taxes
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One-Time Services
- Sales Tax Registration/Sales Tax Permit Registration $130
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Ongoing Services
- Simple sales tax return $100 **
- Complex sales tax return contact for details
- $0 Sales Tax return $25
** clients must provide information about collected sales tax
Sales Tax: What Registration and Ongoing Filing Cost
Quick Answer
Sales tax work comes in three parts: determining where you have an obligation (nexus), registering in those states, and filing returns on schedule. Each part at Illion Tax & accounting is priced at [Illion price — to be filled in], driven mainly by the number of states and your filing frequency.
The tax itself is paid by the buyer; the seller collects and remits it. So the real risk isn’t the rate — it’s not collecting at all. If returns weren’t filed but sales happened, the assessment lands on the seller, out of the seller’s own money.
The usual trigger for an obligation in another state is $100,000 in annual sales, and some states add a transaction count. Physical presence — a warehouse, an employee, inventory sitting in a marketplace fulfillment center — creates the obligation immediately, with no threshold at all.
What the Service Includes
Sales tax compliance is more than sending a form each quarter. The decisive work happens earlier: knowing where you must collect and at what rate.
- Nexus analysis: where sales, inventory, employees or warehouses have created an obligation.
- Taxability review for your products or services: some states tax SaaS and digital goods, others don’t.
- Registration and obtaining sales tax permits in the states that require them.
- Configuring tax calculation in your sales platform and verifying rates, including local add-ons.
- Preparing and filing returns on each state’s schedule: monthly, quarterly or annually.
- Handling marketplace sales, where the platform collects the tax but the seller may still have a filing obligation.
- Managing resale certificates and exempt sales so you don’t pay tax where none is due.
- Closing registrations in states where you’ve stopped operating, so “zero” delinquencies don’t pile up.
Pricing
Cost splits between one-time work and recurring filings. The number of states is the main multiplier.
| Item | Price | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Nexus and taxability analysis | [Illion price — to be filled in] | One-time or when things change |
| Sales tax permit registration (per state) | [Illion price — to be filled in] | One-time |
| Return filing (per state, per period) | [Illion price — to be filled in] | Monthly, quarterly or annually |
| Tax calculation setup in your sales system | [Illion price — to be filled in] | One-time |
| Reconstructing missed periods | [Illion price — to be filled in] | By volume |
| Closing a state registration | [Illion price — to be filled in] | One-time |
| State registration fee | $0–$100 depending on the state | One-time |
What Drives the Final Price
- Number of states with an obligation. Each state means its own registration, schedule and form.
- Filing frequency. States assign it by sales volume: the higher the revenue, the more often you file, up to monthly.
- Sales channels. Your own site, marketplaces and physical locations are treated differently, and different parties collect the tax.
- Product or service type. Clothing, groceries, digital goods and services are taxed differently, and rates vary within a single state.
- Local add-ons. Louisiana, Colorado and several other states have reporting at county or city level too.
- Condition of prior periods. If sales happened with no registration, we size the exposure first and assess voluntary disclosure programs.
Worked Example
Take an online store based in Florida: nationwide sales, the $100,000 threshold crossed in California and Texas, with part of the volume going through a marketplace.
| Cost item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Nexus analysis across all states | [Illion price — to be filled in] | [Illion price — to be filled in] |
| Registration in two states (CA, TX) | [Illion price — to be filled in] × 2 | [Illion price — to be filled in] |
| Quarterly returns in two states | [Illion price — to be filled in] × 8 returns | [Illion price — to be filled in] |
| Marketplace sales | Platform collects the tax | Reported as exempt |
| Total, year one | — | [Illion price — to be filled in] |
The lesson from this math usually isn’t about the service fee — it’s about state count. Every new state adds a registration and four to twelve returns a year, so expansion plans should include the tax side from the start.
Marketplace sales relieve the seller of collection in most states, because the platform acts as a marketplace facilitator and remits directly. That doesn’t always remove the filing obligation, though: the seller often still reports those sales as exempt.
When the threshold is crossed and no registration exists, exposure builds fast, because the tax applies to every sale rather than to profit. For a store with $300,000 of sales in a state at roughly 8%, that’s tens of thousands of dollars a year.
What Happens If You DIY or Skip It
The defining difference from income tax: this isn’t your money. The tax should have been collected from the buyer, and if it wasn’t, the obligation still sits with the seller. You can’t go back to hundreds of customers and bill them retroactively, so it comes out of your margin.
Penalties and interest follow each state’s own rules, and many states impose responsible person liability: when a company closes, collected-but-unremitted tax can be pursued personally against an officer or owner.
There’s a separate risk at exit. A buyer almost always asks for confirmation that no sales tax exposure is outstanding. An unresolved issue either cuts the purchase price or delays the deal by months.
The mirror-image mistake is collecting tax where none is due, or at the wrong rate. Overcollected tax isn’t refunded to customers automatically, and complaints from buyers and platforms arrive quickly.
For marketplace sellers, inventory location matters as much as sales. Storing goods in a platform’s warehouse in another state creates nexus there in many states, regardless of sales volume.
How the Work Is Organized
- We collect the facts: sales channels, volume by state, product and service types, warehouses and employees.
- We determine where obligations exist and confirm whether your products or services are taxable there.
- We register and obtain permits, aligning the effective start date of the obligation.
- We configure tax calculation in your sales system and verify rates on test orders.
- We maintain the calendar and file on time, including zero returns for periods without sales.
- We monitor approaching thresholds in new states and flag them before the obligation is triggered.
Which Option Fits Which Business
Here are typical scenarios showing how differently the compliance load can land.
| Client situation | What we handle | Price guide |
|---|---|---|
| Services with no taxable sales | Analysis confirming no registration is required | One-time review |
| Local retail in your home state | Registration and returns in one state | Registration + periodic filing |
| Nationwide online sales | Threshold monitoring, multi-state registrations | By number of states |
| Selling on Amazon plus your own channels | Separating platform and direct sales, reporting | By states and channels |
Common Client Mistakes
1. Selling nationwide with no registrations anywhere
Consequence: Tax assessed on gross sales for the entire period, plus penalties and interest.
How to avoid it: Check thresholds quarterly — $100,000 in sales into a state is the most common trigger.
2. Inventory stored in a marketplace warehouse in another state
Consequence: In many states this creates nexus immediately, with no sales threshold.
How to avoid it: Request the platform’s inventory location report and include it in your nexus analysis.
3. Skipping zero returns in quiet months
Consequence: Failure-to-file penalties apply even when no tax is due.
How to avoid it: File zero returns on schedule, or close the registration formally.
4. Applying one statewide rate without local add-ons
Consequence: Undercollected tax that later comes out of the seller’s pocket.
How to avoid it: Calculate by destination address and re-check rates when legislation changes.
FAQ
Yes, once you cross a state’s economic nexus threshold — typically $100,000 in annual sales, sometimes with a transaction count. Physical presence triggers the obligation immediately.
Legally the buyer pays and the seller collects and remits. But if the tax was never collected, the duty to remit still rests with the seller.
In most states the platform collects and remits as a marketplace facilitator. The seller may still have a filing obligation, and storing inventory in a platform warehouse creates nexus.
It depends on the state. Some tax digital goods and SaaS, others don’t; services are more often exempt, with exceptions. We check this state by state wherever you have an obligation.
The state assigns your frequency at registration — monthly, quarterly or annually, based on volume. As sales grow, states often move you to a more frequent schedule.
We size the exposure by state and look at voluntary disclosure programs: many states limit the lookback period and reduce penalties. That’s almost always cheaper than waiting for an audit.
It lets a reseller buy goods without tax, because tax will be collected on the final sale. Certificates must be collected and retained — if they’re missing during an audit, the tax is assessed.
Yes. While the registration is active, zero returns are due. If you’ve stopped operating there, it’s better to close the registration formally.
Yes, through an amended return or a refund claim, though rules and time limits vary by state. The sooner an overpayment is found, the easier it is to recover.
No. They’re separate taxes on separate bases. Having no profit doesn’t relieve you of collecting and remitting sales tax.
Obligations in the old state don’t disappear on their own: while the registration is active, returns are still due. The right sequence is to close the registration with a final sale date, register at the new location, and make sure your system’s rates are updated.