This Promo Insiders podcast explores the ramifications of Wayfair v. South Dakota, a landmark case that completely changed the rules of sales tax for online companies. Featuring Stan Hansen, director of tax for the ASI Family of Companies, and hosted by senior writer John Corrigan, the podcast includes a discussion about the obligations of suppliers and distributors when collecting sales tax and how to avoid the administrative headaches.

Podcast Chapters
1:10 History of sales tax laws
3:24 Requirements for distributors and suppliers
4:16 How to get sales tax exemptions
6:10 Administrative headaches
7:33 Advice for small business owners
9:38 Will the government make changes to the Wayfair ruling?
11:07 Resources for business owners

Stan Hansen, director of tax for the ASI Family of Companies

In the midst of tariffs and the coronavirus, collecting online sales tax has been another obstacle in the promotional products industry. Companies potentially have to know the sales tax laws of every state, file sales tax forms for every state and be registered to do business in every state. It’s such a tremendous burden that companies have been forced to hire outside services or additional staff just to comply with the various sales tax laws.

Large distributors, particularly those in the Top 40, rely upon third-party software systems, such as Avalara and TaxJar, that provide tax compliance tools for e-commerce companies. These systems take away the hassle, but come with a hefty price tag. Their sales teams offer plans based on your needs and potential transactions per month, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars per year.

Wayfair is more than 1,000x bigger than us. They have the resources to staff a SALT dept. We are trying to navigate this with a single accountant. The expectation is that 1 person can bring a company into compliance as effectively as an entire SALT dept at a major corporation. pic.twitter.com/wjWKusjxKs

— Brad Scott (@RobertBradleyS2) March 3, 2020

Of course, not every distributor can afford such programs. In this podcast, Stan Hansen, director of tax for the ASI Family of Companies, provides strategies and advice for small business owners on how to navigate the stressful, time-consuming process.

ASI offers sales tax functionality in ESP CRM & Orders, where distributors can elect to use a service ASI integrates with, or they can set up their own tax rates. These taxes are then used on any order created in ESP Orders.