Sales Tax

Sales tax is local. Your strategy should not be scattered.

Orbiss helps international businesses understand where they have U.S. sales tax exposure, register where needed, manage filings, and keep state-by-state compliance under control.

Talk to a Sales Tax Advisor

Nexus Reviews

Identify where revenue, transactions, employees, inventory, marketplaces, or physical presence may create sales tax obligations.

State Registrations

Register in the right states at the right time, with clean setup, filing frequencies, tax IDs, and process documentation.

Recurring Sales Tax Filings

Manage returns, deadlines, payments, filing calendars, and state notices so sales tax does not become a year-end surprise.

Product Taxability & Exemptions

Review how your products, services, software, SaaS, marketplace sales, or exempt customers are treated across states.

WHY IT MATTERS

The U.S. has no federal VAT — and that is exactly the problem.

International companies often expect one national indirect tax system. The U.S. works differently. Sales tax is governed at the state and local level, and obligations can arise even without a physical office.

Orbiss helps companies move from VAT assumptions to a practical U.S. sales tax process: where to register, what to tax, when to file, and how to keep exposure from growing unnoticed.

Federal VAT system in the United States

States with statewide sales tax

State-level rules to consider when selling across the U.S.

$100K

Common economic nexus revenue threshold used by many states

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

U.S. sales tax is one of the biggest surprises for international businesses entering the American market.

VAT is usually administered nationally and applies across the supply chain. U.S. sales tax is generally imposed at the final retail sale and administered by states and local jurisdictions.
There is no federal U.S. sales tax. Rates, exemptions, filing frequency, registration thresholds, and product taxability can all vary by state and locality.
Economic nexus means a business can be required to collect and remit sales tax in a state based on sales volume or transaction activity, even without a physical office or employee there.
Many states use thresholds based on revenue, transaction counts, or both. The rules vary by state and should be monitored as U.S. sales grow.
It depends on the state. Some states tax SaaS, some do not, and others apply different rules depending on how the software is accessed, used, billed, or bundled with services.
International SaaS companies should not assume software is either taxable or exempt everywhere. State-by-state taxability review is essential.
Marketplace facilitator laws often require platforms to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of sellers for marketplace transactions. However, sellers may still have registration, reporting, direct-sale, exemption, or income tax considerations.
A marketplace strategy should be reviewed alongside direct sales, website sales, wholesale channels, and inventory locations.
A company should register when it has met a state’s registration requirements or expects to do so imminently. Registering too late can create back taxes, penalties, and interest. Registering too early can create unnecessary filing obligations.
The right timing depends on sales volume, customer location, product taxability, exemption status, and business model.
Collected sales tax is generally treated as trust tax. If a company collects tax from customers, it must remit that tax to the appropriate jurisdiction.
Failure to remit collected sales tax can create serious penalties, interest, and potential responsible-person exposure depending on the state.
Yes. We can help review state notices, identify the issue, gather filing records, reconcile payments, and respond or coordinate next steps.
Notices often arise from missed filings, registration mismatches, late payments, incorrect tax IDs, or state system issues.