Nexus is the minimum presence or connnection between your company and a state that must exist before a state can impose any tax liability and reporting requirements upon your company. Having property, employees, contractors or representatives in a state will typically establish sales tax nexus. However, there is no bright-line standard for nexus - the standards and rules vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. States can impose sales tax obligations on your company even if your only presence in a state is an occasional visit by an employee or an independent contractor. Some states even consider nexus to exist if you attend a trade show, place "cookies" on your customer's computers, store data on a network of servers residing in a state, or license cloud-based (SAAS) software or services to customers in the state.
Furthermore, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, states may now require remote sellers with no physical presence in a state to collect sales tax on sales of taxable products and services delivered to customers in that state. This ruling does not simply affect online retailers, but all sellers of taxable goods and services who make sales into state in which they lack physical presence. If you fail to register for and meet these filing obligations, states can go back as long as you have been doing business (i.e., had nexus) in their jurisdiction to impose liabilities. This places a tremendous burden on the in-house resources of a multi-state business to adequately identify and meet their sales and use tax obligations.
We can identify those jurisdictions in which nexus exists, both currently and historically. We can also quantify the historical exposure, enabling you to make a more informed decision regarding your contingent liabilities and prospective compliance requirements. And we will guide you through the decision-making processes, negotiating settlements of histrorical liabilities on your behalf, registering you for sales tax accounts as directed and appropriate, and implementing processes to manage the ongoing compliance obligations.