Sales Tax Collection & Remittance Calculator

You generally need to collect sales tax in a state if you have physical presence (office, warehouse, employees) or economic nexus in that state. Economic nexus is triggered by exceeding a state's threshold, typically $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in the current or previous calendar year. All states with sales tax have enacted economic nexus laws following the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair Supreme Court decision. Thresholds vary by state, so it is important to check each state where you have significant sales.

The One Stop Shop (OSS) is a simplified VAT compliance system for EU cross-border e-commerce. Instead of registering for VAT in each EU country where you sell, you can register in one member state and file a single quarterly VAT return covering all EU sales to consumers (B2C). The OSS threshold is €10,000 in distance sales per year. Above this threshold, you must charge the VAT rate of the customer's country but still file through the OSS. This significantly reduces the administrative burden of EU-wide selling.

Tax treatment varies by jurisdiction. Common exemptions include most food/groceries (in the US and UK), prescription drugs and medical supplies, educational services, and certain agricultural products. Reduced rates often apply to clothing and footwear, books and newspapers, children's products, and restaurant meals. Digital goods and software are generally subject to standard rates in most jurisdictions. It is important to verify the specific tax treatment of your products in each jurisdiction where you have collection obligations.

Filing frequency varies by jurisdiction and sales volume. In the US, most states assign monthly, quarterly, or annual filing based on your sales tax collection volume - higher-volume filers file more frequently. Late filing penalties range from 5-25% of the tax due. In the EU, OSS VAT returns are filed quarterly. In the UK, VAT returns are typically filed quarterly through HMRC's Making Tax Digital system. In Canada, GST/HST returns are generally filed annually, but monthly or quarterly filing may be required for businesses with over $1.5M in annual taxable supplies.

In destination-based sales tax (used by most US states), you charge the tax rate of the buyer's location. This means if you are based in California but ship to New York, you charge New York's combined rate. In origin-based sales tax (used by TX, AZ, IL, MS, PA, VA, OH, WI, and NM), you charge the tax rate of your business location regardless of where the buyer is located. Most states transitioned to destination-based sourcing after the Wayfair decision to simplify compliance for remote sellers.

Some Canadian provinces (Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island) use a Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) that combines the federal 5% GST with the provincial portion into a single tax. Other provinces (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) apply separate GST (5%) and PST (6-7%). Quebec applies GST (5%) plus QST (9.975% calculated on the price including GST). Alberta, the territories, and some other provinces apply only the 5% GST with no provincial sales tax. This calculator models all these scenarios to show the correct combined rate for each province.

Yes, absolutely. All calculations in this Sales Tax Collection & Remittance Calculator run entirely in your browser using JavaScript. No data is sent to any server, no cookies are used to track your inputs, and no signup is required. Your sales data, customer information, and location details never leave your device. You can use the calculator with complete privacy.