A seller with an office, manufacturing facility, or retail outlet within a state is clearly required to register with the state and collect the requisite sales tax. Nexus has also been found to exist if a seller has employees, agents, or other offices involved in unrelated businesses within a state. The question of whether a seller is required to collect sales tax, however, becomes more problematic when the seller does not have any tangible presence within a state but merely solicits sales within the state through the use of catalogs or web sites and ships goods by common carrier within the state to customers who have purchased goods. There have been a number of court cases that have addressed the question of whether sufficient nexus exists in the absence of any connection with a state other than solicitation through the mail and shipment of goods within to the state. These cases have held that the nexus is insufficient to require registration on the part of a mail order seller if there is no connection to the state other than the solicitation of sales.
States continue aggressively to pursue sales tax revenue.
With the growth of electronic commerce, states will fight to expand the definition of nexus to include the regular and continuous solicitation of business in a state. Both the courts and commentators have suggested that Congress should provide some guidance in this area. LIVE, REAL TIME Global Streaming Financial News and Business Information. Excellent legal service at your convenience. For less than you'd expect.