TAX ALERT  |  June 30, 2021

On June 30, 2021, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed into law Senate Bill 153, allowing Missouri to become the final state with a general sales tax to adopt an economic sales tax nexus standard and a marketplace nexus standard following the 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair decision. 

Recall that on June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court issued one of the most significant state and local tax decision in decades. Wayfair overturned the long-standing ‘physical presence’ nexus standard established under Quill v. North Dakota in 1992. The decision provided states an opportunity to impose sales and use tax collection and remittance responsibilities on remote sellers based solely upon their level of economic activity in a state. 

A large number of states adopted some form of an economic sales tax nexus standard within a year of the decision, with almost every state adopting a standard within two years. Florida and Missouri were the final two holdouts, both adopting economic sales tax nexus in their respective 2021 legislative sessions. 

Missouri economic sales tax nexus

Effective Jan. 1, 2023, remote sellers with more than $100,000 of taxable sales into Missouri, in the previous calendar year or current calendar year, must collect the state 4.225% vendor use tax rate and any applicable local use taxes. According to the bill, at the close of each calendar quarter, vendors should review the 12-month period ending on the last day of the preceding calendar quarter to determine whether the threshold was exceeded. 

Marketplace facilitators are also required to register to collect and remit use tax on sales made directly by the facilitator or through the facilitators marketplace platform. Marketplace facilitators are generally defined to include those that facilitate a retail sale for a marketplace seller either directly or indirectly through agreements with third parties collects payment from the purchaser and transmits all or part of the payment to the seller. The bill excludes from the definition of facilitator those providing internet advertising services that do not collect payment from a purchaser to transmit to a seller, certain travel agency services and financial institutions appointed by a merchant or marketplace facilitator to handle payment transactions, such as credit card processing.

Takeaways

In total, all 45 general sales tax states and the District of Columbia have adopted an economic sales tax nexus standard. Five states, Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire and Oregon do not impose a general sales tax. However, a number of Alaskan local jurisdictions have adopted an economic sales tax nexus threshold. 

With Missouri’s 2023 effective date, remote sellers and marketplace facilitators should have ample time to prepare. Remote sellers should also consider that Florida is scheduled to enforce economic sales tax nexus later this year, and Kansas by July 1 with a newly adopted sales threshold after a general policy without a threshold had been in place since late 2019. For more information on Wayfair and economic nexus, please read our article, Wayfair nexus turns three by celebrating near universal adoption.