The Texas Comptroller has posted FAQs on its website regarding post-Wayfair obligations for remote sellers, marketplace sellers, and marketplace providers. Following are some items of note:
Regarding audit liability, the marketplace provider is subject to audit for all transactions on the marketplace. The marketplace seller may also be audited and subject to liability for any deficiencies resulting from incorrect or insufficient information they provide to the marketplace provider.
Marketplace providers are not required to use a special form or language to notify marketplace sellers that the provider is collecting and remitting tax for Texas. The notification can be part of the terms of use or any other agreement between the marketplace provider and seller and does not need to be a separate document that the provider issues to sellers.
The state’s single local use tax rate is not available to marketplace providers.
All sellers must keep required records for at least four years.
For sellers who make sales through a marketplace provider, when filing sales and use tax returns, marketplace sales are included in item one (Total Sales) on the return but excluded from item two (Taxable Sales) if the marketplace has certified they will collect and remit tax on the seller’s behalf.
Remote sellers who only sell through a marketplace provider do not need to obtain a permit and collect tax if they have received and accepted in good faith a certification that the marketplace provider will collect sales and use tax. However, they must retain required records of all marketplace sales for at least four years.
A remote seller who is below the state’s $500,000 economic nexus threshold and has tangible personal property temporarily stored in Texas at a marketplace provider’s facility does not have to obtain a permit or have a collection obligation if the marketplace has certified it will assume the duties of a seller.
For additional information, visit the Remote Sellers and Marketplace Frequently Asked Questions webpage.
For additional information on Texas’s economic nexus and marketplace nexus legislation, visit Texas Amends Rules for Remote Sellers to Establish Economic Nexus and Texas Enacts Marketplace Nexus Legislation. (Remote Sellers and Marketplace Frequently Asked Questions webpage, Texas Comptroller website)