Selling to Customers in Other States From Bountiful: When Sales Tax Records Get Complicated

Do you need to track sales tax for customers in other states?

Yes, from the first order you ship across the state line. You may not owe anything to that state yet, but you can't know when you cross its line unless the records are already sorted by ship-to state. Where you must register is your CPA's call. Clean records are what let them answer quickly.

What you need to record depends on how you sell. Find your situation below.

Why would another state care about a Bountiful seller?

Because a state no longer needs you to have a building there. The Streamlined Sales Tax page on South Dakota v. Wayfair says the Supreme Court ruled on June 21, 2018 that states can require sellers to collect and remit sales or use tax on sales delivered into the state, regardless of physical presence.

The Streamlined remote seller FAQ defines a remote seller as one with no physical presence in a state who sells products or services for delivery into it. It also says registration requirements vary by state, and tells sellers to check with each state directly.

Why record dollars and order counts, split by type?

Because states don't all count the same sales. The same Streamlined FAQ explains three ways a threshold can be measured. A gross sales test counts everything shipped into the state, including sales for resale and exempt sales. A retail sales test leaves out sales for resale. A taxable sales test counts only sales that are, or should be, taxed.

Utah's own rule for sellers coming the other way shows how these tests change. The Utah State Tax Commission's remote seller page says a seller outside Utah must collect Utah sales tax with more than $100,000 of gross revenue from Utah sales in the previous or current calendar year. The same page says that before July 1, 2025, 200 or more separate transactions into Utah also counted.

That's one state, as its page read in October 2026, and other states set their own tests. The records point is the same everywhere: keep dollars and order counts by state, with resale, exempt and taxable sales on separate lines. Then whichever test a state uses, your CPA can read the answer straight off the books.

How do marketplace sales change the records?

They often move the collecting to the marketplace, but not always the paperwork. The Streamlined marketplace facilitator guidance says many states require the marketplace to collect and remit sales tax on sales it facilitates once it passes certain thresholds.

The Streamlined marketplace seller guidance adds the catch. A remote seller that sells through a marketplace and also sells direct must register in a state if its sales there meet that state's remote seller threshold.

So keep the two channels apart in the books, state by state. If they're merged into one sales line, nobody can tell which sales count where.

What changes once you're registered in another state?

You owe that state a return on its schedule, sales or no sales. The Streamlined Sales Tax Registration System page says it offers a free way to register in the Streamlined member states, though a state may charge a fee if you are legally required to register there. It also says tax is reported and paid directly to each state on the filing frequency it sets, and that returns must be filed even if you have no sales in that state.

The same page warns that registering doesn't clear any tax you may owe on earlier sales, except in states offering amnesty. That's one more reason to start the state-by-state records early, before the question comes up.

Where does Bountiful's own licensing fit in?

It's the Utah layer underneath all of this. Bountiful's business licensing page says every business operating in the city needs a license, and that licenses expire each year on December 31. The city's licensing requirements sheet lists registering for state taxes among the steps.

So the Utah account usually comes first, and out-of-state sales sit on top of it. Our Bountiful page walks through the city's licensing steps.

What does a monthly routine for out-of-state sales look like?

Short, as long as it happens every month. This is the order that keeps the state totals trustworthy.

1. Make sure your store records the ship-to state on every order.
2. Pull each marketplace's sales by state for the month.
3. Total dollars and order counts for each state, with own-site and marketplace sales on separate lines.
4. Split each state's sales into resale, exempt and taxable, and file the certificates behind the resale and exempt lines.
5. Reconcile the totals to your bank deposits and marketplace payouts.
6. Send your CPA the year-to-date totals by state each quarter so they can flag any state that needs a closer look.

When is it worth handing this to a bookkeeper?

If you ship a handful of orders out of state a year from one store, a spreadsheet and the routine above will do. It's worth handing over once you sell on more than one channel, sell wholesale, or are registered somewhere besides Utah.

Ivory Balance Books, based in South Jordan, works with businesses that have outgrown basic bookkeeping, including those dealing with sales tax across more than one state. E-commerce bookkeeping connects Shopify, Stripe and marketplaces to the books, and sales tax filing is one of the add-ons. The monthly financial reports arrive by the 10th, and questions about where you must register go to your CPA. Ivory Balance Books is Melanie Mathews's practice, and she works with clients remotely.