Mark your calendars: U.S. business 2018 sales tax filing dates.

Aug 21 2018 | Contributing writer, TaxJar

Chances are when you think of "tax filing", you think of April. But did you know that January is in fact the busiest sales tax filing month of the year?
In January, even the smallest hobby sellers have a sales tax return due. That's why we call January the "Sales Tax Perfect Storm". To complicate matters, states want to hear from sellers on different days of the month. One state might want to hear from you on the 20th, another on the 31st, and yet another on the 15th.

Sales tax is governed at the state level, and retailers, including online sellers, are required to file sales tax to their nexus state or states either monthly, quarterly, or annually. In general, the higher your sales volume in a state, the more often that state wants you to file a sales tax return.

To help you file your sales tax return on time, we've put together a list of state sales tax due dates. Be sure to file your sales tax returns on time by finding your state and filing frequency.

For more on sales tax, check out TaxJar’s handy Getting Started Guides. 

TaxJar is a service that makes sales tax reporting and filing simple for more than 10,000 online sellers. All it takes is a single click to link up TaxJar to your PayPal account. Try a 30-day-free trial of TaxJar today and eliminate sales tax filing headaches from your life. Visit the user guarantee for terms and conditions. 
 

The contents of this site are provided for informational purposes only. You should always obtain independent, professional accounting, financial, and legal advice before making any business decision.

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Frequently asked questions.

All US payment processors, including PayPal, are required by the Internal Revenue Service(IRS) to provide information to the IRS about certain customers who receive payments for the sale of goods or services through PayPal. Form 1099-K and B-Notice are tax forms which are applicable to holders of accounts both within and outside the United States since it pertains to income reporting for US persons/entities.

FATCA affects account holders that are outside the United States, and it requires PayPal to collect tax documents or certifications from account holders stating whether they are US persons. This includes, but is not limited to, business entities, and some individuals that open accounts outside the United States.

Tax Form 1099-K Tips:
  • If you feel there is a discrepancy in your tax Form 1099-K, please review your reconciliation report and provide us with the transaction ID(s) in question and the justification for why the transaction is being disputed. Click Contact at the bottom of any page to call or email us.
You can also view these additional 1099-K Help Center articles:
B-Notice Tips:
  • If there are any discrepancies with your tax identification number and legal name that was used by PayPal for tax Form 1099-K reporting filing with the IRS, you may receive an IRS B-Notice
  • The B-Notice mailing will provide you with all of the additional information we need from you.
    • If you received a 1st B-Notice (which happens the first year that the IRS identifies a mismatch in tax identification number/legal name), log in to your PayPal account and follow the Alert Notification to provide the requested information. You may need to download and fill out the IRS tax Form W-9 for PayPal to review.
    • If you received a 2nd B-Notice (which happens the second consecutive year that the IRS identifies a mismatch in tax identification number/legal name), you must provide either a copy of your Social Security Card (individuals or sole proprietors) or US IRS tax Letter 147C (entities). Log in to your PayPal account, and go to the Resolution Center to upload the document.
  • The IRS does not have an online solution for requesting a tax Letter 147 C; the IRS will mail or fax the letter to you. To contact the IRS for a Letter 147C, you should call the IRS's Business and Specialty Tax line at 1-800-829-4933 between 7am and 7pm, local time, Monday through Friday. Requesting a faxed copy may be the quickest manner to get a copy of the tax Letter 147C. You can also view our tax information page for more information.
  • Fully complete and sign the relevant form and upload it by logging into your PayPal account and following the Notification prompt.
  • Why did I receive an IRS B-Notice?

FATCA Tips:
  • Only impactful for account holders outside of the United States.
  • PayPal must collect documentation such as certification of non-US status and either a tax Form W-9 for US persons or entities that are subject to US tax, or a tax Form W8BEN/W8BEN-E for non-US persons or entities that are not subject to US tax withholding and reporting.
  • Most business users who need to provide the requested information will be able to do so by logging into their PayPal account and following the notification prompts.
You can also view these additional FATCA Help Center articles:You can find more tax related information on the PayPal IRS tax website.

 

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The following information provides responses to common questions you may have about Form 1099-K reporting requirements if you live in Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, Virginia, or Maryland.

Why did I receive a 1099-K if I didn’t meet the IRS reporting threshold?
Some states (VT, MA, VA, IL, MD) have reporting obligations at a threshold lower than the federal reporting thresholds:
  • Vermont, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Maryland: $600 USD in gross payment volume from sales of goods or services in a single calendar year regardless of the number of transactions.
  • Illinois: $1,000 USD in gross payment volume from sales of goods or services in a single calendar year with at least 3 payment processed.

I updated my address to Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, Virginia, or Maryland recently, will PayPal file a Form 1099-K concerning the activity in my PayPal account?
The copy of the Form 1099-K that you receive is based on your primary account address on the last day of the previous tax year. If you changed your primary address to one of these states after that date, your account activity will be captured in Form 1099-K reporting for the following tax year.
 
Where can I find more information on the reporting requirements for Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, Virginia, or Maryland?
You can find more information about the reporting requirements for Vermont, Massachusetts, Illinois, Virginia, or Maryland by going to the respective tax authority’s website.

 

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Here's how you can access your tax Form 1099-K from PayPal from within your PayPal account.

  1. Click Reports.
  2. Click Tax Documents.
  3. The following page will display any available documentation, including a Form 1099-K.


Note:

  • If a Form 1099-K was issued for your account, it will be listed here and available to download or print.
  • If a Form 1099-K is not listed and you still feel like you should have one, please contact PayPal for assistance.
  • A Reconciliation Report is included with your 1099-K that will list all of the transactions included in your total gross sales for goods and services.


Here are some additional resources that may be helpful when completing your taxes:
Download your daily, monthy or yearly business report
Download your Transaction History

Transaction Finder

To calculate your quarterly PayPal shipping charges, you can use the Transaction Finder. Here's how:

  1. Click Reports.
  2. Click Transaction Finder towards the bottom of the screen, listed under “History and search.”
  3. Choose your date range (no greater than 90 days at a time).
  4. Click the dropdown for “Transaction Type” and choose Shipping.
  5. Click Search.
  6. Choose the type of file you want to download (PDF or Excel), then click Download.

This will create a quarterly report of PayPal USPS and UPS shipping charges, listing a total dollar amount at the bottom. You may repeat this process for each quarter and add up the figures to obtain your full year’s shipping charges.

To locate your eBay shipping charges, complete the following steps:

  1. Go to "More" and select Reports.
  2. Click Transaction Finder towards the bottom of the screen, listed under “History and search.”
  3. Under Report Search Criteria type “eBay” into the “Search Keywords” field.
  4. Choose your date range (no greater than 90 days at a time).
  5. Click the dropdown for “Transaction Type” and choose Billing Agreement Transactions (this will exclude eBay Fees payments).
  6. Click Search.
  7. Choose the type of file you want to download (PDF or Excel), then click Download.

This will create a quarterly report of eBay shipping charges, listing a total dollar amount at the bottom. You may repeat this process for each quarter then add up the figures to obtain your full year’s shipping charges.

Click here for more tax information and FAQs.

 

Save $20 on TurboTax Self-Employed.

TurboTax Self-Employed uncovers deductions personalized to you and your line of work. Check out with PayPal and you can save. Terms apply.

Learn More

IRS rules (IRC Section 6050W) require that all U.S. payment processors, including PayPal, report gross payment information to the IRS about certain customers who receive payments for the sale of goods or services.

We’re required to report gross payments received by our customers who:
  • Receive more than $20,000 in gross payment volume from sales of goods, services, or donations in a single year, AND
  • Receive more than 200 payments for goods or services in the same year.
To ensure payment information is accurately reported, please update your account information by providing a Tax Identification Number. This can be a Social Security Number (SSN), Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Individual Tax ID number (ITIN).

Here’s how to add your Tax Identification Number to your PayPal account:
  1. Click the Settings icon beside "Log Out.".
  2. Click Account owner information under "Profile" on the left of the page.
  3. Scroll down to “Tax ID number” and click Add SSN, Add EIN, or Add ITIN.
  4. Enter, and then re-enter your ID number.
  5. Click Add.
While we don't report this information unless required to by law, we may still require this information be provided to continue uninterrupted access to your account.

Tax information and FAQs

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