What is the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA)?

In brief:

• The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) aims to make sales tax compliance easier for businesses and for states by encouraging states to sign on to simplification measures
• Currently 23 states and one associate member state are signed on to the agreement

No one can dispute that the United States’ sales tax system is overly complex. Each of the forty-six states (plus Washington DC) that have a sales tax make their own rules and laws. Sales tax rates vary in the US’s more than 11,000 taxing jurisdictions. And the process for filing and remitting sales tax is different in every state. 

But some organizations have set out to uncomplicate sales tax, and one of those organizations is the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board. 

The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Project

The Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Project aims to simplify sales tax administration for both businesses and states by persuading states to agree to a uniform set of rules. Currently the Agreement has twenty-three member states and one associate member (Tennessee).

The SSUTA aims to achieve this by encouraging member states to change their laws and regulations to promote uniformity in:

• How tax rates work
• What products are taxed and how those products are defined
• How sales tax is sourced and collected
• Sales tax permit registration
• Sales tax filing and remittance 

You can learn all about the SSUTA here.

Which states are members of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA)?

Members of the SSUTA have enacted or changed their sales tax laws in order to conform with the guidelines set forth by the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board.

Arkansas

Georgia

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Michigan

Minnesota

Nebraska

Nevada

New Jersey

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oklahoma

Rhode Island

South Dakota

Tennessee* (Associate Member State)

Utah

Vermont

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Should my company participate in Streamlined Sales Tax?

The SSUTA offers some benefits for retailers. These include:

• A single sales tax permit registration point for Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) states
• Free tax calculation and preparation in SST from certified service providers (CSPs) under some circumstances
• Reduce expenses around calculating, reporting and filing sales tax
• Audit protection when using a CSP to calculate and remit sales tax in SST states

An easy way to register for sales tax, as well as free software to calculate and report sales tax can be powerful incentives for a company that finds sales tax complex.