BellaOnline Forums Career Business Owners Question about Sales Tax

My wife is a consultant for a scrapbooking supplies company and it is a Michigan based company where we live as well.

This summer we are going to New York to visit family and my sister is going to have a scrapbooking party which is the same as say a tupperware party.

The question comes in if she has to charge New York sales tax for any sales that she makes or does she charge Michigan sales tax where she is based out of and everything comes from?

Thats a good question, I would lean towards charging Michigan sales tax. But please know that I am only guessing. When I have questions like that I have had great luck asking a SCORE counselor. Do you have those through your SBA office in Michigan (sba.gov)? That's how I found my SCORE counselor, he is a retired accounting executive and helped us out a lot.

I am an artist and regularly do business at art fairs in 4 states, including Michigan, and am familiar with this problem.

The rule is that you have to charge the sales tax of the state in which you make the sale, and send it in to that state's Dept.of Revenue. You also need a merchant's license for each state that you do business in, and can find the info about that in each state's website.

However, I did an art fair in New York once, and simply charged the NY tax and mailed it into the NY Dept. of Revenue with a note that it was a one-time only event for me. I gave them my home state merchant's license number and they cashed the check and I had no problems with them.

I always feel that the main thing is to be above board and do the right thing, so nobody can try to get you in trouble.

bus and clay,

Thank you so much. It was a great help.