New State Sales Tax Setup Checklist
A step by step checklist for the moment your online store picks up nexus in a new state, from confirming the trigger to filing the first return.
Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.
Most sales tax problems start at the same moment: a store crosses into a new state, either because inventory landed in a warehouse there or because sales quietly passed the economic nexus threshold, and nobody has a routine for what happens next. The steps are not hard, but there are more of them than people expect, and the order matters. Registering before you collect, categorizing the catalog before you switch on collection, and putting the due dates on a calendar before the first period closes will save you from the two most common outcomes: collecting tax without a permit, and forgetting a return.
Work through this list once per state. It is written for a small online store selling physical or digital goods to US customers, and it stays product neutral: it does not matter whether your checkout platform calculates rates for you or you use a lookup tool. If you are not sure whether you have reached a threshold yet, run your numbers through the Economic Nexus Threshold Tracker at /tools/nexus-threshold-tracker/ first, then come back here. Keep the completed list with your permit paperwork so the next person who touches compliance can see what was done and when.
- Confirm what created nexus in this state: a physical trigger (location, inventory in a warehouse, employee, contractor) or an economic threshold, and write down the date it started.
- Look up the state's own dollar and transaction thresholds and note which sales count toward them (gross or taxable, and whether marketplace orders are included).
- Check whether the state is a home rule state where some cities or parishes administer their own sales tax and may require a separate local registration.
- Gather the registration details: federal employer identification number, business structure, industry code, the date you began selling into the state, and an estimate of monthly taxable sales.
- Decide whether to register directly with the state department of revenue or through the Streamlined Sales Tax registration if the state participates.
- Register for a sales tax permit before you collect a single dollar of tax in the state; collecting without a permit is a violation in most states.
- Record the permit number, portal login, assigned filing frequency, and first due date in your state tracker.
- Categorize your catalog for this state: which items are fully taxable, reduced rate, or exempt (clothing, groceries, digital goods, and supplements are common exceptions).
- Confirm whether separately stated shipping and handling charges are taxable in this state.
- Confirm whether the state applies origin or destination sourcing to your orders, since in-state shipments can follow a different rule than remote ones.
- Switch on collection for the state in your checkout and make sure rates come from address-level jurisdiction data, not from ZIP codes.
- Place a few test orders to addresses in different counties and cities within the state and check the combined rate shown on each invoice against a current lookup.
- Set up a process for collecting and storing exemption certificates from wholesale, resale, and nonprofit buyers before you honor an exemption.
- Make sure marketplace orders shipped into the state are excluded from your own collection but still recorded for reporting and threshold tracking.
- Add every due date for the state to a shared calendar with a reminder one week ahead, including zero returns for periods with no sales.
- Open a separate ledger account or savings bucket for collected tax so it is never treated as revenue or spent.
- Decide who files each return (you, a bookkeeper, or a filing service) and give that person access to the state portal now, not the week it is due.
- Check whether the state offers a timely filing discount and whether prepayments apply at your sales volume.
- Review whether you sold into the state before registering, estimate the exposure, and consider a voluntary disclosure agreement before the state contacts you.
- Write a one-page setup memo for the state: nexus trigger, registration date, rate source, taxability rules, shipping treatment, and filing schedule.
- Schedule a quarterly review of rates and rules for the state, since state and local rates change several times a year.
- While you are at it, re-run the threshold check for the neighboring states where your sales are growing fastest.
https://salestaxly.com/templates/new-state-sales-tax-setup-checklist/Use it in your business, share it with your team, or link to it from your own site.
Also from SalesTaxly
- State by State Nexus and Filing Tracker: A one-page worksheet for tracking where your store has nexus, where it is registered, how often it files, and when the next return is due.
- Free calculators