#multi-state-tax
Multi-State Tax
Multi-state tax compliance, nexus rules, and withholding requirements for businesses operating across state lines
Back-to-School Sales Tax Holidays in 17 States: Dates, Price Caps, and Why Your Online Store Isn't Exempt
Seventeen states run back-to-school sales tax holidays in summer 2026, from Florida's 32-day window to Iowa's Friday-Saturday weekend, each with its own price caps — $75 clothing in Ohio, $300 in Connecticut, $40 on Maryland backpacks. Participation is mandatory for most registered retailers, and destination sourcing means online sellers with nexus must honor the holiday of the delivery state.
Your $35,568 Salary No Longer Makes Someone Exempt: 2026 Overtime Salary Thresholds in Six States
The federal FLSA salary threshold for the white-collar exemptions is still $684 a week ($35,568 a year) in 2026 after the 2024 DOL rule was vacated and rescinded, but six states set higher floors - Washington $1,541.70/week, California $1,352.00, New York $1,275.00 in the NYC metro and $1,199.10 elsewhere, Colorado $1,057.69, Alaska $938.40, and Maine $871.16. The threshold that applies is the one for the state where the work is performed, and a failed classification exposes two years of unpaid overtime (three if willful) plus liquidated damages that double the recovery.
Why You Got a 1099-K for $650 When Your Friend Didn't: The $600 State Patchwork Behind the Federal $20,000
Congress restored the federal 1099-K threshold to $20,000 and 200 transactions in July 2025, but nine states still require a form at $600 and four more sit between $1,000 and $2,500 — so a $650 Etsy sale produces a 1099-K in Massachusetts and nothing in Texas. Includes the state-by-state threshold tiers and how to reconcile a gross form total down to actual taxable profit.
Minimum Wage Rose in 20+ Jurisdictions on July 1, 2026: A Multi-State Payroll Update Checklist
More than 20 state and local jurisdictions raised their minimum wage on July 1, 2026 — Alaska to $14.00, Oregon and D.C. on their annual schedules, plus 17 city and county increases across California, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota and Oregon — lifting pay for over 360,000 workers by roughly $221 million a year. A seven-step checklist for employers who owe the highest rate where work is performed, including how to split a straddling pay period by work date rather than pay date.
Why Your SaaS Can Owe State Tax on Sales You Never "Made" Anywhere: The Throwback and Throwout Trap
A throwback rule can push a home-state sales factor from 20% to 60% on the same revenue by adding untaxed 'nowhere' sales back to the numerator; throwout, which shrinks the denominator instead, takes it to 33%. About 20 states plus D.C. still throw back tangible sales, five repealed their rules since 2019, and P.L. 86-272 protects none of your SaaS receipts.
Massachusetts Decouples from OBBBA: What R&D Expensing, Section 179, and Bonus Depreciation Changes Mean for Your Business
Massachusetts rejected four major OBBBA federal tax breaks — immediate R&D expensing, 100% bonus depreciation on qualified production property, the $2.5M Section 179 limit, and the EBITDA-based interest cap — and set a September 10, 2026 deadline to file amended 2025 state returns without interest charges.
Your Payroll Provider Now Wants to Handle Your State Registrations Too — Here's Why That Matters
Gusto's acquisition of compliance-automation platform Mosey signals that multi-state registration is becoming a payroll-provider feature. Small businesses under 50 employees spend about $14,700 per employee per year on regulatory compliance, and a first hire in a new state triggers foreign qualification, withholding and SUTA accounts, workers' comp, and new-hire reporting — each with its own agency, deadline, and penalties.
Illinois Drops the 200-Transaction Sales Tax Rule: What Remote Sellers Should Do in 2026
Effective January 1, 2026, Illinois eliminated the 200-transaction economic nexus threshold, leaving a single $100,000 trailing-12-month revenue test for remote sellers. Here's who gains or loses nexus, how the August–October 2026 amnesty program works, and how to structure your books to answer state-by-state sales questions on demand.
Pay Transparency Laws in 2026: A State-by-State Guide for Small Businesses
As of 2026, roughly 20 states plus Washington D.C. require salary-range disclosure in job postings, and the laws apply based on where a remote job could be performed — not where the employer is based. Employee-count thresholds range from 1 to 50+, and penalties run from $250 per violation in Illinois to $25,000 in Massachusetts. Here is what small businesses must disclose, how to handle "Remote — US" listings, and a six-step compliance checklist.
2026 State Minimum Wage Increases: A Multi-State Payroll Compliance Guide
Nineteen states raised their minimum wage on January 1, 2026 — Washington now leads at $17.13 an hour — and roughly 68 cities and counties set higher local rates. This guide lists every 2026 state rate, the mid-year changes in Florida and Oregon, new PFML payroll taxes in Maryland, Minnesota, and Delaware, and a seven-step checklist for keeping multi-state payroll compliant.
Retail Delivery Fees in 2026: What Sellers Owe in Colorado and Minnesota
Colorado's retail delivery fee rose to $0.31 per order on July 1, 2026, while Minnesota charges $0.50 on qualifying orders of $100 or more. Here are the exemption thresholds, marketplace carve-outs, the ten-plus states drafting similar fees, and how to record the fee so it doesn't tangle your books.
Traveling Carnival and Fair Concessionaire Bookkeeping: Gross-Revenue Splits, Multi-State Permits, and a Route of One-Week Stops
How carnival and fair concessionaires should keep books for a route business — recording 25–50% gross-revenue splits and guarantee floors per stop, registering for sales tax permits that differ by state (Ohio's statewide license vs. California's per-location permits vs. Illinois's changing-location filer status), reconciling cash daily against ticket counts, and tracking day-labor payroll and 1099 thresholds across state lines.