Web App Sales Tax?

1 pointtheqco2 comments

We are still in the process of finding a lawyer but just throwing this out there for any other web developers with a subscription based service:<p>Do web applications that provide a subscription service have to pay sales tax?

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#1 - You'll likely get a better response if you prefix your title with "Ask HN: "

#2 - You'll definitely get a better response if you post during the business week (US business hours?)

#3 - Contact your state tax office and ask. You can call local county offices as well for sales tax questions but the state tax offices, IMO, get more of these types of questions and have more training in this area.

From the research that I have done, taxation of software sales varies from state to state and may depend on the form of delivery of the software. From the states that I looked at, there was a greater likelihood of sales tax applicability if the software was of the "off-the-shelf" variety (not custom software), but if installed through a download rather than shipped, it was not subject to sales tax. I agree with Scott - just call your state tax office and explain your situation.

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