Marketplace Facilitator Laws
Reviewed by Nexus by State research team using official state tax sources. Last reviewed .
Which marketplaces collect sales tax on your behalf, how it affects your state registrations, and when you still need to file returns.
What is a marketplace facilitator law?
A marketplace facilitator law requires online marketplaces — Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Walmart Marketplace, Shopify Markets, and similar platforms — to calculate, collect, and remit sales tax on behalf of their third-party sellers. As of 2026-07-17, a qualifying facilitator generally becomes the retailer or tax-collection party for the sales it facilitates, even though the underlying product shipment comes from an individual seller. Each state defines a qualifying facilitator and its threshold, registration, reporting, and recordkeeping duties separately.
Why these laws exist
Before marketplace facilitator laws, states struggled to enforce tax collection on thousands of small marketplace sellers who might each owe a few hundred dollars a year. Shifting the duty to a handful of large marketplaces solved the enforcement problem and captured tax that was previously uncollected.
What this means for you as a seller
- On sales through Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Walmart: you generally do not collect or remit sales tax — the marketplace does.
- You may still need to register with a state's DOR to report marketplace sales (informational filings), depending on state rules.
- Your own direct-to-consumer sales (Shopify store, wholesale, trade shows, your website) are still your responsibility to collect and remit.
- Marketplace-facilitated sales are typically excluded from your economic nexus threshold calculation, but this varies by state.
All 45 sales-tax states have marketplace laws
As of 2026, every US state that levies sales tax (and DC) has a marketplace facilitator statute. Effective dates range from 2018 (the early adopters) to 2022 (Missouri, the last holdout). If you're only selling through Amazon, Etsy, and eBay to US customers, your compliance burden is dramatically lower than a seller running an independent e-commerce store in multiple states.
Official sources checked 2026-07-17
- The Multistate Tax Commission's Wayfair and marketplace-facilitator project links to state collection statutes and compares how states define marketplace facilitators.
- The Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board state guidance compares facilitator thresholds, registration, return, and certification rules and warns that state definitions vary.
- The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration guide is a concrete state example: it separates the facilitator's collection duty from a seller's remaining direct-sales, registration, reporting, and recordkeeping obligations.
date_retrieved: 2026-07-17. State statutes and revenue-department guidance control when their requirements differ from this overview.
Frequently asked questions
- Which marketplaces count as marketplace facilitators?
- Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Walmart Marketplace, Shopify Markets Pro, StockX, Bonanza, and most similar multi-seller platforms. Regular Shopify (standalone stores), your own website, and wholesale platforms generally do not qualify.
- Do I still need to register if I only sell on Amazon?
- Usually no for states where your FBA inventory is not stored. But if Amazon's FBA warehouses hold your inventory in a state, that can create physical nexus and a registration requirement, even though Amazon collects the tax.
- Are marketplace sales counted toward my economic nexus threshold?
- In most states they are excluded — the threshold looks at your direct-to-consumer revenue only. But a few states include marketplace volume in the threshold calculation. Check each state's rule.
- What about payment processors like Stripe — are they marketplace facilitators?
- No. Payment processors are not marketplace facilitators. Stripe Tax, however, is a calculation and filing service — different role. If you sell through your own Shopify store using Stripe for payments, you are the seller of record.