BUSINESS ADVICE • 7 FEBRUARY 2019 • 7 MIN READ

Trading on Amazon – and down at the local farmers market!

SECTIONS

Income tax

Sales tax (GST)

Amazon calculator

Disclaimer: We are not experts in US tax law – but we can help connect you to US tax accountants.

Lots of Kiwi businesses either start off down at the local farmers market – or dip their toes into the world of Trading on Amazon.

Quite often enterprises grow without too much thought being given to their tax responsibilities and they can find themselves in a tax mess.

This short blog is not about scaring you or putting you off. However, hopefully will give you some useful information about when you should start getting yourself organised for tax and accounting purposes on your trader journey.

Income tax

Let’s talk about income tax first. If you are a NZ tax resident (you live here most of the time) then you have to pay tax on your worldwide income, whatever the source. This includes farmers market, Amazon trading and every other kind of income here in New Zealand. You may also have to file a US tax return, pay tax there and then claim the tax credit in your NZ return.

Let’s say you sell $10,000 of your natural hand cream over the year and it costs $7,000 to produce it, you’ll pay income tax here in NZ on the $3,000 of profit that you made. We can help you include this in your tax return and make sure you’ve claimed everything that you can.

If you do have to file in the US, we have some excellent contacts that can help make sure you are paying the correct amount of tax.

Sales tax (GST)

Regrettably this is more complex. If you’re selling over $60,000 worth of product here in NZ at the farmers market (well done!), then you have to register and account for GST. Call or email us on support@beany.com and we’ll get you sorted out.

If you are Amazon trading, hang on to your sanity. This is where it gets complex and potentially very difficult to administer.

There are 45 US states with sales tax – each one has different rules. You will need to register and pay sales tax in each state, if you create either:

A physical nexus = inventory stored there (see below), a depot, or a sales rep

or:

An economic nexus = more than 200 transactions in a 12 month period. Each state has a different level of turnover which also triggers registration but let’s just keep this simple for now.

Amazon calculator

If you are an FBA (Fulfilment By Amazon) trader with Amazon, they will store your inventory in 26 states and automatically trigger a nexus in those states. This is where it starts to get a bit scary as you would then have to register for sales tax in 26 states (at least). Amazon provide a calculator to help with your tax calculations as it realises that it is triggering registration.

Let’s say a nexus is established and you need to register for sales tax. You need to register in each state and the cost is approximately $200 per registration. Then each return costs approximately $50 per return per month.

If you are an FBA, then this means a compliance cost of $5,200 USD to register and then an ongoing $15,600 USD per year.

Gulp.

Here are some handy tips to help you get around this

Don’t be an FBA, sell one at a time to each US customer – then you don’t establish the physical nexus
Use A2X software (NZ based software) which is the best, we are reliably assured, at bringing in Amazon statement details into your Xero software and helping you keep track of your unit and $ sales to the US so you can understand your sales tax exposure
There is some US software called ‘Tax Jar’ which can calculate your overall tax liability if you’re concerned
Look at using a company to help with your exporting – we have been recommended Export-X, based in Auckland. They have a wealth of knowledge about the best way to handle Amazon Trading. Export-X are pretty choosy about who they work with and are looking for businesses with a track record and solid sales

Who are Beany?

We’re an online accounting firm that is always right here for you, your accounting pain relief. The most advanced technology lets us work way more closely with you than a normal accountant would.

We have a dedicated team of remote accountants to take care of your business no matter where you are, so you can focus on growing your business. We take out the ‘fluff’, break down the barriers and get things done. Looking out for you is what we are all about. Get started for free today.