{"id":32399,"date":"2026-05-15T19:27:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T19:27:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/synder.com\/blog\/?p=32399"},"modified":"2026-05-15T19:27:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T19:27:54","slug":"marketplace-facilitator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/synder.com\/blog\/marketplace-facilitator\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketplace Facilitator Laws: What Online Sellers Need to Know About Sales Tax in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
You sell on Amazon, see sales tax collected at checkout, and assume the platform has it handled. Then a state auditor asks why you stopped filing returns, and the tax you thought was someone else’s problem turns into back taxes and penalties. That gap, between what the marketplace covers and what you still owe, is where multi-channel sellers lose real money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marketplace facilitator laws decide who collects sales tax on a sale and who is left holding the rest. They affect anyone on a third-party platform, anyone running a store alongside a marketplace, and anyone keeping books across both. This article covers how the laws work, where responsibility still falls on the seller, what changed in 2025 and 2026, and how to set up accounting so the same dollar of tax never gets remitted twice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
TL;DR<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Facilitator laws shift tax collection to platforms:<\/strong> Amazon, Etsy, and similar marketplaces collect and remit sales tax, but only on transactions that happen on their platforms.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Sellers are still responsible for more than they think:<\/strong> Direct sales, registrations, filings, and nexus tracking remain the seller’s job even when marketplaces handle the tax.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Rules vary by state and keep evolving:<\/strong> Thresholds are converging toward revenue-based limits, but definitions and edge cases still differ across states.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Multi-channel selling creates accounting risk:<\/strong> If marketplace-collected tax isn’t recorded separately, liabilities get overstated, or the same tax gets paid twice.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
The safest approach is separation:<\/strong> Treat marketplace tax and seller-owed tax as different ledger events, track them separately, and review each channel regularly.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
What is a marketplace facilitator?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Store software, not a marketplace; the duty stays with you<\/td><\/tr>
Meta (Facebook & Instagram)<\/td>
No, since Aug 26, 2025<\/td>
Meta stopped acting as an MPF; the duty came back to you<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The line shifts more often than sellers expect, and 2025 moved it both ways. On January 1, 2025, Shopify’s Shop channel began collecting and remitting sales tax in every state with a statewide sales tax, plus DC and local taxes in Alaska, but only on Shop channel orders. The storefront still works the old way, with the seller as merchant of record. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going the other way, Meta stopped acting as a facilitator for all new orders created on or after August 26, 2025, so Facebook and Instagram Shops sellers got that responsibility back partway through the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The takeaway for anyone running more than one channel<\/strong>: classify each channel separately, and revisit the list every quarter. A platform that handled your tax in January may not handle it in December.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What sellers still have to do, even when the marketplace collects<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Marketplace facilitator laws relieve one duty, collecting and remitting tax on platform sales, and leave the rest in place. Treat the law as a blanket exemption, and you’re the seller who gets the audit letter. So what’s still on the seller’s plate?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Sales outside the marketplace.<\/strong> Amazon collects on Amazon. Your own Shopify store, trade show table, direct B2B invoices, and in-person sales are your responsibility wherever you have nexus.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Sales tax registration in many states.<\/strong> Plenty of states still require a valid permit and your own returns, even when a platform handles collection. New Jersey requires remote sellers over the threshold to register, even if they sell only through a marketplace. Alabama is different: in-state marketplace-only sellers apply for an exemption certificate, not a sales tax account. Confirm your status in each state before deregistering anything.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Filing zero or informational returns.<\/strong> Some states want you to file in your own name even when the marketplace remitted everything. Texas has in-state sellers keep their permit and file on time, with marketplace revenue in Total Sales but not Taxable Sales. Washington won’t let marketplace-only sellers cancel their permit at all, since it ties Business & Occupation tax to the same return.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Separate returns and written-agreement waivers<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A few states go further than a zero return, requiring a marketplace seller to file a separate return alongside the marketplace’s own remittance so the state can match the two. Georgia, Indiana, and North Dakota are verified examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A smaller group of states let the seller and the marketplace shift collection responsibility by written agreement. Nevada, New Jersey, and Tennessee have provisions along these lines, though it’s rarely used in practice, because large marketplaces don’t sign individual collection agreements with small sellers. Either way, the marketplace collecting tax does not always mean it has discharged every filing obligation tied to those sales. Check the state’s Department of Revenue guidance before assuming otherwise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Counting marketplace sales toward economic nexus.<\/strong> Most states roll marketplace sales into your nexus calculation, which can push you over the threshold for direct-sales obligations even when a marketplace drove all the volume. In New York, marketplace sales count toward the threshold even though the marketplace already collected the tax.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
FBA inventory triggering physical nexus.<\/strong> If Amazon stores your inventory in a warehouse in another state, you may have physical nexus there for non-marketplace sales. Amazon handles tax on your Amazon orders, but the direct-sales obligation is yours.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
Meta no longer files for you on new orders<\/td><\/tr>
Airbnb \/ Vrbo (Colorado, since Jan 1, 2025)<\/td>
Platform, under SB24-024 lodging rules<\/td>
Local lodging-tax compliance still applies<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Marketplace facilitator thresholds by state<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every sales-tax state has a marketplace facilitator law, but the trigger threshold and whether you still file your own return vary. The 25 states with the highest ecommerce sales volume are below; the same general rules apply in the remaining 20 sales-tax states, with state-specific variations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State<\/strong><\/td>
Threshold<\/strong><\/td>
Effective date<\/strong><\/td>
Separate seller return required?<\/strong><\/td>
Notes<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Alabama<\/td>
$250,000<\/td>
Oct 1, 2018<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
In-state marketplace-only sellers apply for an exemption certificate<\/td><\/tr>
Arizona<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Oct 1, 2019<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Marketplace sales excluded from the seller’s threshold<\/td><\/tr>
California<\/td>
$500,000<\/td>
Oct 1, 2019<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Marketplace sales count toward the seller’s threshold<\/td><\/tr>
Colorado<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Oct 1, 2019<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
SB24-024 extended facilitator rules to lodging platforms<\/td><\/tr>
Florida<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Jul 1, 2021<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Revenue-only threshold<\/td><\/tr>
Georgia<\/td>
$100,000 or 200 transactions<\/td>
Apr 1, 2020<\/td>
Yes<\/td>
Separate seller return can apply<\/td><\/tr>
Illinois<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Jan 1, 2020<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
200-transaction threshold removed Jan 1, 2026<\/td><\/tr>
Indiana<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Jul 1, 2019<\/td>
Yes<\/td>
Separate seller return can apply<\/td><\/tr>
Louisiana<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Jul 1, 2020<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
200-transaction threshold removed Aug 2023<\/td><\/tr>
Maryland<\/td>
$100,000 or 200 transactions<\/td>
Oct 1, 2019<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Revenue or transaction trigger<\/td><\/tr>
Massachusetts<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Oct 1, 2019<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Revenue-only threshold<\/td><\/tr>
Michigan<\/td>
$100,000 or 200 transactions<\/td>
Jan 1, 2020<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Revenue or transaction trigger<\/td><\/tr>
Minnesota<\/td>
$100,000 or 200 transactions<\/td>
Oct 1, 2019<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Revenue or transaction trigger<\/td><\/tr>
Missouri<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Jan 1, 2023<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Last state to adopt economic nexus<\/td><\/tr>
New Jersey<\/td>
$100,000 or 200 transactions<\/td>
Nov 1, 2018<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Collection can shift by written agreement; non-reporting status available<\/td><\/tr>
New York<\/td>
$500,000 + 100 transactions<\/td>
Jun 1, 2019<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Marketplace sales count toward the seller’s threshold<\/td><\/tr>
Collection can shift by written agreement<\/td><\/tr>
Texas<\/td>
$500,000<\/td>
Oct 1, 2019<\/td>
Yes<\/td>
In-state sellers keep their permit; marketplace revenue in Total Sales, not Taxable Sales<\/td><\/tr>
Virginia<\/td>
$100,000 or 200 transactions<\/td>
Jul 1, 2019<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
Revenue or transaction trigger<\/td><\/tr>
Washington<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Oct 1, 2018<\/td>
Yes<\/td>
Marketplace-only sellers can’t cancel the permit; B&O tax ties to it<\/td><\/tr>
Wisconsin<\/td>
$100,000<\/td>
Jan 1, 2020<\/td>
Sometimes<\/td>
200-transaction threshold removed in 2021<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Sometimes” in the separate-return column means the answer depends on whether you have physical presence, direct sales, or another in-state obligation. When marketplace sales are your only activity, many of these states let you file a zero return or skip filing entirely. Always confirm with the state’s Department of Revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
State-specific quirks worth knowing in 2026<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The 2025\u20132026 update wave touched economic nexus thresholds, lodging rules, delivery taxation, and audit programs across more than a dozen states. The changes most likely to affect a marketplace seller, by effective date:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Alaska, January 1, 2025.<\/strong> Repealed the 200-transaction threshold; economic nexus now rests solely on $100,000 in gross sales.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Colorado, January 1, 2025.<\/strong> SB24-024 extends facilitator-style lodging-tax reporting to short-term rental platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo, a sign “marketplace” is expanding into lodging, delivery, and rideshare.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
California SB 1144, into 2025.<\/strong> Added information-collection duties for high-volume third-party sellers; marketplaces now verify tax documents, location, and banking info.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Ohio, April 3, 2025.<\/strong> HB 315 makes all delivery-network charges taxable, even on otherwise non-taxable items like groceries, and lets those companies elect facilitator status.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Utah, July 1, 2025.<\/strong> Eliminated the 200-transaction threshold; $100,000 in sales is the only trigger.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
Illinois, January 1, 2026.<\/strong> Removed the 200-transaction threshold for remote retailers and facilitators; only $100,000 in gross receipts triggers nexus, per the Illinois Department of Revenue<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n