What Is a Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Provider?
Do you ever wish someone out there could figure out the tough sales tax stuff for you? If your business works with a Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Provider (CSP), there is.
In this post, we’ll give you the scoop on what Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers do, the Streamlined Sales Tax software they offer, and why you’d want to work with one to file in Streamlined Sales Tax states.
What is Streamlined Sales Tax (SST)?
Streamlined sales tax refers to an initiative by states to simplify sales tax collection for out-of-state retailers by making sales and use tax collection more uniform for retailers and states.
Started in 1999 by the National Governors’ Association (NGA) and the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) lists a number of actions states need to take to reduce the burden for tax compliance. Because it’s a voluntary agreement, not all states have adopted the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.
What States Are in the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement?
As of 2024, there are 24 full Streamlined Sales and Use Tax member states who have adopted the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement and one associate STT member state.
What is a Streamlined Sales Tax Filer?
A Streamlined Sales Tax filer is typically a remote seller that offers products and services for delivery to a state but doesn’t have a physical presence in the state and doesn’t need to register for file sales taxes until they exceed the state’s economic nexus threshold. While remote sellers can choose to file sales tax returns separately with each state, becoming a Streamlined Sales Tax filer typically saves considerable time and money.
Streamlined Sales Tax filers also benefit from the Streamlined Sales Tax software applications offered through the Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Provider program free-of-charge that provide help with everything from Streamlined Sales Tax registration to Streamlined Sales Tax filing.
What is a Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Provider?
A Streamlined Sales Tax CSP is a company certified by the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement to provide certain services. A Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Provider typically provides Streamlined Sales Tax software that can perform all the sales and use tax functions for a seller, except taking on the seller’s obligation to pay tax on its own purchases. Thanks to Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers, a company can outsource the majority of its sales tax admin responsibilities to these Streamlined Sales Tax software applications free-of-charge or for a discounted rate.
Every state that’s a member of the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board has a representative on the certification committee who plays a role in the Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers certification process. Certification committee members are part of the process from when a company applies for the final approval of the CSP’s contract.
To become a Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers, a company needs to prove that they can provide full Certified Service Providers services and that they can do so accurately.
According to Tim Bennett, Director of Sales and Use Tax at the Kentucky Department of Revenue who also was a member of Kentucky’s Certification Committee, “aspiring Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers must have appropriate internal controls, financial capabilities, and security processes. They also need to be able to transmit Simplified Electronic Returns (SERS) through their web service.”
“Certification isn’t a one-and-done process,” Tim notes. He and other Streamlined Sales Tax states on the Certification Committee keep tabs on Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers to ensure they continue to provide the appropriate services to their clients.”
SST Official Providers
The following companies are official STT providers and are certified to offer free services under the Streamlined CSP program.
TaxCloud
TaxCloud is a sales tax compliance solution with over 15 years of experience supporting e-commerce business of all sizes across all 13,000+ US sales tax jurisdictions.
TaxCloud provides:
- Accurate sales tax calculations
- Automated tax collection
- Tax reporting and filing services
- Economic nexus tracking with threshold notifications
- Integrations with Shopify, BigCommerce, Odoo, Netsuite, QuickBooks, and more
- Exemption certificate support
- Audit support
- Access to the TaxCloud developer API
Learn more: What is Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) and do they cover TaxCloud services?
Avalara
Avalara offers an automated platform for sales and use tax management and are focused on larger businesses and enterprises.
Avalara offers:
- Sales and use tax calculation in real-time
- State by state registration
- Preparation and filing of returns
- Tax remittance
- Integration with your ecommerce, ERP, accounting, POS, or other financial system
Avior
Avior is the newest certified provider and offers businesses an end-to-end solution for managing sales tax automation.
Avior offers:
- Real-time sales tax calculation
- Cart integration plug-ins
- State registration
- Tax filing and payment
- Nexus tracking
- Exemption certificates
- Audit support.
Sovos
Sovos offers a sales tax solution aimed at businesses of all sizes aimed at helping to reduce the burden of tax and compliance.
Sovos delivers:
- Prioritized support for SST Certified Service Provider customers
- Flexible integrations with your existing tech
- Sales tax calculation
- Sales tax reporting and compliance
- A hands-on implementation team
Accurate Tax
AccurateTax.com offers a product called TaxTools that can be integrated into your online shopping cart.
Accurate Tax offers:
- Tax calculation and collection
- Tax reporting and remittance
- Easy integration into your online stores
- A custom API for any other integrations you need
What Services Does a SST Certified Service Provider Offer?
SST Certified Service Providers typically offer SST Software that makes filing taxes in member states simple.
The services a Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers provides via their software solutions can include:
- Streamlined Sales Tax software
- Streamlined Sales Tax registration
- Identifying taxable products and services
- Determining the correct tax rate
- Maintaining transaction records
- Setting up and integrating its software with the seller’s
- Streamlined Sales Tax filing
- Paying sales tax to SST member states
- Resolving audits from SST member states
- Protecting Streamlined Sales Tax filer’s privacy
If one or more Streamlined Sales Tax states audit a business, the Certified Service Provider essentially serves in place of the taxpayer in dealing with the state(s) in those instances. Businesses can also enlist the Certified Service Provider to assist in the Streamlined Sales Tax registration process,” but that decision is at the company’s discretion.
How Does One Continue to Be a Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Provider?
Certification is an ongoing process. At the end of every contract, the certification committee reviews the Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers and votes to recommend recertification (or not).
Test Decks are a critical part of the process of certification and recertification for the Streamlined Sales Tax software offered by these Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers.
The Test Deck uses the items on the taxability matrix to test whether the CSP candidate has the correct taxability for all these items. States also use the test deck to make sure the CSP candidate is correctly using the Streamlined Sales Tax rates and boundary databases to return accurate sourcing results based on the addresses provided in the test deck.
“To get approved, a Certified Service Provider applicant must return the test deck with 100% accuracy,” Tim says. “Once a Certified Service Provider has a contract with the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, they must run the test decks every quarter to assure they are still returning an accurate result.”
What Are the Benefits of Being a SST Certified Service Provider?
There are multiple benefits of certification for taxpayers, Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers, and STT member states. Since states compensate Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers, businesses have reduced costs. They also have peace of mind that they are getting reliable sales tax support and that the Certified Service Provider will be there to handle any audit concerns that come up.
“Without Certified Service Providers, businesses would have to navigate registration, calculating tax, filing returns, and remitting the sales tax with the possibility that they may not do things correctly.
They’d also have to deal with 24 separate states instead of a single Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Provider.
Finally, getting certified gives Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Providers a seal of approval, which makes the provider more attractive to potential customers.”
Wondering if you qualify for SST?
Don’t leave your company’s sales tax up to chance. Work with TaxCloud, a Streamlined Sales Tax Certified Service Provider who will have your back for everything from Streamlined Sales Tax registration to Streamlined Sales Tax filing.
Contact us today to find out if your business is qualified for SST discounts.