A paradigm shift occurred in the auction industry last regarding sales tax and how it is applied by auctioneers. The South Dakota v Wayfair decision will have a substantial impact for companies who sell items across state lines. For example in Oklahoma legislation passed setting the threshold to register with the state at only $10,000 and is required even if you have have no physical presence in that state. For many of you that may be a single piece of equipment or machinery.
There are a lot of unknowns
We have already talked with a lot of auctioneers wondering about how this new ruling is going to affect their business, and how to get in front of it.
We do not have all the answer to the questions we do know and there are more questions we don’t even know to ask at this point.
What we do know is that we are committed to being part of the solution and technology will be a key part in making everything work.
We’re ready
We are in a unique position to delivery a solution to the auction industry that works. We are actively exploring solutions and trying to develop a level of understanding on what the ruling actually means and what impact it will have for our auction clients. We are committed to providing a solution. Our technology is actively being developed and uses current protocols so we can adapt to whatever solution we decide to build.
Next Steps
There is no doubt the way auctioneers managed sales tax in the past will change with this court ruling. We are up for the challenge and making plans to update our architecture so auctioneers can be compliant with new regulations as states start rolling them out. We are working on adding a report in our “all auctions” section that will summarize the number of transactions and gross sales by state for both inner state and in state sales. This will provide a snapshot each company can use to determine if new state laws will apply to their individual companies.
Learn more
A coalition of active auction associations including the National Auctioneers Association and the Minnesota State Auctioneers Assocaiton has created a website with information for auctioneers about the South Dakota v Wayfair case and decision. It is a great starting point if you want to become more familiar with the current situation. Please check our blog often as we will continue to post more information about changes coming to the indsutry and Wavebid as we learn more information