INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS: DIRECT SALES

Sales tax compliance solutions for direct selling companies

Sales tax obligations are notoriously complicated for direct sellers. Let Avalara help you automate compliance so you can focus on revenue-generating activities.

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Avalara helps direct selling and multi-level marketing companies solve compliance challenges.

Challenge:
Knowing where you have tax obligations (also called nexus) is crucial to being tax compliant.

Direct sales companies create nexus wherever their independent sales representatives do business. In some cases, nexus can be established even if they haven’t made a sale.

Solution:
Avalara helps you manage each step of compliance from registration to remittance. Direct sellers, in particular, can qualify for the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) program, and let states offset the costs of using Avalara.

With the SST program, not only does it reduce cost, it increases your audit support.

Challenge:
Whether you’re starting as a not-for-resale (NFR) vendor or going for a full market launch, expanding product lines or territories often means additional tax complications and an increased risk of noncompliance.

Solution:
We can help you classify your product lines, determine international taxes and tariffs, and maintain compliance in markets around the world.

With regularly updated tax content for over 190 countries, Avalara helps to automate calculation and manage returns so your team can focus on more strategic tasks.

Challenge:
Charging the wrong rates can cause customer frustration or negative press, harming your brand and affecting sales.

Direct sellers are already under a high level of scrutiny from government agencies. You need to be prepared, not just with what was charged, but why.

Solution:
Automating tax calculation helps you apply the proper tax on both domestic and international sales, regardless of sales channel.

With Avalara content research and data management tools you’ll have the insights to ensure the trust of your customers.

Challenge:
Different states can classify the same product under entirely different categories, and the taxability rates and rules can change at any time.

Researching and updating rates across systems is a daunting task for any business, and mistakes can have severe consequences.

Solution:
Avalara provides an automated compliance solution with regularly updated rates and rules from multiple jurisdictions.

Avalara consolidates data for sales tax compliance across locations, sales channels, and departments, making audits and returns filing simpler and more reliable.

Our direct sales solution is with you every step of the way

Step 1

Connect your business ecosystem

Manage transaction data from one place. Connect to the systems and platforms you have now, as well as the ones you need as your business grows. Avalara has a robust API and over 1,000 signed partner integrations, including:

  • MLM back-office and commission engines
  • Ecommerce platforms
  • Order management systems (OMS)
  • Shopping carts
  • Customer relationship management (CRM)
  • Accounting software
  • and more

Step 2

Automate day-to-day compliance

Calculate rates based on product taxability rules and exemptions through cloud automation and content delivery for offline use

Apply complex rate changes across states and jurisdictions, including tax holidays

Monitor sales and get alerts when you need to register and start collecting tax in new states

Step 3

Offload the burden of returns preparation and filing

Extract sales data from multiple sales channels to generate reports and prepare sales tax returns

Compile transaction data across systems and channels for a complete picture of your tax liability

Create signature-ready returns and outsource filing according to individual jurisdiction deadlines

Let Avalara handle tax notices on your behalf — all you do is upload them

Avalara Returns Automation Illustration.

Step 4

Access documents, anytime, anywhere

Cloud-based technology means there’s no hardware investment, maintenance, or upgrades for IT to worry about. Whether employees are in the office or working remotely, they have anytime access to tax documents and can:

Produce detailed sales tax reports for all channels

Determine nexus obligations

Quickly pull documents and reports for auditors

Avalara works with what you already use

Prebuilt connectors and a robust API help you integrate with your existing business applications.

Don’t see your technology listed? Or are you a technology provider specializing in direct selling?

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What our partners say

What our partners say

Trusted by

Avalara and direct sales company expertise

Avalara and direct sales company expertise

Longtime contributors to events and content for industry’s leading associations

  • Direct Selling Association (since 2006)
  • Direct Selling Association of Canada (since 2014)

Dedicated resources to understand and lead Avalara’s people, product, and processes to best cater to direct sellers worldwide

  • Brian Brown, Senior Strategic Partnership Manager
  • Lynda Gerbe, Director Sales
  • Jon Whitenight, Senior Sales Executive

Direct selling sales tax solutions in your corner

Direct selling sales tax solutions in your corner