How One of My Clients Survived 372 Sales Tax Returns Across 36 States—Without Losing It
One of my ecommerce clients recently told me they filed 372 sales tax returns last year across 36 states.
Let that sink in.
Naturally, my first question was, “How are you not in a padded room right now?”
Because let’s be real—the U.S. sales tax system is a bureaucratic circus. There are over 13,000 jurisdictions, each with their own rates, rules, deadlines, and quirks. Miss one? You’re still liable. Even if you didn’t collect the tax.
And it wasn’t always this intense.
Before 2018, if you didn’t have a physical presence in a state, you didn’t need to collect sales tax there. But then the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision flipped everything. Now, if you meet certain thresholds—like $100K in revenue or 200+ orders in a state—you’re on the hook.
Every state wrote their own rules (shocking, I know).
Some count gross revenue. Some only care about taxable sales. Some include marketplace transactions, others don’t. The result? A jigsaw puzzle of compliance requirements—and zero standardization.
And let’s not forget the local jurisdictions.
Some counties and cities set their own rates and reporting schedules. Colorado, for instance, requires separate filings for different counties. It’s chaos. Beautiful if you love spreadsheets. Horrific if you enjoy having free time.
Even when businesses do everything right—register in every state, file like clockwork—they still get buried under a mountain of government mail.
My client used to dread mail day. Every week, envelopes from state tax departments rolled in with cryptic notices, follow-ups, and “urgent” letters about accounts they’d already filed on. It was a full-time job just decoding the language.
That’s when we switched them to Numeral.
They now handle all the tax calculations (fully integrated with Shopify), and the real game-changer? They manage a virtual mailbox for all that tax-related government mail. Instead of my client having to open, read, and act on every confusing letter, the team at Numeral does it for them.
They actually open the mail, figure out what matters, and take care of it.
For the first time in years, this client has a desk that isn’t covered in state envelopes and to-do lists from tax departments.
Oh, and their pricing? Straightforward. No surprise fees. And the support team is refreshingly human.
So if you’re running a growing ecommerce business and sales tax compliance is dragging you down, I’ve seen firsthand what a difference the right support system can make. This client went from constant stress to smooth sailing—and honestly? That peace of mind is priceless.
If you are or know an e-commerce biz drowning in tax madness, Numeral might just be your lifeline.
Bonus: No more scary mail stacks. 🙌
