Amazon, Etsy, and Walmart now collect sales tax on their marketplace sales in every state that has one. That's a real simplification — but it doesn't zero out a seller's sales-tax obligations. Here's what these laws do and don't cover.
Updated 10 July 2026. General information, not tax advice.
A marketplace facilitator law shifts the mechanical responsibility for collecting and remitting sales tax from the individual seller to the platform that facilitates the sale — Amazon, Etsy, Walmart Marketplace, eBay, and similar platforms. Instead of every third-party seller on a marketplace independently registering and collecting in every state, the marketplace itself collects the tax at checkout and remits it to the state on the sellers' behalf.
This was a direct consequence of the 2018 Wayfair decision: once states could tax remote sellers, they quickly realized it was far more efficient to collect from a handful of large marketplaces than to chase thousands of individual small sellers. Most states enacted their marketplace facilitator law in 2019 or 2020, and the number of states with one more than quadrupled in that window. Missouri was the last state to pass one, effective January 1, 2023 — at which point every U.S. state with a sales tax had a marketplace facilitator law in effect.
Marketplace collection is scoped to sales made through that specific marketplace. It's a real reduction in a seller's workload, but three things commonly remain the seller's responsibility:
If you also sell through your own Shopify store, a wholesale account, or a marketplace that hasn't collected on a given order for some reason, none of that is covered by another platform's marketplace facilitator collection. Those sales are fully your own responsibility in every state where you have nexus.
Some states still require a seller with their own nexus — commonly triggered by stored inventory, such as Amazon FBA stock (see our FBA-specific guide) — to register and file returns, sometimes informational or zero-dollar returns, even though the marketplace is the one actually collecting and remitting the tax on marketplace sales. Registration and collection are treated as separate obligations in these states.
Economic nexus thresholds are based on sales volume into a state. Whether your marketplace-facilitated sales count toward that threshold — on top of any direct sales — varies by state. In states where they do count, a seller who thought they were "covered" by marketplace collection can still cross an economic nexus threshold and trigger a separate registration requirement once their direct-channel sales are added in.
| Sales channel | Who collects the tax | Still may need attention from you |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon, Etsy, Walmart Marketplace (as facilitator) | The marketplace, automatically | Registration/filing in states requiring it despite marketplace collection; whether these sales count toward your own threshold elsewhere |
| Your own website / Shopify store | You, once registered | Determining nexus, registering, collecting, and filing — see Shopify sellers guide |
| Wholesale / B2B direct sales | You, subject to resale exemption rules | Exemption certificate handling, nexus in the buyer's state |
The practical upshot for a multichannel seller: marketplace facilitator laws remove a real chunk of the collection burden, but they don't remove the need to track your total nexus footprint across every channel you sell on.
A marketplace facilitator law requires the platform that facilitates a sale — such as Amazon, Etsy, or Walmart Marketplace — to collect and remit sales tax on behalf of third-party sellers, instead of leaving that responsibility to each individual seller. Every U.S. state with a sales tax now has one, following Missouri's law taking effect January 1, 2023.
Not necessarily. Marketplace collection covers sales made through that specific marketplace. It doesn't cover sales through your own website, wholesale, or other channels, and some states still require sellers with their own nexus (for example, from stored inventory) to register and file even when the marketplace is collecting.
It depends on the state. Some states count marketplace-facilitated sales toward your threshold even though you're not the one collecting the tax on them; others exclude marketplace sales from that calculation. This affects whether your combined direct-plus-marketplace sales trigger nexus in a state, so it's worth checking the specific state's rule.
Most states enacted their laws in 2019 and 2020, in the years immediately following the 2018 Wayfair decision. The number of states with a marketplace facilitator law more than quadrupled during that period. Missouri was the last state to enact one, effective January 1, 2023, completing nationwide coverage among states with a sales tax.
No. It shifts the collection mechanics for marketplace sales, but your own nexus status — from physical presence or direct/non-marketplace sales volume — still needs to be tracked separately.