US state nexus checker — free calculator
Tests one state at a time against its own economic and physical nexus factors, because registering in one does nothing for the next.
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Tests one state at a time against its own economic and physical nexus factors, because registering in one does nothing for the next.
Enter your figures
An estimate for planning only. Rates and thresholds used here are the assumptions stated on this page; we confirm every figure against the issuing authority for your own tax year before anything is filed.
How the estimate is built
US sales tax is state-level, is not covered by the federal treaty, and can reach a foreign seller with no US entity. Physical presence — an employee, inventory in a fulfilment centre, property — creates nexus regardless of volume. Economic nexus is tested against each state's own sales and transaction thresholds, measured over that state's own period.
Your next step
A calculator narrows the range; it does not settle a filing. Ask before the move rather than after it, because most of the useful options expire on the date.
Reviewed for the 2025 and 2026 filing seasons by Udit Gupta, Cross-Border Tax Expert, Legal Quotient Consultants. General information, not advice for your circumstances — call our 24-hour helpline to discuss your own position.
Corporate tax calculator — what this page covers
Most readers of this page are looking for corporate tax calculator. What follows sets out how it works for US state nexus checker: who is caught by it, what has to be filed, and what the work costs, agreed before it begins.
What working with us on US state nexus checker calculator looks like
A named reviewer on every file
Every page on this site and every file we deliver says which practitioner reviewed it — a person, not a team inbox.
Every figure on a page is traceable
Where a rate or a threshold appears in our writing it names the tax year it belongs to. Where it could not be confirmed, the page describes the mechanism and quotes no number.
The quote comes from your documents
Nothing is priced from a phone call. We read what you have first, then the fee is set — so the scope and the number are agreed on the same evidence.
The fee is fixed before we start
Quoted from your documents and agreed in writing. The number you accept is the number you pay.
What these engagements turn on
Marketplace inventory created obligations the seller never chose
An overseas seller used a marketplace's fulfilment network and had no idea where its stock was being held. Goods had been moved between warehouses in several states, each placement amounting to physical presence in a state the seller had never dealt with. The work obtained the inventory placement records, mapped them to states and periods, and established when the obligation had begun in each one. The engagement produced registrations in the states concerned, the back returns for the periods since presence began, and a standing process for reading the placement reports.
State schedule rebuilt from the order data by state
A company selling into the United States had a single national sales figure and no way to test any state's threshold against it. The work rebuilt the order data into sales and transaction counts by state and by the period each state measures, then tested each one against that state's stated sales and transaction figures. Some states were well clear, one had been crossed in the previous period and several were approaching. The engagement produced a state-by-state schedule with a refresh cycle and a note of where registration would next be required.
Treaty protection at federal level did not cover the state
A business had taken advice that it carried no United States federal income tax exposure and treated the matter as closed. A state then wrote to it about unregistered sales. The work explained that sales tax is imposed by the states under their own law and is not reached by the federal treaty, tested the state's own thresholds against the company's figures, and separately reviewed the state income tax position, which the treaty does not settle either. The engagement produced a registration, the outstanding returns, and a written note of the two systems' separate boundaries.
Registration and back filings after one employee relocated
An employee moved to a state where the business had no customers, no premises and no plans. Physical presence created nexus on its own, regardless of the volume of sales into that state. The work established the date presence began, registered the business, filed the periods since, and identified the payroll and withholding registrations that followed from the same fact. The engagement produced a complete set of filings running from the start date, and a checklist to be worked through before the next person moves.
One state registration assumed to cover the neighbouring ones
A seller registered in one state and assumed the neighbouring ones were covered by the same filing. Each state sets its own thresholds, its own view of what is taxable and its own filing frequency, so the registration answered for nothing outside its own borders. The work tested each state separately, found that the taxability of the product itself differed between two of them, and established which periods were open. The engagement produced registrations where they were required and a return calendar carrying the correct frequency for each state.
Nexus tested before a distribution agreement was signed
A manufacturer was about to appoint a United States distributor and wanted the state position understood before signing rather than afterwards. The work examined what the arrangement would put into each state, whether stock would be held there, whether anyone would be working there, and how the expected sales pattern measured against each state's thresholds. The engagement produced a written assessment of which states the arrangement would bring the business into, and the registration steps that would follow in each of them.
Selling Into the US Without an Entity, and Filing in Several States
State obligations are set by each state, and a treaty does not reach them. The review measures activity against each state's own thresholds and separates the states where registration is required from the ones where it is not.
Read how this one runsCatching Up From Inside the United States
The domestic route suits a filer who was resident in the US through the missed years, and it differs from the offshore one in what it asks for and what it costs. Choosing between them before anything is filed is the whole engagement.
Read how this one runsAll case studies — every published engagement in one place.
Core International & Cross-Border Tax Services
International Tax Planning & Advisory
Strategy and compliance for income, assets and families spread across borders.
U.S. & Cross-Border Tax Returns
Expat & Emigration Tax
Non-Resident Canadian Tax
Transfer Pricing & BEPS
Tax Treaties & Withholding
Cross-Border Estates & Trusts
Global Investments & Reporting
Cross-Border Corporate Tax
India Tax for NRIs & Returning Residents
Canadian Tax with a Foreign Element
UAE Tax for Expats & Their Home Country
Industries & Client Types We Serve Worldwide
Global E-commerce & Marketplaces
- Foreign VAT / GST / sales tax registrations
- Marketplace withholding reviews
- Inventory nexus & PE analysis
- Multi-currency books reconciled
Technology & SaaS
- Cross-border revenue sourcing & withholding
- IP structuring with real substance
- Equity for cross-border teams
- U.S. expansion: entity & PE setup
Professional Services Firms
Firms and partners working across borders meet Regulation 105 withholding, PE risk on long engagements and per-country payroll for travelling staff.
A partnership is taxed in the hands of its partners, so one engagement abroad can reach every partner's personal return. The order matters: the waiver is applied for before the invoice, the presence is tracked before it becomes an establishment, and the payroll is registered before the first day worked in the other country.
- Reg 105 / 102 waivers
- Permanent establishment risk
- Partner mobility planning
- Cross-border withholding recovery
Cross-Border Real Estate
- Section 216 rental returns
- FIRPTA withholding recovery
- Section 116 clearance
- Treaty credit optimization
Importers, Exporters & Manufacturers
- Transfer pricing documentation (s.247)
- Customs value vs transfer price
- Foreign affiliate reporting (T1134)
- Country-by-country reporting
Athletes, Artists & Entertainers
- Reg 105 & U.S. CWA agreements
- Multi-state & country calendars
- Touring income allocation
- Royalty & image-rights withholding
Remote Workers & Digital Nomads
- Residency analysis before moving
- Employer payroll exposure
- Totalization & social security
- Foreign tax credits
Investment Funds & Holding Companies
- Treaty access & PPT reviews
- FAPI & surplus computations
- Withholding-efficient routing
- Governance & substance
