What makes e-commerce & marketplaces different from an ordinary filing?
For an online seller the first foreign tax obligation is almost never income tax — it is an indirect-tax registration triggered by sales volume or by stock held in the destination country. An ordinary preparer applies the general rule and stops there, which is how the relief in the specific provision goes unclaimed.
Can you work with my existing accountant?
That is how most of these engagements run. They keep the domestic file, we take the cross-border piece, and the boundary is agreed in writing so nothing is done twice or missed.
Do I have to register for sales tax in every country I sell to?
No, but the countries where you do have to register are rarely the ones sellers expect. Most systems set a registration trigger based on the value of sales made into the country, and a separate trigger based on holding stock there. Either can apply on its own. Income tax is a different question with a much higher bar, which is why a seller can owe indirect tax in a country where it plainly owes no income tax at all. The practical exercise is a map: sales by destination, stock by location, and each country's own trigger set against both.
My stock sits in a foreign warehouse — does that change my tax position?
It usually changes it more than anything else you do. Holding stock in a country commonly creates a registration obligation there from the first unit, regardless of sales volume, because the goods are then supplied from within the country rather than into it. The movement of your own stock across a border can itself be a reportable transaction, and the sale that follows is domestic rather than cross-border. Fulfilment networks that redistribute stock between countries without asking you make this harder, since the stock can move to a country you never chose. The data on where stock has sat is the starting point.
Does my marketplace collect the tax or do I?
Both, in most cases, which is what makes this hard to keep straight. Marketplace deemed-supplier rules make the platform liable for particular sales in particular countries, typically defined by the goods' origin, the value of the consignment and where the seller is established. Sales outside that definition, and every sale through your own site, remain yours. You may also still need a registration in your own name in a country where the marketplace collects, because reporting obligations and collection obligations are not the same thing. The only reliable method is to split the sales ledger by liability rather than by platform.
I sell into many countries and have registered in none — what now?
Work out the size of it before doing anything else, because the answer shapes the approach. We take the sales data by destination and period, the stock locations over the same period, and each country's trigger, and produce a list of where a registration was due and from when. Some countries will turn out to have no claim at all. Where there is exposure, most systems have a disclosure route that treats a seller coming forward differently from one found in an audit, and those routes generally close once an enquiry has started. The value in acting early is mostly in keeping that door open.
When does an e-commerce business start owing income tax abroad?
Later than it starts owing indirect tax, and on a different test. Income tax in another country generally requires a fixed place of business there through which your business is carried on, or a person acting on your behalf who habitually plays the principal role leading to the conclusion of contracts. Selling into a country, even at volume, usually does neither. Warehousing can be a borderline case depending on what happens at the warehouse and on the treaty in question. Staff on the ground changes the answer quickly. Keeping the two questions separate stops a registration obligation being mistaken for a corporate tax bill.
Do I need a local company to register for tax in another country?
Generally not for indirect tax. Most systems allow a non-established business to register directly, or through a fiscal representative where the country requires one. Setting up a local company to solve a registration problem usually adds corporate filings, a separate year-end and a transfer pricing question about what the parent charges it, in exchange for solving something that was already solvable. There are countries where a representative is mandatory and the economics change. The order we suggest is to register in the simplest form the country allows, then revisit the structure only if the trading position changes enough to justify it.
Is double taxation legal?
Yes. Nothing prevents two countries from taxing the same income under their own domestic law — each is exercising its own jurisdiction. What treaties and credit systems do is relieve the outcome rather than prohibit the charge, and relief is generally something you must claim on a return or a form, not something applied automatically. Miss the claim and the double charge stands. Double taxation explains the mechanism.
How many days can I spend in a country before I become tax resident?
It depends on the country, and a day count is only ever the start. Many use a threshold in a tax year, some also look at averages across several years, and some have no day test at all and decide on where your home and life are. Two countries can both conclude you are resident, which is what the treaty tie-breaker exists to settle. Counting days without checking the tie-breaker is how people end up filing as resident nowhere. See the residency tie-breaker.
