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97 points throw_1VJ51pMb | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.222s | source

Hey! I run a B2C SaaS and I use Stripe for all of my sales (subscriptions).

I am looking to learn how others handle their VAT / Sales Tax filing.

I know that the standard answer would be to use Paddle / LemonSqueezy / Polar.sh, but I already have a lot of subscribers on Stripe which makes quick migration non-trivial.

I am especially looking for some reliable accounting companies / accountants that can register and file Sales Tax across US, UK, Canada, Australia, etc. (It does not have to be a global solution).

It's my understanding that solutions like Stripe Tax, Alavara, Quaderno, etc. only help collect the necessary data (which I consider the easier part, at least for digital goods), but do not handle the registration & filing (though I've learned that Quaderno will support filing Sales Tax in the US on your behalf soon).

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Some jurisdictions are relatively easy to handle (for example, one can handle whole EU by uploading a simple CSV [1] once a quarter and the CSV is easy to generate from Stripe's records).

But unfortunately there are tons of others that are much more complicated and scattered -- for example, due to the economic nexus laws in the US, I now have to file Sales Tax in each individual state where I am over the threshold (and many states have thresholds in low hundreds of transactions, so it's not hard to reach).

[1]: https://www.elster.de/bportal/helpGlobal?themaGlobal=osseust_import

[2]: If you do not feel comfortable commenting here, you can also reach out at z2qmk@pekoi.com (temporary email)

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andsoitis ◴[] No.43298697[source]
Sounds like you need an accountant.
replies(3): >>43298744 #>>43338683 #>>43345129 #
jwr ◴[] No.43338683[source]
An accountant that will quickly determine the VAT/sales-tax to charge on each transaction presented to the customer? :-)

Accounting is important, but it's not the solution to the OP's problem. There are also questions of costs and efficiency, especially since we are talking about low-margin B2C sales.

replies(1): >>43339397 #
1. notpushkin ◴[] No.43339397[source]
An accountant plus Stripe Tax? Or just a CSV with tax rates imported into Stripe, if you don’t feel like paying additional % per transaction.

MoR are great if you want absolutely no liability whatsoever, but especially considering there is no way for other countries to check you’re paying the right amount, I think doing it yourself isn’t too risky. (Not doing it is also a possibility.)