Sales Tax

For information about how to collect Sales Tax for your products and services sold through Zenfolio, please see the applicable information below:

• Sales Tax in the United States
• Tax collection in CA, UK, EU, AU, and other non-US countries

 

 

Collecting Sales Tax in the US

As a Marketplace Facilitator, Zenfolio will automatically calculate, collect, and remit Sales Tax for all applicable products based on the type of transaction (for example vendor-fulfilled, digital, or pre-order products) and the applicable state, county, city or other locality. 

There is no need for you to take any action to collect sales tax from customers where Zenfolio collects and remits sales tax on your behalf. And you will not be able to choose not to have Zenfolio automatically collect sales tax.

This applies only to print vendor-fulfilled, digital and 'pre-order' sales. It does not apply to 'self-fulfilled' sales (i.e. sales processed via your payment merchant account).

For more information about how this may impact your business, and how you will need to handle tax reports, please contact a tax professional.

Due to Zenfolio's implementation of automatic sales tax collection and remittance to the appropriate government agencies commencing mid-year 2024, you will still be obligated to report and remit any sales tax collected prior to August 14, 2024.

 

How to collect Sales Tax for Self-Fulfilled Products

As previously stated, if you intend to sell self-fulfilled products, it will be necessary to manually collect sales tax. Please follow these steps to ensure that the appropriate tax rates are indicated for any state in which you plan to sell products. 

1. In your account, hover your mouse pointer over your username 
2. Click on Account.
3. On the left side of the page, click Selling.
4. Select Sales Tax.
5. Check the box indicating you want to collect tax or other taxes.
6. Under Collect tax in, check the box next to the state your business is located - This will appear in the 'Tax Line Title' which the customer sees in the shopping cart and on their order receipt. (check multiple state's boxes if you have a business presence in multiple states). Generally this should be specific to your local region, state, or province. The Tax Line Title will appear to the customer.
7. Under Tax based on, choose one of the following options, if applicable.
   • Shipping Destination if you would like to set the tax rate to the zip code to which the order is sent.
   • Enter your Zip/Postal code to set the tax rate on your own zip code.  Enter your zip code in the field provided.
   • Custom to enter your own custom tax percentage.
     Note: by default each state has the Tax based on setting applied automatically based on that state's tax requirement, but this can be changed if necessary. Please visit the IRS's website to find more information on your state's tax protocols. 
8. Under Tax applicability check the boxes that apply. For example, if you would like tax applied to shipping charges check the box next to Include Shipping.
9. Click Save to apply your changes.

 

What is a Marketplace Facilitator?

A Marketplace Facilitator is an individual or entity that assists sellers in selling their products through a marketplace they manage or a marketplace managed by an affiliated person, in accordance with specific legal requirements. 

A prime example of a Marketplace Facilitator is Amazon, which offers a platform for various third-party sellers to market their products. Amazon provides a selling platform and payment resources that sellers utilize to complete their transactions.

If you conduct sales through an online marketplace such as Amazon, Etsy, or Walmart, that marketplace is obligated to comply with certain marketplace facilitator laws, including those pertaining to sales tax.

 

Is Sales Tax collected on physical product sales?

If applicable to your State's tax laws, sales tax will be collected on vendor-fulfilled physical products. If a State indicates that sales tax should not be collected on these types of products, no sales tax will be collected.

 

Is Sales Tax collected on BookMe service transactions?

If applicable to your State's tax laws, sales tax will be collected on services. If a State indicates that sales tax should not be collected on these types of products, no sales tax will be collected.

 

Is Sales Tax collected on Digital Download sales?

If applicable to your State's tax laws, sales tax will be collected digital download sales. If a State indicates that sales tax should not be collected on these types of products, no sales tax will be collected.

 

How much Sales Tax is collected?

The tax rate applied to a particular order will vary depending on State and local tax laws, based on location of seller and purchaser. Tax rates are updated regularly to ensure that the current tax rate is applied to orders.

 

What if my customer is purchasing on behalf of a Non-Profit or Tax Exempt Organization?

Even if your customers are tax exempt,  you must still charge sales tax. A customer can be considered exempt from sales tax IF, and only if, they are tax exempt AND they are purchasing for an organization (example - a school purchasing senior photos to display at a graduation ceremony).

 

Sales tax charged on customer orders cannot be disabled for tax exempt or non-profit organizations. However, please contact our support team, for further assistance.

When you contact our support team, please include:

• Order number of the order(s) that should be exempt from taxes
• Attach the proper tax exemption form

We will provide this information to our accounting team for further review and may be able to refund the sales tax on the purchase.

 

How is the collected Sales Tax remitted?

As a Marketplace Facilitator, Zenfolio is responsible for collecting and remitting any sales taxes that are paid by the customers of our photographers. The taxes are reported and remitted under Zenfolio's name, not you as the seller.

 

Am I required to report the collected Sales Tax to the government?

Because Zenfolio handles the reporting and remitting process on behalf of all of our photographers, there is no need for you to take any additional steps to guarantee the correct reporting and payment of sales taxes to the Department of Revenue, unless you are selling self-fulfilled products.

For vendor-fulfilled, digital, and pre-order products you will only need to worry about filing the proper 1099 form for income tax. For those that have received at least $20,000 AND 200 (payout) transactions, a 1099 form will be provided to you.

 

How do I view how much Sales Tax has been collected and remitted? 

You can view your account's Sales Reports at any time by going to the Taxes section of your account's Sales Reports. The remitted tax is reported to the appropriate government agencies on a monthly or quarterly basis, according to the laws in each particular State. 

For those in the US, keep in mind that all the collected sales tax is remitted automatically to the individual states on your behalf, by Zenfolio. For more information about how this may impact your business, and how or if you will need to handle tax reports, please contact a tax professional.

 

 

 

Collecting Taxes in CA, UK, EU, AU, and other non-US countries

For those located outside of the US, Taxes are not collected automatically, and you will need to set up the proper tax information within your Zenfolio account to begin collecting taxes on orders and services sold through Zenfolio. For those located in the UK, EU, AU, or other countries using VAT, please see this support article about setting up VAT. 

 

If you need to collect taxes for orders, you can designate whether you would like to collect the taxes and for which provinces you would like to collect the tax.

Zenfolio will collect the specified tax on your behalf when an order is placed, and transfer it to your account balance. You are responsible for paying all applicable taxes to your local government when necessary.