Do you charge tax on e-commerce non durable goods (taxability of e-commerce)?
As a former multi-state tax consultant, the anwer I like to give to questions like this is “It depends.” The taxability of goods (or tangible personal property) does not depend on whether they are durable or not. Taxability is based on the ship-to location and whether an exception or exemption applies. Services are a bit trickier. First, what do you mean by “service”? Do you mean electronically delivered software? Digital media? Technical support? Each of these would require its own separate analysis. In some cases, what looks like a service might actually be interpreted as tangible personal property. Now, assuming you are really thinking of a pure service, most states consider the taxability of the service based on where the benefit of the service is received. (And most states do not charge tax on pure services except for specifically excepted services.) If the service is performed in state A and the benefit is received in state B, then we would look to state B’s rules to see if it is
