TeacherSell handles it
We register you where you owe and file your returns.
Who it suits: Sellers who would rather not register or file themselves.
What it costs: We quote it for your shop.
Sales tax, in plain English
What changes when you sell from your own shop, and three ways to handle it.
Our sales tax expert
Katherine P. Tucker, CPA
Katherine is a CPA in upstate South Carolina. She specializes in bookkeeping for teacherpreneurs.
Why we work with her
- She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Clemson University.
- She has worked with teacher sellers since 2021.
- Her background includes sales tax.
This opens an email to TeacherSell at hello@teachersell.com, and we set up the call.
What changes when you open your own shop?
On TPT, TPT collects and pays the sales tax in most states. On your own shop, you handle it, or TeacherSell handles it for you. It comes down to three things.
- Where you oweYou may owe a state sales tax once you have “nexus” there and the state taxes what you sell. You have nexus in your home state, and anywhere you have a physical presence, such as an office, staff or stored stock. You can also get it from sales alone: most states set a yearly threshold, often 200 transactions or $100,000 in sales. Some states measure it over a rolling 12 months, and others over the calendar year. Not every state taxes digital downloads, and a few have no sales tax at all.
- Collecting itOnce you register in a state, you add its tax to sales there. Stripe Tax does this at checkout on your shop: it works out the rate for each buyer’s address, adds it to the price and keeps a record of what you collected. It also tracks sales on your Stripe account and alerts you when you reach a state’s threshold. It can’t see your TPT sales.
- Filing itEach state you register in expects a return, monthly, quarterly or yearly, and the tax you collected. Some want a return even when you sold nothing there.
Three ways to file
Stripe Tax adds the tax at checkout. Someone still files the returns. Pick who under Payments, then Sales tax.
Integrates with TaxJar
Let Stripe Tax Complete file for you, through TaxJar. Or import your monthly TeacherSell sales into your own TaxJar account.
Who it suits: Sellers who want filing inside Stripe, or who already use TaxJar.
What it costs: Stripe Tax Complete starts at $90 a month on a 1-year contract, for up to 2 registrations a year, 200 transactions a month and 4 filings a year. It files your Stripe sales only. With your own TaxJar account, you pay TaxJar’s price.
Integrates with Avalara
Each month, download your TeacherSell sales and import them into your own Avalara account.
Who it suits: Sellers who already use Avalara.
What it costs: Core Compliance + SST Services is $699 per state a year, and $0 in Streamlined Sales Tax states if you qualify. Core Compliance alone is $799 per state a year, 3-state minimum. Both are for businesses under $50 million.
Prices are each company’s, read October 25, 2026. Without Tax Complete, Stripe Tax costs 0.5% of each sale in states where you’re registered, billed to your Stripe account.
Your TPT sales
In most states, TPT collects and pays the tax on your TPT sales. Some states still count those sales toward their threshold.
We turn TPT’s sales report into a file you can import into TaxJar or Avalara.
Questions
Do I need to register in every state?
No. You register in a state once you have nexus there and that state taxes what you sell. Your home state is usually the first one to check.
What happens if I’m not registered yet?
Your shop adds tax only where Stripe Tax is set to collect. Not collecting doesn’t mean you don’t owe. If you may already have nexus somewhere, talk to Katherine before you register, including about past sales.
Can I keep my TaxJar or Avalara account?
Yes. Choose TaxJar or Avalara under Payments, then Sales tax, and each month import your TeacherSell sales into your account. For TPT sales, we turn TPT’s sales report into a file for TaxJar or Avalara.
Can you help with international sales tax?
No. Our sales tax expert does not specialize in international tax. For international compliance, we refer you to a third party such as Avalara or Numeral.
This page is general information, not tax advice for your business. Rules differ by state and change over time.