This forum is for income tax questions. We can't help you with sales tax. Here are some basic answers to your questions. You will have to look elsewhere for the details.
"I am only selling from a state that does not have sales tax (NH). What does this mean for me? I do not have a very high volume of sales at this point"
It means that you do not have to collect sales tax on sales to customers in New Hampshire. Being in a state that does not have sales tax has no effect on your obligation to collect sales tax on sales to customers in other states. Sales tax is charged at the location where the product is delivered, not where the seller is located.
"I have heard I need to have "nexus" in a state before I even have to worry about submitting/filing anything. Is that true? If so, what are those thresholds?"
Yes, that's true. The thresholds are different for each state.
"If I do need to file sales tax for independent states, how and at what frequency do I do this?"
The requirements are different for each state. If you do have to collect and remit sales tax in a particular state, you are generally required to register with that state.
We haven't even touched on the issue of determining the correct sales tax rate for each location that you deliver a product to. In many states, the sales tax rate is not the same for the whole state. There are local sales taxes that vary depending on the specific location. A particular item might be taxable in some states and not in others. So you have to answer three questions for each sale.
- Are you required to collect sales tax for the state that the product is shipped to?
- Is the product taxable in the state that you ship it to?
- What is the sales tax rate at the location that the product is delivered to?
All of these complications are the reason that you need to rely on an outside service to handle sales tax for you.
