Sales Tax FAQ
Overview of Sales Tax
Lob’s rapid expansion of our physical footprint combined with our business growth in the past few years have resulted in Lob’s obligation to collect and remit sales tax on sales generated in all US states. For the 2023 tax year and going forward, Lob will collect state sales/use tax from our customers.
Are any actions required from Lob's customers?
Yes! Lob is actively undertaking several initiatives to minimize our customers’ tax obligations.
Mail Use Type: Many states directly exempt or allow an exemption certificate for marketing, advertising, and promotional mail. Lob requires users to declare a Mail Use type for all mail sent to allow customers to take advantage of these types of exemptions.
Postage: Many states exempt postage from tax, under certain circumstances. Lob has implemented a feature in our invoices that will allow Lob to separate the value of postage from the total sales price that is subject to tax in all states that allow it.
Customer Exemption Management System: For those customers with exemption certificates, we will be tracking your exemptions and applying them to the sales tax calculations.
Some of these features require customers to take the following steps:
-For customers who use an API integration to send direct mail, this should be included in the API call.
-For customers who use the Dashboard to send direct mail, you will be prompted to fill in the required information during the submission process.
Submit a tax exemption form; read more on tax exemption below.
What will be taxed, and how does it impact me?
Generally speaking, everything sold by Lob is potentially taxable. This includes our SaaS subscription charges, mail pieces, and other service offerings. We are not legally able to provide you a proforma or estimated sales tax. However, following is some general guidance that will allow you to estimate and plan until we send you an actual invoice for the taxes.
State and Local Tax Rates: State tax rates vary between 5%-10%; note that sales tax is assessed at a zip code level.
Lob Products:
For your budget and cash planning purposes, you can estimate sales tax by determining which states your marketing mail will be delivered to, and apply the state tax rate and postage exemptions.
$30 Print * TX Combined State & Local Tax rate = Sales Tax
$70 Postage = $0 Sales Tax (Because TX exempts postage from sales tax)
For your budget and cash planning purposes, you can estimate sales tax by the following general guidelines for operational mail:
If your delivery state does not meet either of the above conditions, your mail piece is not taxable.
Example: Customer has a billing address in MD, and purchases $100 of operational direct mail that is to be delivered to CO. Both MD and CO are states that provide a postage exemption.
$30 Print * CO Combined State & Local Tax rate = Sales Tax
$70 Postage = $0 Sales Tax (Because CO exempts postage from sales tax)
Prefund Invoices: Prefund Invoices are not taxable when invoiced or paid.
Prepaid Inventory (Custom Envelopes, Card Affix, Buckslips, etc.): These prepaid inventory are considered tangible personal property and are taxable at the state's tax rate.
If I only subscribe to the Address Verification API service, does any of this affect me?
Does Lob accept exemption certificates and/or exempt entities?
Examples of common exemption certificates:
Marketing mail:
Some states will tax marketing mail based on the state that the mail was printed in (ie. originated), regardless of its destination. Therefore, these mail pieces that are sent outside of the US would be taxed.
However, most states will tax marketing mail based on where the mail is delivered; therefore; these mail pieces sent outside of the US would not be taxed.
Operational mail:
About half of the states will tax operational mail based on where the mail was printed or the customer's billing address, regardless of its destination, which means that these mail pieces sent outside of the US would be taxed.
The rest of the states will tax operational mail based on where the mail was delivered, which means that these mail pieces sent outside of the US would not be taxed.
I'm a non-US entity, am I tax-exempt?
For customers who have billing addresses outside of the US, be advised that your purchases from Lob may be subject to US sales tax.
Subscription and services: If your primary billing address on file is outside of the US, subscriptions and services, address verification, premium support is not taxable.
Direct Mail: Due to the Supreme court decision South Dakota v. Wayfair, individual states in the US assess sales tax based on the volume of business done in that state, regardless of the seller’s physical presence. This means that for customers who have primary billing addresses on file that are outside of the US, sales tax for direct mail is based on where the mail is delivered and whether that state taxes based on delivery location.
These states tax direct mail that is delivered to these states, regardless of the company’s billing address:
For your budget and cash planning purposes, you can estimate sales tax by determining which states your direct mail will be delivered to, and apply the state tax rate and postage exemptions.
$30 Print * TX Combined State & Local Tax rate = Sales Tax $70 Postage = $0 Sales Tax (Because TX exempts postage from sales tax)
I’m a Lob Resale Partner. Am I expected to pass sales tax liabilities to our customers?
It is highly recommended that Resellers provide Lob with a resale certificate to remove tax from their invoices from Lob. In this scenario, the Reseller will then be responsible for collecting and remitting state and local sales tax from their end customer based on the Reseller’s own filing obligations in each state.
Lob highly recommends these customers reach out to their tax advisors for assistance with characterizing these transactions and identifying the most advantageous way to manage their sales tax payment and collection obligations.
Can you advise me on my tax liabilities?
Lob cannot provide tax advice. Please consult an appropriate tax professional.
I have more questions; who can I talk to?
Last updated