Marketplace Facilitators Explained: Does Amazon (or Shopify) Collect Tax For You?

The Short Answer

Amazon: yes, on Amazon orders. Amazon says it is a marketplace facilitator and collects sales tax on third-party sellers' orders shipped to every state with a statewide sales tax, plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and participating Alaska local jurisdictions (Amazon).

Shopify: no for your own store, yes for the Shop app. On your own Shopify store, Shopify says "Tax is your responsibility" (Shopify). Orders placed in the Shop app or on shop.com are different: since January 1, 2025, Shopify's Shop channel collects, remits and files tax on those US orders. Shop Pay checkouts on your own store aren't included (Shopify).

Etsy: yes, on Etsy orders. Etsy collects and remits US sales tax under state marketplace facilitator laws (Etsy).

eBay: yes, on eBay orders. eBay "calculates, collects, and remits sales tax on behalf of sellers for items shipped to customers in the states and territories listed" on its help page (eBay).

TikTok Shop: yes, on TikTok Shop orders. TikTok collects "on all sales made through TikTok Shop in jurisdictions that have enacted marketplace facilitator sales tax laws" (TikTok Shop).

Your own website: no. No platform collects for you there. Once you have nexus in a state, collecting on those sales is your job.

What Is a Marketplace Facilitator?

A marketplace facilitator is, broadly, a platform that facilitates other sellers' sales through its marketplace. Each state writes its own definition, and they differ. California's is broad: "In general, a person who contracts with marketplace sellers to facilitate the sale of the marketplace sellers' products through a marketplace operated by the person or a related person when other statutory requirements are met" (CDTFA). Michigan's adds a payment test, covering a person who "facilitates retail sales on behalf of marketplace sellers by listing or advertising tangible personal property or taxable services" and who "collects payment from the customer and transmits that payment to the marketplace seller for consideration" (Michigan Treasury). Where a platform meets its state's test, the law makes it responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax on the sales it facilitates.

Every state with a statewide sales tax has enacted a marketplace facilitator law. The Multistate Tax Commission says "Beginning in 2017, many states started enacting legislation requiring marketplace facilitators to collect sales and use tax" and "All states that impose sales tax have since enacted marketplace facilitator tax collection requirements" (MTC). These laws shifted the collection duty from individual sellers to the platforms.

The practical result: if you sell through Amazon, Etsy, eBay or Walmart, the platform collects and remits the tax on those orders in the states on its list. Walmart, for example, says it is "responsible for calculating, collecting, remitting and refunding sales tax on orders that are shipped and delivered to the states listed in this guide" (Walmart Marketplace). Depending on the state, you may still have work to do. Texas tells remote sellers who sell only through a marketplace to "retain required records of all marketplace sales for at least four years" (Texas Comptroller), and Washington doesn't require you to collect on facilitated sales "if the marketplace seller has obtained documentation to prove the facilitator is collecting and reporting the sales tax on their behalf" (Washington DOR).

The Nuances That Trip Sellers Up

Nuance 1: Your Direct Sales Are Still Your Problem

Marketplace facilitator laws only cover sales made through the marketplace. The MTC says "A marketplace seller is subject to audit on all activity that is not administered by a marketplace facilitator" (MTC). If you also have a Shopify store, your own website, or sell directly on social media, those sales are your responsibility in the states where you have nexus, regardless of what Amazon does for you on Amazon.

It's easy to assume "Amazon handles my taxes" and forget that your Shopify store has its own, separate obligations.

Nuance 2: Marketplace Sales Often Count Toward Your Own Threshold

Whether your marketplace sales count toward your own economic nexus threshold depends on the state. Several states, including the six below, count them, even though the marketplace collects the tax on those orders. Florida is one that doesn't: "If the seller also uses a marketplace provider to facilitate retail sales through a marketplace, the seller excludes those sales when determining whether the seller is required to register" (Florida DOR).

States that count marketplace sales toward your own threshold (examples we checked):

• California: sales that "exceed $500,000 in the preceding or current calendar year," counting "sales facilitated through a marketplace facilitator's marketplace" (CDTFA)
• Michigan: "over $100,000 in sales (both taxable and non-taxable), or more than 200 transactions" in the previous calendar year, including "sales it makes on marketplaces that are attributable to Michigan" (Michigan Treasury)
• New York: "more than $500,000 of gross receipts from sales of property into New York and more than 100 sales transactions," and marketplace sales "should be included in the calculation" (NY DTF)
• North Carolina: "gross sales in excess of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)," "including sales as a marketplace seller and marketplace-facilitated sales" (NCDOR). North Carolina has counted marketplace sales since February 1, 2020 (NCDOR); in July 2024 it dropped its 200-transaction test (NCDOR)
• Texas: remote sellers "must include all sales in the safe harbor calculation, including marketplace sales," against a $500,000 safe harbor (Texas Comptroller)
• Washington: "include all retail sales to Washington customers — including direct sales, exempt sales, and sales made through a marketplace facilitator," against "more than $100,000 in combined gross receipts" (Washington DOR)

In these states, your Amazon sales count toward the state's threshold even though Amazon collects the tax on them. Add them to your own-store sales to see whether you've crossed it. If you have, you must register and collect on the sales you make directly. Selling only through marketplaces can change that, state by state. California doesn't require you to register "if all of your retail sales of merchandise will be facilitated by a marketplace facilitator that is registered as a retailer with CDTFA" (CDTFA). Michigan says a marketplace seller has "no sales tax filing obligation as long as all its sales are made through marketplaces managed by marketplace facilitators that have nexus with Michigan" (Michigan Treasury). Texas doesn't require a permit from a remote seller who sells only through a marketplace that certifies it collects, but a seller based in Texas "must have an active sales and use tax permit" (Texas Comptroller).

Example: You sell $600,000 through Amazon into California and $100,000 through your Shopify store. California's threshold is $500,000. Your combined California total is $700,000, over the threshold. Because some of those sales (your Shopify store's) aren't made through a marketplace, you must register with CDTFA and collect California tax on your Shopify orders. Amazon still handles the Amazon orders.

Nuance 3: Washington's B&O Tax Can Apply Even When the Marketplace Collects

Washington also has a business and occupation (B&O) tax: "The B&O tax is a gross receipts tax in Washington state," separate from sales tax (Washington DOR). If you meet Washington's nexus criteria, you report and pay it even when a marketplace handles your Washington sales tax: "Marketplace sellers who meet Washington nexus criteria are required to report and pay B&O tax, even if sales of products or services are only made through marketplace facilitator(s)" (Washington DOR). For a remote seller, that's more than $100,000 in gross receipts sourced to Washington in the current or prior year; keeping inventory in Washington, including inventory held by a marketplace facilitator, also counts as physical presence.

Nuance 4: Not All Marketplaces Are Equal

State definitions differ. Some, such as Michigan's and North Carolina's, require a platform both to list other sellers' goods and to collect or process payment; California's broader definition turns on contracting with sellers to facilitate their sales. Under a payment test, a platform that only lists your products but doesn't process payment may not qualify. Michigan says a marketplace facilitator "does not include any person who, despite providing various forms of advertisement services (e.g., internet, print, electronic) through a platform or forum, does not directly or indirectly collect payment from the customer and transmit that payment to the marketplace seller" (Michigan Treasury).

Check each platform's own tax help page to see where it collects. Platforms can change their status too: Shopify's tax help says "Meta (Facebook and Instagram) has transitioned away from acting as a marketplace facilitator for all new orders created as of August 26, 2025" (Shopify).

Nuance 5: If the MF Doesn't Have Nexus, the Duty Can Fall to You

In some states, including Michigan and North Carolina, if you have nexus there and sell through a marketplace that isn't engaged in business there, you collect and remit the tax on those marketplace sales yourself. North Carolina's return instructions, for example, include "all taxable marketplace-facilitated sales made through a marketplace facilitator not engaged in business in the state" (NCDOR). Michigan says that where a seller "has nexus (for example, through physical presence) in Michigan and completes transactions through a marketplace facilitator that does not have nexus with Michigan, the marketplace seller will be required to collect and remit tax on those transactions" (Michigan Treasury).

What About Shopify Payments?

Using Shopify Payments or Shop Pay on your own store doesn't change who's responsible. Shopify's help says tax on your store's sales is your responsibility, and that "Orders placed using Shop Pay on your online store checkout are excluded" from the Shop channel's marketplace tax calculations (Shopify).

The Shop app is the exception. Since January 1, 2025, Shopify's Shop channel collects, remits and files sales tax on US orders placed in the Shop app or on shop.com. Orders on your own storefront, including Shop Pay checkouts there, stay your responsibility.

Practical Implications for Multi-Channel Sellers

If you sell on Amazon + Shopify:

1. Amazon collects and remits the tax on your Amazon orders in the states on its marketplace facilitator list
2. Your own Shopify store's sales are your responsibility: in each state where you have nexus, you must register, collect, file and remit (Shop app orders are the exception)
3. In California, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington (among others), your Amazon sales count toward the state's threshold. In Florida they don't
4. In Washington: if you meet its nexus criteria, you owe B&O tax even when Amazon handles the sales tax

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