Industries
Tax and Bookkeeping Services for E-commerce Sellers
Selling online from South Carolina means one income tax return and a sales tax question that can involve many states.
Two very different tax problems
An online seller has a straightforward income tax position — the business is based in South Carolina, files here, and reports its profit like any other business. The complication is sales tax, which is determined state by state based on where customers are, not where the seller is.
Economic nexus rules mean a seller can acquire a sales tax obligation in a state purely by volume of sales into it, without any physical presence. Thresholds differ by state and change, marketplaces collect on the seller’s behalf in some situations and not others, and the obligation is easy to acquire without noticing.
What we handle for online sellers
- Bookkeeping that reconciles platform payouts to gross sales, fees, refunds and shipping
- Inventory and cost of goods sold tracking, including goods held by a fulfillment provider
- Identifying where a sales tax registration obligation may have been triggered
- Distinguishing marketplace-collected sales tax from tax the seller must collect directly
- Federal and South Carolina income tax returns for the business and its owner
- Entity structure as the business scales
On multi-state sales tax we map the exposure and tell you plainly where specialist registration or filing support is needed — it is a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction question and we will not guess at it.
The services behind this
Industry pages describe how our work applies to a sector. These are the services themselves.
Bookkeeping
Clean monthly books, reconciled accounts and reports you can actually use.
Learn moreTax Preparation
Federal and South Carolina returns for individuals, families and business owners.
Learn moreBusiness Formation
LLCs, corporations, EINs and South Carolina registrations, set up tax-ready.
Learn moreTax Planning
Year-round strategy so the return in April reflects decisions made all year.
Learn moreFrequently asked questions
Do I owe sales tax in states where I have no office?
Possibly. Economic nexus rules can create a sales tax obligation based on sales volume into a state alone, with no physical presence required. Thresholds vary by state and change over time, so exposure needs checking against current rules rather than assumed.
The marketplace collects sales tax for me. Am I covered?
For sales through that marketplace, often yes — but not necessarily for sales through your own website or other channels, and you may still have registration or reporting obligations. Whether you are covered depends on the state and the channel.
Why do my platform payouts not match my sales figures?
Because payouts are net of fees, refunds, chargebacks and sometimes shipping and tax collected. Recording the payout as revenue understates both sales and expenses, which is one of the most common errors in e-commerce books.
How should inventory be handled?
Inventory is generally not deductible when purchased — it becomes cost of goods sold when it sells. Treating purchases as immediate expenses distorts profit in both the year of purchase and the year of sale.
Other industries we work with
Nonprofits
Exempt status is not the same as no filing obligation — and the bookkeeping that supports a 990 is not ordinary bookkeeping.
Learn moreReal Estate Investors
Rental property is one of the few areas where the tax treatment can matter as much to the return as the rent does.
Learn moreRestaurants & Food Service
Thin margins, daily cash movement, tipped employees and high staff turnover — restaurant books go wrong faster than almost any other sector’s.
Learn moreContractors & Trades
For the independent tradesperson, the tax problem is rarely the return — it is the quarterly payments and the mileage records nobody kept.
Learn moreHealthcare Practices
Practice income arrives late, unevenly and net of adjustments — which makes cash accounting and tax planning unusually easy to get wrong.
Learn moreConstruction Businesses
For a builder, the question is never how the business did last year — it is whether this job is making money right now.
Learn moreTell us what you need
Send a short note about your situation and we’ll come back to you with a straight answer — whether that’s a quote, a next step, or a referral if it isn’t something we handle.
Prefer to talk it through first? Book a consultation and we’ll find a time, in the Easley office or virtually.
Talk to us about your e-commerce sellers accounting
Reach out to Elite Pro-Tax & Financial Services to discuss your tax and financial needs today.