Question

Mighty Manny, Incorporated, manufactures ice scrapers and distributes them across the midwestern United States. Mighty Manny is incorporated and headquartered in Michigan. It has product sales to customers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. It has sales personnel only in the states discussed and all these states have adopted Wayfair legislation. Determine the state in which Mighty Manny does not have sales tax nexus given the following scenarios:
A. Mighty Manny has sales personnel that visit Minnesota. These sales employees follow procedures that comply with Public Law 86-272. The orders are received and sent to Michigan for acceptance. The goods are shipped by FedEx into Minnesota.
B. Mighty Manny provides design services to another manufacturer located in Wisconsin. While the services are performed in Michigan, Mighty Manny's designers visit Wisconsin at least quarterly to deliver the new designs and receive feedback.
C. Mighty Manny receives online orders from its Illinois client. Because the orders are so large, the goods are delivered weekly on Mighty Manny's trucks.
D. Mighty Manny's trucks drive through Nebraska to deliver goods to Mighty Manny's customers in other states, but the company has no Nebraska sales.

Answer 1

Answer:

Determination of the state in which Mighty Manny does not have sales tax nexus:

A. No sales tax nexus in Minnesota, under given scenario.

B. No sales tax nexus in Wisconsin, under given scenario.

C. Sales tax nexus may exist because of the large orders.  It may approach the sales threshold of more than $100,000 worth.

D. No sales tax nexus in Nebraska, with trucks driving through to other sales.

Explanation:

Might Manny is incorporated and headquartered in Michigan, according to this case.  So, it has sales tax nexus in Michigan for its physical presence and sales.

Sales tax nexus describes the factors that can make a state to impose sales taxes on a business.  The factors that establish sales tax nexus are a) certain business activities, b) physical presence, and c) approaching a certain sales threshold of either 200 transactions or $100,000.

Some states that have adopted the Wayfair legislation determine sales tax nexus with the above mentioned sales threshold of 200 transactions or $100,000.  California's sales threshold is $500,000.

However, Public Law 86-272 or Interstate Income Act of 1959 forbids states from imposing unnecessary sales tax burdens on businesses soliciting for sales in their states without physical presence, provided the orders are filled or shipped from outside the said state.  But, some of them rely on the Wayfair legislation, as it allows them some leverage to impose sales tax without physical presence of the business.