Is Amazon a marketplace facilitator?

Yes. Amazon is a marketplace facilitator: it hosts third-party listings and processes payments, so under marketplace facilitator laws it collects and remits sales tax on most third-party sales on its platform. For those sales, Amazon handles the tax rather than the individual seller.

Do I still have to collect sales tax if I sell on a marketplace?

Generally not on the sales the marketplace facilitates in states with facilitator laws — the platform collects and remits for you. But you may still owe sales tax on sales through your own channels (like your own website or Shopify store) where you have nexus, since the facilitator only covers its own marketplace sales. Rules vary by state.

How do I record marketplace facilitator sales tax in my books?

Treat it as a pass-through, never as income. Record collected sales tax to a sales-tax liability account, and record the facilitator's remittance against that same liability. When the facilitator both collects and remits, keep the amounts off your revenue entirely as offsetting entries so the net effect on your profit is zero.

Are eBay, Etsy, and Shopify marketplace facilitators?

eBay and Etsy are marketplace facilitators and collect and remit sales tax on their sellers' behalf where required. Shopify is generally not a marketplace facilitator — it's a platform you use to run your own store, so sales tax responsibility on Shopify sales typically stays with you. Always confirm the current treatment for each channel.

Does marketplace facilitator tax mean I owe no sales tax at all?

No. It means the facilitator handles tax on the sales it facilitates in covered states. You may still have registration or filing obligations in some states, and you remain responsible for tax on non-marketplace sales where you have nexus. Thresholds and rules differ by state and change, so verify the current requirements where you sell.

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What is a marketplace facilitator?

Short answer

A marketplace facilitator is a platform such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, or Walmart that lists third-party sellers' products and, under marketplace facilitator laws, is legally responsible for collecting and remitting sales tax on those sales. For most marketplace sales, the platform handles the tax — not the individual seller.

By Marcus Brandt · Head of Seller Accounting

Updated June 26, 2026

A marketplace facilitator is a company that provides a platform for third-party sellers to sell their goods and also handles parts of the transaction on their behalf — listing, payment processing, and, critically, sales tax. Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart Marketplace, and similar platforms are all marketplace facilitators. The term matters because of a wave of state laws, commonly called marketplace facilitator laws, that shifted the legal duty to collect and remit sales tax from the individual seller onto the platform.

For sellers, this is mostly good news: on sales made through a marketplace, the facilitator calculates the tax, collects it from the buyer, and remits it to the state, so you generally don't file sales tax on those orders yourself. But it creates a specific bookkeeping wrinkle — that collected tax may flow through your settlement data, and you need to record it correctly so it never looks like income.

What a marketplace facilitator actually does

A marketplace facilitator does more than host listings. By the legal definition most states use, it both provides the marketplace where sales happen and facilitates the payment — processing the buyer's money. That combination is what triggers the facilitator's tax obligations. When a buyer in a state with a marketplace facilitator law purchases your product on Amazon, Amazon (not you) is treated as the party responsible for the sales tax on that transaction.

Concretely, the facilitator typically: calculates the correct sales tax based on the buyer's location and the product's taxability, adds it to the order at checkout, collects it from the buyer, and remits it to the relevant state tax authority. The seller's name is on the product, but the platform is the one transacting with the state for tax purposes on marketplace-facilitated sales.

How marketplace facilitator tax works as a pass-through

The cleanest way to understand facilitator tax is as a pass-through that does not belong to you. The buyer pays sales tax; the facilitator holds it and forwards it to the state. At no point is that money your revenue or your expense — it passes through, and your only job is to make sure your books reflect that it isn't yours.

Where it gets confusing is in your settlement data. Depending on the platform and how it reports, the sales tax it collected may appear in your settlement figures, and even on your 1099-K gross. If you don't handle it deliberately, that tax can inflate your apparent sales. The accounting treatment is to record collected sales tax to a liability account (and the corresponding remittance against that same liability), not to income — so it nets out and never touches your profit. For a deeper definition and the state-law mechanics, see our glossary entry on marketplace facilitator tax.

What it means for your own sales tax obligations

Marketplace facilitator laws relieve you of collecting and remitting tax on facilitated sales in states that have them — but they don't eliminate your sales tax responsibilities entirely. If you sell through your own channels (your Shopify store, your website, wholesale) alongside a marketplace, you may still be responsible for collecting and remitting tax on those non-marketplace sales where you have nexus. The facilitator only covers the sales it facilitates.

There are also nuances that vary by state: which states have facilitator laws, the economic nexus thresholds that determine where you have an obligation, and whether you still need to register or file informational returns in a state even when the facilitator handles the tax. These rules differ from state to state and change over time, so don't rely on a single universal threshold — confirm the current rules for the states where you sell, ideally with a sales tax specialist, rather than assuming the facilitator covers everything everywhere.

Recording facilitator tax in your books

From a bookkeeping standpoint, the goal is simple: facilitator-collected sales tax should never appear as revenue or profit. When you record an Amazon or eBay settlement, route any collected sales tax to a sales-tax liability account rather than to sales. If the facilitator both collects and remits the tax (so it never actually pays out to you), the cleanest treatment is to keep it off your income entirely, recording the collection and remittance as offsetting entries so the net effect on your books is zero.

This is one of the recurring spots where marketplace bookkeeping goes wrong, because the tax is buried inside a netted settlement deposit. Splitting each settlement into gross sales, fees, refunds, and tax — rather than booking the lump deposit — is what keeps facilitator tax in its own lane. BeanHawk's settlement journals separate collected tax automatically, so it lands in a liability account and your revenue stays clean.

Frequently asked questions

Is Amazon a marketplace facilitator?: Yes. Amazon is a marketplace facilitator: it hosts third-party listings and processes payments, so under marketplace facilitator laws it collects and remits sales tax on most third-party sales on its platform. For those sales, Amazon handles the tax rather than the individual seller.
Do I still have to collect sales tax if I sell on a marketplace?: Generally not on the sales the marketplace facilitates in states with facilitator laws — the platform collects and remits for you. But you may still owe sales tax on sales through your own channels (like your own website or Shopify store) where you have nexus, since the facilitator only covers its own marketplace sales. Rules vary by state.
How do I record marketplace facilitator sales tax in my books?: Treat it as a pass-through, never as income. Record collected sales tax to a sales-tax liability account, and record the facilitator's remittance against that same liability. When the facilitator both collects and remits, keep the amounts off your revenue entirely as offsetting entries so the net effect on your profit is zero.
Are eBay, Etsy, and Shopify marketplace facilitators?: eBay and Etsy are marketplace facilitators and collect and remit sales tax on their sellers' behalf where required. Shopify is generally not a marketplace facilitator — it's a platform you use to run your own store, so sales tax responsibility on Shopify sales typically stays with you. Always confirm the current treatment for each channel.
Does marketplace facilitator tax mean I owe no sales tax at all?: No. It means the facilitator handles tax on the sales it facilitates in covered states. You may still have registration or filing obligations in some states, and you remain responsible for tax on non-marketplace sales where you have nexus. Thresholds and rules differ by state and change, so verify the current requirements where you sell.

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