[GNC] Welcome To the World of Retail: Sales Tax and CC fees

[Eric H. Bowen]

So my book is coming out at the end of this month, at long last. I 
expect that most of my sales will be through my distributor, who will 
handle things on the back end and just cut me a (very small!) check. (Or 
an invoice if it doesn't sell and copies are returned...but, as has been 
said, if your dreams don't scare you then they're not big enough!)

Still, I want to do some local sales and I want to account for them 
properly. My personal sales are likely to fall into one of three categories:

  * Wholesale (discounted) sales to resellers who do not have a sales
    account with my wholesaler/distributor. I've identified one such
    outlet and offered them a 53% reseller discount off the cover price
    to stock it at their location. They'll be responsible for any CC
    fees and taxes, so no problem there.
  * Retail sales through agents: There is a local non-book store I
    frequent (actually, it's a donut shop) which offered to let me sell
    the book through them when I mentioned it...and they didn't even ask
    for a cut, even though I offered them one. With such friendly
    treatment I want to make things as easy as possible for them, and I
    want to offer a price break to their/my customers by eating the
    8.25% local sales tax. Generally for one-off sales I just divide the
    sale price by 1.0825 and use the standard tax table; it comes out
    even. Here, though, it won't be a one-off but (hopefully) an ongoing
    thing. What's the best way to set this up? I had in mind creating a
    sales sub-account for tax-included purchases and then every quarter
    when the tax return is due divide by 1.0825, send the 8 and a
    quarter to my sales tax liability account and the remainder to my
    regular sales account. Does that sound workable, or is there a
    better way?
  * Retail sales at shows, by mail, special requests such as signed
    copies, etc. In the local state they'll have sales tax due, but
    shipped out of state as I understand it I won't need to collect
    until/unless I cross the sales nexus threshold (highly unlikely).
    But what of potential overseas direct sales? Even my CPA is unlikely
    to know all of the hoops...and tiger traps...standing out in that
    field. Can someone direct me to a concise primer to sales from
    overseas in Great Britain, the UK, Australia, and Canada (the main
    markets I can ship to)?

Thanks again. This community has proven wonderfully helpful over the 
years----Eric.