Many retailers are now utilizing third-party marketplaces or market facilitators by which sales of the retailer’s products are fulfilled by a third party that stores and manages the retailer’s inventory. One of the interesting nexus issues presented by such business relationships is whether the presence of the retailer’s inventory in a state results in sufficient nexus for sales tax taxation of the retailer when the inventory is controlled by an entity other than the retailer. In other words, when a third party has control over a retailer’s inventory and that third party, not the retailer, decides to place that inventory in a state, does the state have sufficient jurisdiction to impose sales tax on the retailer? On January 7, 2026, the Oklahoma Tax Commission (the “Commission”) issued a letter ruling stating that the answer was “no.” In this column, we will discuss that ruling, the relevant law, and other state positions that have gone both ways on the issue. We will also have an update on recent developments regarding Public Law 86-272 (“P.L. 86-272”).
LINKS
Click the link below to read “Nexus News—Nexus Due to Inventory Stored in a State That is Not Under the Taxpayer’s Control—The State of the Law,” co-authored by Breen M. Schiller and published in Journal of State Taxation.