Blog · 15 October 2026

Streamlined Sales Tax Voluntary Disclosure Program for Remote Sellers: What the SSUTA §402.1 Proposal Means for US CPA Firms

By Keshav Bansal, CA

The Streamlined Sales Tax voluntary disclosure program for remote sellers is back on the table. Bloomberg Tax (Daniel Moore, Oct. 13, 2026) reported that the proposal topped the agenda of the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) Governing Board’s annual meeting in Jackson, Wyoming, and that the plan was revived this year after it failed by one vote in 2024. Nebraska’s motion (SL26005-03 / AM26010-01) would repeal the amnesty in Section 402 of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA) and replace it with a limited-lookback program in a new Section 402.1. US CPA firms with e-commerce clients that crossed economic nexus thresholds without registering should read the text now. For nexus basics and the Illinois remote-retailer amnesty, see our sales tax and use tax update.

Status: a proposal, not yet a program

The SST agenda lists Governing Board sessions on October 14 (1:00–5:00 pm Mountain) and October 15 (8:30 am–noon Mountain), with “Section 402.1 Voluntary Disclosure Program for Qualified Remote Sellers” among the action items for discussion and possible vote. At publication we had not seen a confirmed result, and in 2024 Bloomberg Tax (Angélica Serrano-Román, Dec. 20, 2024) reported that the board “didn’t advance” the earlier version. Check the SST website before telling a client the program exists.

The SST site lists 23 full member states plus one associate member, Tennessee—the “24 member states” Bloomberg Tax describes.

What the proposed Section 402.1 would do

• Window. The initial program would run January 1 through December 31, 2027, unless the Governing Board votes to extend it. December 31, 2027 is the last day to apply in the initial period.
• Who must offer it. Current full member states choose whether to participate and must notify SST in writing at least 30 days before the start; under proposed Rule 402.1, a state that does not notify is assumed not to participate. States joining as full members on or after January 1, 2027, and all contingent and associate members, must participate (new full members for at least 12 consecutive months).
• Lookback. No more than the prior 24 months, unless a state’s law requires a longer period. Under proposed Rule 402.1 it is the 24 months immediately before the seller’s SST Registration System (SSTRS) registration date, excluding months before the seller met that state’s economic nexus threshold.
• Relief. States would eliminate “all penalties and late filing fees during the lookback period to the extent allowed by” state law. Interest is not on that list; the proposed rule says the SST webpage will publish the interest, penalties and fees each state will impose.
• State by state. Qualifying in one state neither qualifies nor disqualifies the seller in another.

Today’s Section 402 amnesty is richer but narrower: it precludes tax, penalty and interest for unregistered periods, but only for sellers that register within twelve months of a state joining the Agreement, and it requires 36 months of continued collection. Section 402.1 would give less relief without that joining-date limit.

Who would qualify—and who would not

A “qualified remote seller” would certify that it would not have to register in the state but for economic nexus (inventory in a third party’s warehouse that the seller does not control, where the third party collects the tax, does not disqualify it). The seller would also agree to:

• register through SSTRS in each participating state where it meets the threshold, and start collecting no later than the first day of a calendar month no more than 60 days after submitting the contracts;
• sign each state contract within 30 calendar days, file lookback returns within 12 months of receiving the countersigned contract, and pay within 30 calendar days of the state’s balance-due notice (or as the state requires);
• stay registered and collecting for the greater of 24 months from registration or until it no longer meets the threshold and inactivates under state rules.

Excluded, state by state, are sellers that:

• were already registered before participating (except sellers that register through SSTRS between board approval and the start date and apply within 10 business days of the later of the start or the state’s participation date);
• received notice of audit, are under audit, or were audited on or after June 21, 2018—the date the Supreme Court decided South Dakota v. Wayfair;
• were registered with, or contacted by, the state about registering on or after June 21, 2018;
• are under criminal investigation;
• collected sales tax for that state but failed to remit it.

That last exclusion matches ordinary voluntary disclosure practice: tax collected from customers belongs to the state. The Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) says collected sales and use tax “must be remitted in its entirety” and may carry non-waivable penalties—the same trust-fund logic behind the federal trust fund recovery penalty.

Why a voluntary disclosure beats waiting: the statute of limitations

Many state assessment periods are measured from the filing of a return; where that is the rule, no return means the clock may never start. The federal analog is IRC §6501(c)(3): if no return is filed, tax “may be assessed … at any time.” (See our civil fraud and statute of limitations post for other §6501 exceptions.) A voluntary disclosure agreement (VDA) trades that open-ended exposure for a fixed lookback.

The MTC’s Multistate Voluntary Disclosure Program shows the usual terms: the taxpayer files and pays tax plus interest for the lookback period, and the state partially or completely waives penalties and agrees not to assess earlier periods. “Contact”—filing a return, paying tax or receiving a state inquiry—disqualifies. On the MTC’s lookback chart, sales/use tax lookbacks are mostly 36 or 48 months (Nebraska 36, New Jersey 48), so 24 months would be shorter. Criminal exposure is a separate question for counsel.

Checklist for US CPA firms

• Map nexus by state and month, splitting marketplace-facilitated sales from direct sales.
• Separate collected-but-unremitted tax. If the client charged tax and kept it, that state is out of the SST program; fix it first.
• Screen for contact since June 21, 2018: audit notices, nexus questionnaires, registration letters.
• Don’t register early by accident. Registering in a state before applying generally disqualifies the seller there, apart from the narrow post-approval exception.
• Compare routes: a state or MTC VDA now versus waiting for 2027, while exposure grows and a disqualifying contact could arrive.
• Confirm the vote, participating states, lookbacks and interest terms on the SST website before advising.

Where Tax Brew fits

Nexus studies, month-by-month sales schedules by state and lookback return workpapers are bookkeeping-heavy. Tax Brew provides bookkeeping, cleanup and tax prep support for US CPA firms; your team keeps client advice, state negotiations and sign-off. See our services, or email info@taxbrewglobal.com.

Sources: SST motion SL26005-03 / AM26010-01 (Section 402.1); proposed Rule 402.1 (SL26005A02 / RP26004); SST Governing Board agenda, October 2026; Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board; Daniel Moore, Bloomberg Tax (Oct. 13, 2026); Angélica Serrano-Román, Bloomberg Tax (Dec. 20, 2024); South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., No. 17-494 (June 21, 2018); IRC §6501; MTC Multistate Voluntary Disclosure Program and FAQ. General information, not tax or legal advice. Terms may change if the Governing Board amends or rejects the proposal.