Effective July 1, 2025, Utah will eliminate its 200-transaction economic nexus threshold for remote sellers. Currently, remote sellers must register for Utah sales and use tax if they generate over $100,000 in gross revenue from Utah or complete 200+ transactions in Utah.

The bottom line: Utah is following the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement's initiative to eliminate transaction thresholds. Transaction thresholds can be a burden for small sellers struggling with low-dollar transactions, and managing the 200-transaction threshold can be expensive for states to manage.

The Washington Department of Revenue has issued new guidelines on when companies can apply the state’s multiple points of use (MPU) sales tax exemption to sales of software maintenance agreements. A software maintenance agreement may qualify if (1) the software can be used both inside and outside of the state of Washington simultaneously, (2) if any included services directly support the software being offered, and (3) the agreement does not include any other taxable items.

The bottom line: Software companies can now exempt their bundled maintenance agreements from Washington sales tax when customers use the software across multiple states, creating substantial savings on multi-state transactions.

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The Maryland House of Delegates passed budget bill HB 352 implementing a new 3% sales tax on data and IT services. It will expand the definition of “taxable service” to include categories like software publishing, media licensing, and intellectual property. HB 352 will take effect on July 1, 2025.

The bottom line: This revised proposal, part of Maryland Governor Wes Moore's budget agreement with legislative leaders, follows lawmakers abandoning an earlier, more broadly opposed measure that would have imposed a 2.5% tax on many business-to-business services.

Manitoba's 2025 budget has proposed the expansion of retail sales tax to cover cloud computing services. Although this finance bill is still moving through the province’s parliamentary process, Manitoba Finance has already updated its information bulletin to help businesses prepare for the change. This change will go into effect starting January 1, 2026.

The bottom line: The tax will apply to all forms of cloud computing services (SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS) including video game subscriptions, cloud storage, and website hosting, with both resident and non-resident providers required to collect RST on services used in Manitoba.

Starting April 1, 2025, VAT rules will not apply to B2B electronic services from foreign suppliers, but only when dealing exclusively with those registered in South Africa.  

The bottom line: This change is not retroactive. Any VAT obligations before this date remain in effect, including requirements for non-resident suppliers to register and remit VAT on B2B transactions conducted prior to April 1, 2025.

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In a second attempt to get the country’s 2025-2026 budget approved, South Africa’s National Treasury proposed a VAT rise that would be split into two phases: a rise from 15% to 15.5% starting May 2025 and then a rise from 15.5% to 16% starting in April 2026.

The bottom line: The VAT rate in South Africa could increase to 16% by 2026 or 2027, with the potential earliest rise of 0.5% happening in May 2025. However, this hike is currently being contested and won’t move forward without approval from the South African Parliament.