§01 — Field Notice
Know your California tax exposure before the FTB does.
Most Amazon sellers don't find out California wants taxes from them until a notice lands — sometimes years later, sometimes for a lot. Run a free check to see exactly where you're exposed, what it actually means, and whether it's a five-minute fix or time to call a pro. Plain English. No account, no card.
Takes about two minutes. No credit card, no signup to see your result.
§02 — How it happens
The tax you never agreed to
Here's how it happens, and why almost nobody sees it coming.
You sell on Amazon. To ship fast, Amazon moves your inventory into its own warehouses — and you don't get to choose which ones. Some of them are in California: ONT2, OAK4, SMF3, and others.
The moment your products sit in a California warehouse, the state considers you to have a physical presence there. In tax language, that's nexus — and nexus is the switch that lets California tax you. You didn't move there. You didn't sign anything. An algorithm placed a box in a building, and a tax obligation came with it.
And here's the part that catches even careful sellers: it's two different taxes, run by two different agencies.
Agency 01 — FTB
Franchise Tax Board
Wants the $800 minimum franchise tax — owed for the privilege of "doing business" in California, whether you made a profit or not.
Agency 02 — CDTFA
Dept. of Tax & Fee Admin.
Handles sales and use tax — a separate obligation, with its own rules, run by an entirely different office.
"But Amazon collects sales tax for me." True — Amazon remits sales tax as a marketplace facilitator, so most sellers assume they're fully covered. They're not.
Income and franchise tax aren't Amazon's job, and Amazon doesn't touch them. That gap is exactly where the surprise bill lives.
And the data's already out there. Amazon hands the state a list of who's storing inventory in California; the two tax agencies compare notes; the bill gets built from numbers you never submitted. Nobody sends you a heads-up — the first thing most sellers hear is a notice in the mail, often for several years at once, with a deadline and language that makes your stomach drop.
If any of this is the first you're hearing of it: that's the point. You're not behind because you were careless. You're behind because the system never told you.
§03 — From the founder
I'm not a tax firm. I'm a seller this happened to.
My name's Darnell. I'm an Amazon seller, same as you — and before that, a Marine and a federal cybersecurity officer, which mostly means I'm hard to spook and I read the fine print. So when I tell you this one got me anyway, take it seriously.
Back in 2020, stuck at home like everybody else, I joined Amazon's FBA program to make a little extra money during lockdown. I didn't move much — a modest side hustle, nothing close to a real business. And like a lot of sellers, I figured Amazon handled the tax side of things; I'd never even heard of the Franchise Tax Board. Then one day a letter showed up from them: an overdue bill I'd never been warned about and never saw coming. My first thought was the one you might be having right now — is this even real, or some kind of shakedown?
I didn't get long to wonder. They'd sent the bill and started the garnishment the same day — no grace period, no window — and payday happened to fall right behind it. The first real proof was a noticeably smaller check. They kept most of my tax refund, too. Nobody ever offered me a payment plan or a chance to work something out — they just started taking it. By the time it was done it came to around $4,500 with penalties, pulled from my pay a percentage at a time for about six months.
And the timing. I'd just moved into a new place — first month, last month, security deposit all laid out — so most of my cushion was already gone. It still makes me angry, not because I owed nothing, but because of how I found out: a letter, and then a smaller paycheck, with no warning and no way to soften the landing.
So I did what I do — I put my head down and learned the actual mechanics. How nexus gets triggered. Which agency wants what. What's a real obligation versus what's just noise. And the thing that stuck with me wasn't the money. It was that a two-minute heads-up, months earlier, would have changed the whole story.
So I built the tool I wish I'd had before that letter showed up — something that just tells you, plainly, where you stand. That's all TaxNexus is: the heads-up nobody gave me.
One thing I'll always be straight with you about: I'm not a CPA, and this isn't tax advice. If you're staring down a six-figure notice or an audit, you want a real professional in your corner — and the tool will tell you, honestly, when you've crossed into that territory. For everything upstream of that — the "am I even exposed, and how bad is it?" question — that's exactly what this is for.
— Darnell Founder · TaxNexus / Consult Solutions
§04 — The free Audit
What you get, for free, in about two minutes
No jargon, no homework, no card. The free Audit answers the only question that matters right now: am I exposed, and how bad is it?
You tell us a little: where you sell and roughly how your Amazon inventory is handled. That's it — no tax forms, no accountant required.
We tell you plainly:
- Whether you're triggering California nexus right now — and why.
- Which taxes are actually in play — the $800 franchise tax, sales/use tax, or both — in plain English, not code sections.
- A rough sense of scale — is this a tidy housekeeping item or a "deal with this soon" situation.
- Your next move — whether it's a five-minute fix you can handle yourself, or the point where you should bring in a professional.
Your result is yours. No account required to see it, and we don't make you "book a call" to find out what you're facing.
§05 — The advice problem
The most confident advice online is also the most wrong
Go search "California franchise tax" in any seller forum and you'll find two camps, talking right past each other.
⚑ The loud camp · wrong
Ignore it, the state has no jurisdiction, Amazon already handles your taxes, don't even respond. It gets upvotes. It sounds like relief. And it's the advice most likely to turn a manageable bill into a five-figure problem.
✓ The quiet camp · correct
Inventory sitting in a California warehouse creates physical nexus, Amazon only remits sales tax as a marketplace facilitator, and income and franchise tax are still on you — with real collection power behind them.
Here's the trouble: when you're scared and Googling at midnight, you can't tell which camp to trust. The confident voice is the dangerous one, and there's no label on it.
That's the gap TaxNexus fills. Not a forum opinion, not a CPA's $400 consultation to find out if you even have a problem — just a straight, correct read on where you actually stand.
And don't let anyone wave you off with "you're too small to matter." In a 2025 California tax appeal, a seller with under $14,000 in California sales — barely any inventory in the state — was still held liable for the $800. Being under the thresholds isn't a safe harbor. If your inventory touched California, the question is live no matter how little you sold.
§06 — Where we stop
We'll tell you when you need a real professional
This is the part most tools won't say out loud, so here it is plainly.
TaxNexus is built for awareness and prevention — knowing your exposure early, while it's still small and manageable. That covers most sellers most of the time.
But if you're holding a six-figure notice, facing an audit, or staring down years of back taxes at once, software isn't what you need — a tax attorney or CPA is. And when your situation crosses that line, the tool will tell you so, honestly, instead of pretending it can handle everything.
If it's years of back taxes stacked up at once, a pro may have moves you don't — like a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement that can cap how far back the state reaches. That's exactly the kind of thing worth paying an expert for.
We're not trying to replace your accountant. We're trying to make sure you find out you need one before the situation gets expensive — not after.
§07 — Tiers
Start free. Pay only when you want us watching your back.
Three tiers, each answering a different question. Most people start — and stay — at free.
Audit
Free
"Where do I stand?"
A plain-English read on your California exposure, on demand. No card, no account to see your result. This is the front door, and for a lot of sellers it's all they need.
Run my free checkGuard
$39 /mo
"Keep me ahead of it."
Amazon moves your inventory without asking. Guard watches your fulfillment locations and alerts you the moment your exposure changes — a new California warehouse, a new state, a new threshold crossed — so the next surprise letter never comes. For sellers who know they're in it and want to stay ahead.
Start with GuardAggregator
$119 /mo
"I've got a bigger operation."
Multiple brands or entities, higher volume, exposure across several states — Aggregator rolls it into one clear view so nothing slips through the cracks. For established sellers who can't afford a blind spot.
Talk to us about AggregatorNo long-term contract. The free Audit stays free. Upgrade only when staying ahead is worth $39 to you.
§08 — Frequently asked
The questions every blindsided seller asks
Doesn't Amazon already handle my taxes?
Partly — and that's exactly where people get caught. Amazon collects and remits sales tax for you as a marketplace facilitator. It does not handle your income or franchise tax. Those are on you, and Amazon never mentions them.
What is this $800 thing?
California's minimum franchise tax. If the state considers you to be "doing business" there — which inventory sitting in a CA warehouse can trigger all on its own — you owe an $800 minimum every year, whether or not you turned a profit, and whether or not your sales are anywhere near big enough to cross a threshold. It surprises almost everyone.
Do I have to file in California every year now, even at $0?
Possibly, yes — once you have nexus, the obligation can recur annually until your situation changes. The Audit will tell you what applies to you, so you're not guessing.
I just got a notice. What do I do?
First: don't panic, and don't ignore it — both are how this gets worse. Run the free Audit to understand what the notice actually means and how serious it is. If it's in "call a professional" territory, we'll tell you that straight, so you don't overpay out of fear or underreact out of hope.
Is this only about California?
California is our focus because it's the most aggressive and the most common blindside. But inventory can create nexus in other states too — and Guard watches for that as your footprint moves.
Does this only work for Amazon sellers?
No. The trigger isn't Amazon — it's your inventory sitting in a California warehouse, however it got there. Amazon FBA is just the most common way it happens, because it moves your stock automatically. The same exposure can come from Fulfilled by TikTok, Walmart Fulfillment Services, or a Shopify store running through a third-party warehouse that holds inventory in California. If your goods are in the state, the $800 franchise tax question is on the table — and the Audit will tell you either way.
Is this tax advice?
No. TaxNexus gives you a plain-English read on your exposure so you can make an informed decision. It's not a substitute for a CPA or tax attorney — and for the serious cases, we'll point you toward one.
Is my data safe?
Yes. We ask for the minimum needed to assess exposure, and security isn't an afterthought here — it's the founder's background. We don't sell your data, and we don't make you hand over more than the check requires.
§09 — Your move
Find out where you stand — before the letter does.
The sellers who get blindsided aren't careless. They just never got the heads-up. Take two minutes and get yours.
Run my free exposure checkNo credit card. No account to see your result. Just a straight answer.