Is your US solution keeping up?

As businesses expand across the United States, managing sales tax can become considerably more complicated. What works for a handful of states may become increasingly difficult to maintain as transaction volumes grow, new jurisdictions come into play and tax requirements continue to evolve.

For businesses running Oracle ERPEnterprise resource planning (ERP) is a type of software that organisations use to manage main business processes., this raises an important question: is your current tax determination solution still the right fit for your business?

Unlike VAT systems in many other countries, US sales tax operates across state and local jurisdictions, each with its own rules, rates and requirements. There is no single federal sales tax, and businesses can face different obligations depending on where they sell, what they sell and where their customers are located.

Expanding into additional states can introduce new registration and collection obligations through economic nexus rules, even where a business has no physical presence. Meanwhile, differences in product taxability, exemption requirements and sourcing rules can make determining the correct tax far from straightforward.

And the landscape doesn’t stand still. Tax rates and regulations continue to change, meaning businesses need to ensure their tax determination processes remain accurate as their operations evolve. In 2025 alone, 681 US sales tax rate changes or new rates were recorded, alongside 335 new city, county and district taxing jurisdictions.

For tax and finance teams, keeping pace can quickly become a significant operational challenge.

Is your current Oracle tax setup becoming harder to manage?

As requirements grow, businesses may find themselves spending more time maintaining tax configurations, researching rate changes and addressing gaps in their existing processes.

What was once manageable internally can become increasingly resource-intensive, particularly when tax determination relies heavily on manual updates or specialist knowledge that is difficult to maintain in-house.

At this point, many businesses start looking towards third-party tax engines. While these can provide valuable functionality for complex requirements, introducing additional tax technology also brings implementation considerations, ongoing subscription costs and another system to manage.

But does greater US sales tax complexity automatically mean you need a separate tax engine? Not necessarily.

Finding a more cost-effective approach to US tax determination

For businesses using Oracle Cloud ERP or Oracle E-Business Suite, managing US sales tax doesn’t necessarily mean investing in a separate tax engine.

Oracle already provides native tax determination functionality, and for businesses whose requirements align with its capabilities, a rates-based approach can offer a more straightforward and cost-effective way to manage US Sales & Use Tax.

That’s where inFlyte US comes in.

Designed specifically for Oracle, inFlyte US provides sales and use tax rates across all 50 US states, helping businesses maintain accurate tax determination without the cost and complexity of a separate tax engine.

Rather than researching and maintaining tax rates themselves, businesses receive updated tax rate files monthly from Innovate Tax, ready to upload into Oracle. This helps keep tax configurations up to date as rates change, without placing the entire maintenance burden on internal tax or IT teams.

For businesses with relatively straightforward US tax determination requirements, this can provide a practical alternative to a third-party tax engine, particularly where the additional functionality offered by a full tax engine isn’t necessary.

Of course, not every business has the same needs. Where requirements extend beyond rate-based tax determination, a third-party tax engine may be more appropriate. Some organisations may also benefit from a hybrid approach, using Oracle-native tax for certain transactions and a third-party solution where additional functionality is required.

The important thing is understanding what your business actually needs, rather than assuming one approach is right for everyone.