united-states international tax-law
How to calculate currency conversion for USA consumption tax (sales tax) reporting
<p>I have been <a href="https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2018/10/united-states-indirect-tax-guide.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">told</a>, that an overseas company selling in USA need to collect consumption tax and pay it back to US. However, our company is going to charge our customers in Australian dollars. Thus, to lodge a tax report in US we <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-currency-and-currency-exchange-rates" rel="nofollow noreferrer">must</a> convert AUD to USD. And we would need to use currency conversion rates set by federal reserve on a day of our report submission. Where can I request these rates?</p>
<p>I thought it would be Federal Reserve Web site <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/feeds/h10_data.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">RSS</a> or <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/datadownload/Choose.aspx?rel=H10" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CSV</a></p>
<p>But the data are published weekly at 4:15 there.</p>
<p>What resource should I use for currency conversion rates?</p>

<p>The premise of the question is wrong: The U.S. has no authority or means to compel a company not under its jurisdiction to send it taxes taxes.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the U.S. government has no general &quot;consumption tax.&quot;  Many (but not all) states and municipalities have different &quot;<a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/a/4515/10">sales and use tax</a>&quot; rates, and different goods and services to which they apply.</p>
<p>At present the authority of those various jurisdictions to require <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/a/52952/10">collection of those taxes</a> on companies located in other states – <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/a/29725/10">even within the U.S.</a> – is limited.</p>

<p>The exchange rates that you are looking for is reported at this <a href="https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/reports-statements/treasury-reporting-rates-exchange/current.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Department of Treasury website</a>. Historical rates are available at a website <a href="https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/reports-statements/treasury-reporting-rates-exchange/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">linked to on this Department of Treasury page</a>.</p>
<p>Resources from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service regarding how to apply these laws is found at the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-currency-and-currency-exchange-rates" rel="nofollow noreferrer">IRS website</a>, which strictly speaking applies only to federal taxes and not to state and local sales taxes.</p>
<p>But many, if not most, states and local governments adopt the IRS rules for determining exchange rates by reference, and any state or local government that does not expressly provide how exchange rates are to be determined would very likely defer to the IRS guidance if a foreign taxpayer used it to make the exchange rate conversion.</p>
