High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sales taxes in the United States are taxes added onto the price of goods or services that are purchased in the United States. A [[the VAT paid on their purchases from the applicable authority). States which have exemptions for specific types of organizations (such as schools), may also require a certificate. A sales tax audit is the examination of a company?s financial documents by the state?s tax agency to verify if they have collected the correct amount of sales tax from their customers.The Constitution of the United States limits the power of the states to subjects within their jurisdiction. Jurisdiction over interstate commerce is reserved to the federal government. Nevertheless, a resident of a state with a sales tax who purchases goods from a place with no sales tax (or at a lower rate) might be subject to pay a "use tax" (often at the same rate as the state sales tax) for non-exempt purchases (see also tax-free shopping).