why are they asking me to set up sales tax for other states when I don't do business there

Hi there, @accounts609.

You're prompted to set up sales tax for other states if you have employees or customers associated with that state, or if your business has generated sufficient revenue in that state to surpass the economic threshold required for tax compliance.

You may have tax obligations in a state if you do one or more of the following business activities:

• Physical nexus or presence in a state. This includes owning or renting an office or warehouse with a mailing address.
• Online sales to customers inside and outside of the state.
• Employees and other independent contractors in the state.
• Providing services in the state.
• Soliciting orders at trade shows in the state for more than three days in one year.

You can read this article to learn more about this: Understand Economic Nexus for sales tax.

Feel free to leave a reply if you have additional concerns in QuickBooks Online. We're always ready to help.