Case Study: Lionel Racing achieves confident, streamlined sales tax compliance with Avalara AvaTax

Lionel Racing Gets a Tax Compliance Tailwind From Avalara

Lionel Racing, a subsidiary of Lionel that sells die‑cast racing models and exclusive apparel online and at racetracks, faced rapidly expanding sales‑tax obligations after the Supreme Court’s Wayfair decision. States began setting their own thresholds and local jurisdictions frequently changed rates and rules, moving the company from collecting tax in six states to about 20 and creating significant compliance risk and disparate systems.

Lionel Racing implemented Avalara AvaTax with a prebuilt NetSuite integration to automate sales and use tax calculations, streamline processes, and keep rates current. The solution made onboarding new states simple (“flip a switch”), reduced audit risk, and freed the CIO to focus on strategic growth instead of managing tax complexity.

Lionel Racing

Rick Gemereth

Chief Information Officer