Under certain conditions, Public Law 86-272 (which is often mistakenly called P.L. 76-272) safeguards businesses from state income taxes. The law applies to companies that engage in interstate commerce and excludes states from imposing net income taxes. If the company's actions in the state are restricted to requesting orders for tangible personal property. The primary safeguards are these:

• It is strictly prohibited to solicit orders for tangible goods. These orders require approval and fulfillment from outside the state.
• Businesses that sell services or intangible goods are not covered by this protection.
• The coverage is limited to net income taxes, not other taxes, such as sales taxes or gross receipts taxes.
• Independent contractors can solicit goods, as long as they are shipped from outside the state.
• In 1959, this law was passed to address concerns about states overreaching in taxing businesses operating in interstate commerce.

The multistate tax commission and signatory states under public law 86-272 provide information about their practices and protect missionary sales activities in state activities. Protected in-state activities do not establish nexus. The company's goods are sold by soliciting indirect customers in missionary sales activities. For instance, a manufacturer may ask retailers to purchase their goods from wholesale customers.