We are in the midst of the busiest shopping season of the year. A time many retail businesses rely on to meet their year-end numbers. But what happens when a world still rocked by the pandemic continues to make the majority of its sales online?

Most businesses don’t set out to be non-compliant with sales tax, or anything for that matter. In fact, you probably have the best of intentions of meeting your sales tax obligations in the future. 

The explosive growth of online sales means that state and local governments are searching for ways to recoup the tax revenue that they have determined they are owed. Between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021, online sales in the United States grew by 28 percent. States are eager to take a portion of these sales and include them in their general tax revenues.

There’s always something changing in the world of tax, especially sales tax. Here’s a review of some of the recent changes and updates.

You might think that collecting the tax and filing a tax form is all you need to be sales tax compliant. You wouldn’t be completely wrong – filling out the form is a huge start – but other steps are needed to fully manage your compliance.

TaxConnex is pleased to announce the completion of their second annual sales tax survey finding that the increasing sales tax complexities, growing nexus, fear of sales tax audits and limited resources to do what is necessary to remain compliant are among the top worries of financial professionals heading into 2022.

You won’t find too many more confusing sales tax scenarios than the one involving dietary supplements.

For purposes of sales tax, sometimes supplements and vitamins are considered drugs (prescription or not), sometimes groceries or food, sometimes tangible personal property – and sometimes not. In still other instances, they’re not taxed at all. So how do you manage your sales tax liability if you are selling vitamins, dietary supplements or other items that fall into this undescriptive category?

It may be the season of ghosts and goblins, but sales tax obligations last all year, and as many would admit, keeping track of all your sales tax obligations can be quite scary.

When we talk with businesses about sales tax compliance, we eventually get to a discussion about preparing and filing returns. Many times, this starts with “how hard can it be”. “It’s just putting numbers on a form”. However, I encourage businesses to consider the myriad aspects that need to be managed including updating your tax filing calendar, managing sales tax notices, monitoring their nexus thresholds, etc. Other key aspects include understanding your data sources, storing the data in a shared location, and naming them in a consistent format. This will help streamline your audits when they occur.

Sales and use tax generally applies to the sale or use of tangible personal property (TPP) and certain services. For most brick-and-mortar retail stores, sales tax is relatively simple, but what happens when you open an online store? Whether you’re selling tangible personal property or other taxable materials online, your sales tax obligations have changed considerably over the last few years with the introduction of economic nexus.

You may think your business is in full compliance with your sales tax obligations nationwide – and you may well be – but America’s 10,000-plus sales tax jurisdictions love to send notices. And without the right correspondence or adjustments due to these notices, you could be in hot water.

The majority of businesses still manage their sales tax obligations with internal staff, but do they have what it takes to manage sales tax effectively?

NOMAD and sales tax – I’m sure you’ve heard it before. But what does it mean?

There’s always something changing in the world of tax, especially sales tax. Here’s a review of some of the recent changes and updates.

Soon after you start dealing with states’ sales tax, you’re going to also run into another term: excise tax.

What is excise tax? And is it different from sales tax?

Last week we talked about all of the different filing frequencies and deadlines you have to manage with your sales tax obligation. If you missed that – check it out! But what happens if you accidentally miss one of those deadlines, or you didn’t realize your deadline had changed?