Sales Tax News - August 2, 2017

Does your business have exposure to sales tax in multiple states?  Here are some of the latest news stories to keep you informed.

It's interesting that there is so much news about lost sales tax collections due to online purchases.  Here's an example where collections are up followed by a story citing lost collections.  In reality, sales tax collections, as a whole, are at an all-time high.  Amazon is collecting in every state.  Big box retailers collect sales tax on their online stores.  How much revenue are states really losing out on?

Oklahoma City Sales Tax Revenue Up

Oklahoma City's monthly sales tax revenue increased by 1.5 percent in July, compared to the same period one year ago.  The increase is the third in as many months, and comes at the end of a long downturn in tax revenue that caused a slowdown in city government spending and even employee layoffs.  The city uses sales tax as its main source of revenue to fund public facility improvement projects, the police department, and the fire department.  The citizens of Oklahoma City go to the polls to vote on a sales tax increase in early September.  The proposed increase will help pay for more policemen and firefighters.

Jonesboro, Arkansas Votes to Enforce Online Tax

Jonesboro City Council voted eight to four in support of state and federal laws requiring vendors to collect sales tax from online transactions.  While state residents are already required to report online sales on their tax returns, like residents of most states, very few do.  Only 70 out of three million residents reported any online sales on their returns last year.  The state estimates that it loses out on $25 million of revenue each year from the lack of reporting.  The Jonesboro resolution will now go to the municipal league in Little Rock, who will present it to the governor in a special session.  In order to request a special session from the governor, the League needs to collect 300 such resolutions.

Check back regularly with us for more sales tax news.