If your company sells into multiple states and has established sales tax nexus, it is critical that you evaluate your business’s exposure to sales-and-use-tax liability as soon as possible. There are more than 10,000 taxing jurisdictions and many have their own unique set of rules and interpretations. Not taxing a product or service appropriately could lead to significant exposure over time. And, you may be the person on the line to pay the penalties and interest, not your business.

Since the 2018 Wayfair decision, many more businesses are now required to collect and remit sales tax, and they are not prepared.  What these businesses don’t realize is that due to responsible party laws, a business itself is not the only one at risk.  CEOs, CFOs, Directors and other individuals that have influence over a business’s tax and accounting processes can be held personally responsible for any sales tax shortfalls according to personal responsibility laws.

Many businesses that were forced to shut down by governments trying to deal with COVID-19 are the very businesses governments rely on for sales tax obligations. And because of this, many state and local taxing jurisdictions are seeing the first signs of revenue shortfalls.  Here’s what we are seeing:  

You’ve established you have nexus in multiple states, and understand the taxability of your products and services, now what?

As businesses adjust to the “new norm” of working remotely and managing cash more closely than ever, several states are postponing deadlines for filing and paying sales and use taxes, often waiving penalties and interest. In just a few examples, many states are offering 30-day extensions to file and pay, California is offering extensions of up to three months, and Maryland and Massachusetts have pushed their sales and use tax deadlines to June. (see other tax updates here.) 

You’ve determined nexus to exist for your business and understand that your products or services are taxable, but you’ve yet to comply to sales & use tax rules. What’s next?

Sales and use taxes collected on behalf of the government are considered government funds upon collection. Failure to remit taxes collected to the appropriate jurisdiction is considered a criminal offense – the parties thereto connected (including corporate officers) or contributing to the offense could face fines in excess of 50% of the tax amount…and prison.

There are many misconceptions when it comes to telecommunication and VoIP taxes. However, if we had to narrow it down to the two most fundamental misconceptions that impact everything else, it would be: 

Three months in and it’s already been a hectic year on many fronts; sales and use taxes have been no exception. Developments in 2020 so far include: 

Maybe you’ve just figured out that you have nexus and were non-compliant without realizing it, or maybe you’ve been rolling the dice and crossing your fingers you won’t get audited – no matter your situation, if you have established nexus, are selling a taxable product or service into multiple states and aren’t complying with sales and use tax laws -  you have the potential to owe quite a bit in penalties and interest if caught. 

If your business has been struggling to comply with new sales and use tax laws, Congress is listening.

As part of the financial terms of any potential transaction, you’re likely looking at the ratio of current assets to current liabilities, revenue and net income growth, operating cash flow, market opportunity, etc.  But what about sales tax? 

It happened.  You received a sales tax audit notice from a jurisdiction.  What do you do?

Technology has radically changed the way consumers buy goods and services.  And while we can easily identify how digital disrupters, like Amazon, Netflix and Facebook have changed our purchasing behavior, a lessor known change is the way they’ve impacted sales tax.  In fact, it’s spurred the largest development in sales tax in over 50 years with the Wayfair case. While the physical presence tests still apply, the Wayfair case dramatically expands the number of businesses subject to sales and use tax obligations.

Businesses that sell into various states now have to contend with the sales & use tax regulations and requirements of thousands of jurisdictions nationwide. One big question for these businesses is how much time, effort and money do they need to devote to compliance – and do they need to pay attention to it at all?

In light of recent legislation changes, you’ve determined you meet sales tax nexus thresholds outside of just your home state and now you have to collect, file, and remit sales tax in multiple states. What a headache. To make matters worse, this is a compliance issue, so you must act.

Once you’ve determined your requirement to collect and remit sales tax, you’ve set-up a process to charge sales tax, and you have registered with each required state, you need to consider how you will manage the return filing process.  Some key areas to consider are the following: