VAT in the United States? Don’t hold your breath.

Every so often, and under different Administrations, the topic of introducing a VAT in the United States arises the way, say, the topic of re-hauling the entire Internal Revenue Code comes up – the topic seems to be introduced anew (each time people claiming it’s a novel idea) when times are at their toughest. We [...]

Updated: Replacing Resale Certificates to Curb Sales Tax Abuses in WA

UPDATED MAY 28, 2009, just days after posting, to illustrate with a case in point. See below. UPDATED AUGUST 18, 2009, yet again. Another case in point. See below below. UPDATED October 5, 2009, WA DOR released reminder, “Major change coming to buying goods and services for resale.” See below, below, below. The Washington State [...]

Wild Turkey, Anyone?

Bluegrass State’s bourbon tax policy is hitting producers hard When Kentucky enacted a 6% tax on all alcohol back in February of this year, bourbon distillers joined in solidarity to protest on the front steps of the state Capitol, pouring spirits in the streets. This week, the numbers were in for April 2008 vs. April [...]

SST Aloha On the Way? And a Full Welcome to the SST, Wisconsin!

There’s been some movement in the Hawaiian legislature towards SST conformity as of late, most notably S.B. 1678 was passed anew on May 7th, aimed at conforming excise tax laws there with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. The state legislature responded to advice received from SST Governing Board and the Council on State [...]

The Case for Making Taxes Less Taxing (or Hello SaaS, Goodbye Spreadsheets!)

This month’s issue of Business Finance magazine features an article by Robert D. Kugel, CFA, SVP Research for Ventana Research (a firm and author you may remember from The Case for a SaaS Sales, Use, Vat Solution . . . Now More Than Ever) that focuses on the need for software and automation to handle [...]

Tax Amnesty Kicks Off Today In New Jersey

From today through June 15, taxpayers may submit their slice of the $100 million in back taxes, including sales and 38 other kinds of state taxes, owed to the Garden State sans penalty and reduced by one-half the accrued interest. This is the fourth time in approximately 25 years that the state has launched an [...]