Who’s Managing Your Sales Tax Exemption Certificates?

North Dakota Tax Department’s Commissioner Cory Fong sent this morning via listserv, Facebook (yes, everyone has a Facebook page, I guess), and elsewhere a warning of web sites “selling” sales tax resale certificates to unwitting companies and websites “that supposedly allow buyers to avoid paying sales tax.” From the announcement: Businesses making purchases of items [...]

Tax Due on Free Seasonal Flu Vaccines in Iowa

Retail giant Walgreens (WAG), the nation’s largest drugstore chain, recently requested an advisory letter (Policy Letter No. 09300051, Iowa Department of Revenue, August 17, 2009) from the Iowa Department of Revenue on whether its promotional campaign involving the free distribution of the seasonal flu vaccine purchased outside of Iowa to uninsured persons in Iowa would [...]

Wisconsin Becomes a Full SST Member State Today

As of today, Wisconsin becomes the 20th full member state to the SST (which also has three associate member states, namely Utah, Ohio, and Tennessee). Welcome aboard! Back on February 19th, when Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle signed his state’s Streamlined Sales and Use Tax conforming legislation into law, he said, “With streamlined sales taxes, we [...]

GAO Report: States Remain “Fiscally Strained” Despite U.S. Stimulus $$ Billions

If you needed more proof that states and localities will continue to seek ways to fill budget shortfalls, consider this: Despite the $48 billion in federal stimulus dollars provided in fiscal 2009, “states will continue to be fiscally strained,” according to a 163-page report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office released yesterday. Under an American [...]

Colorado’s Tax Filing Vendor Discount: Your Questions, Answered

I’ve received several questions about the Colorado Department of Revenue’s recent (and rather un-cool) stoppage of its vendor discount program for monthly filers which, prior to July 1st 2009, provided for a 1.35% discount for timely filings of sales taxes. Is that it? Is this cut going to last forever? Yep, afraid so. That’s it, [...]

e-Roundtable on The Main Street Fairness Act: experts discuss Internet sales tax

e-Roundtable on The Main Street Fairness Act: Sales Tax Buzz Consults the Experts on Internet Sales Tax Act Read what Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney, Tech & Government say about a U.S.-wide Internet sales tax system I recently hosted an e-Roundtable event to address what many policymakers believe to be today’s most important topic within the transaction [...]

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 [...]

Blog Wars, The Phantom Menace Tooth Fairy

My SEO guy (and let me note here that if you don’t have one, you just don’t know what you’re missing – mine is helpful, cute, sometimes fuzzy, and is expecting twins with his beautiful wife – so he’s probably going to grow even fuzzier in months to come) pointed me to what has quickly [...]