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 [...]

Will any origin-based sourcing SST states remain 01-01-10?

One of the chief concerns among several SST member states – including Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, as well as the Virginia Association of Counties – is whether the option to have origin-based sourcing rules will remain once the scheduled January 1, 2010 expiration date has come and gone. The states [...]

Amazon, Amazon, Amazon! And Blue Nile . . . and Now Overstock!

June 30, 2009: Seattle *** Updated July 1, 2009 *** ***Updated July 29, 2009*** see below Amazon Pulls the Plug on Hawaii, Rhode Island Affiliates, Strengthening Its Stance for a More Cohesive Internet Tax Scheme What started with a pull out from its online affiliate system in North Carolina, Amazon.com has now cut ties with [...]

Amazon.com Affiliates in N. Carolina = No More!

June 26, 2009: Seattle Amazon.com severs all ties with business, marketing affiliates in North Carolina There’s huge news here in Seattle that reverberates all across the e-commerce universe: Seattle-based Amazon.com notified its North Carolina business affiliates just last night that it will end all ties, effective today, to avoid collecting and remitting sales taxes in [...]

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 [...]

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 Must-Read E-Commerce Paper of the Year

State, Local Governments to lose at least $11.4 billion in sales tax revenues to Internet by 2012 If anything, today’s headline might understate its case. Not only is “State and Local Government Sales Tax Revenue Losses from Electronic Commerce” the e-commerce paper of the year, it could very well be the must-read study of the [...]

Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act: How’s It Going?

In what could very well become historic times in the sales tax arena, I wanted to call attention to a draft federal bill that is set for consideration this Friday, March 20, in a final set of congressional meetings – namely the Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act (H.R. 3396 and S. 34), as can [...]

Is Wisconsin Jumping On the SST Train?

Wisconsin’s Governor Jim Doyle signed his state’s Streamlined Sales and Use Tax (SST) conforming legislation into law February 19th (sans public hearing), paving the way for petition to the SST Governing Board for full membership. Will Wisconsin be the latest state to join SST with all of the promised benefits including amnesty, audit protection, and [...]

Could Arkansas Be Angling to Lose Its Full Member SST Status?

Arkansas State Representative John Burris (R-Harrison) introduced a bill last week (H.B. 1179) in his state’s legislature to revert the sales and use tax sourcing rules back to origin-based from destination-based, with effect from July 1, 2009, as was the case in that state pre-January 1, 2008. Essentially, the restoration of origin sourcing means that [...]

Zip Codes Mean “Zip” for Sales Tax Purposes

I just had to add a little background and history to yesterday’s post about zip code/sales tax issues: Errors are not tolerated lightly when we dwell in the realm of taxes. Incorrectly charging sales tax can result in fines, audit penalties, or even class-action lawsuits. The only way to accurately apply a correct tax rate [...]

The First “Welcome” Post

In 2008, whose thoughts didn’t turn to the economy on a daily – and sometimes hourly – basis? From the fall of Wall Street as we once knew it to the thinning of Main Street, to unfunded federal mandates and state budgets approaching record shortfalls, I came up with the idea to create a space [...]