Blog

Massachusetts Develops a Novel Approach to Nexus – What It Means To Ecommerce Sellers

Massachusetts is attempting to avoid a head-on challenge to Quill, opting instead for rules that stretch — but attempt not to break — the physical presence standard. Internet vendors should take serious note of Massachusetts’ new approach to defining what constitutes physical nexus. If you partake in one of these three types of common activities, […]

Read More
Tacoma Washington Plastic Bag Ban

Last July the City of Tacoma, Washington passed Ordinance No. 28367, a “Bring Your Own Bag Ordinance.” This law bans the distribution of disposable plastic bags by retailers and imposes a minimum five cent fee on paper bags.  Retailers (including restaurants), will be allowed to keep this fee. The law does not apply to bags for […]

Read More
North Dakota Increases Prepaid E911 Fee

North Dakota recently enacted legislation which will increase the Prepaid Wireless Emergency 911 Fee from 2.0% to 2.5% effective July 1, 2017. Retailers are required to collect this fee on all sales of prepaid wireless services and minutes. Retailers must remit the collection of such fees to the State Tax Commissioner. Revenue generated from this increase […]

Read More
North Dakota Exempts Internet Access Services from Sales and Use Tax

Effective July 1, 2017, North Dakota will begin to provide an exemption from sales tax for sales of “internet access services.” Since 1998, the Internet Tax Freedom Act has prohibited federal, state and local governments from levying a tax on internet access however, seven states which previously had imposed taxes on internet access, including North Dakota, were […]

Read More
North Dakota Expands Exemption for Farm Machinery to Include Dairy Farm Equipment

Effective July 1, 2017, North Dakota will expand the definition of “Farm Machinery” to include machinery, equipment and materials used exclusively in a milking operation of a dairy farm. In North Dakota, sales of new farm machinery sold exclusively for agricultural purposes are taxed at a lower tax rate of 3% compared to the general […]

Read More
North Dakota’s Telecom Infrastructure Exemption to Expire

North Dakota’s sales and use tax exemption for tangible personal property used to construct or expand telecommunications service infrastructure is set to expire on June 30, 2017. This exemption covers cell towers, switching equipment, cable, and other infrastructure items used directly in delivering telecommunication services and owned by a telecommunications company. In order to receive […]

Read More
Manufacturers Face Uncertainty in U.S. Tax Reform

Tax reform is a primary focus in Washington right now, so it is important that U.S. manufacturers understand how changes could impact their business — particularly with regard to imports and exports.

Read More
West Virginia Has New Guidance on Business Registration

West Virginia’s State Tax Department has released a new publication TSD-100, “West Virginia Business Taxes.” The publication provides guidance to Business who need to register for business tax purposes. The six page document is merely instructive and does not function as a legal document. The last time West Virginia published a similar document was November, […]

Read More
Compliance Challenges for ”Legacy B2C” E-Commerce Solutions Moving into B2B

We are seeing a lot of vendor scope evolution on the market. Examples include EDI vendors that are developing business network-style services; another one is that platforms focused on procurement of indirect supplies are moving into strategic sourcing and vice versa. A trend that receives less attention from analysts and specialized press is the journey […]

Read More
New Jersey Passes Sales Tax Exemption for Limousine Services

New Jersey’s limousine industry won a major legislative battle on February 10, 2017, when Governor Chris Christie signed into a law a bill eliminating sales tax on intra-state limousine services. The tax had been in force since 2006, surviving several challenges in the state legislature. It will officially be phased out on May 1, 2017. […]

Read More
Utah Increases the Prepaid Wireless 911 Service Change to 2.45%

Utah has recently enacted legislation which will increase the Prepaid Wireless 911 Service Charge from 1.90% to 2.45% effective July 1, 2017. The legislation also further increases the Prepaid Wireless 911 Service Charge to 3.30% on January 1, 2018. Sellers are required to collect the Prepaid Wireless 911 Service Charge on all sales of prepaid […]

Read More
4 Trends Impacting IT Teams’ Ability to Support Sales and Use Tax Compliance

This summary of our Sovos Tax Tuesday webinar addresses the challenges that IT managers face, and solutions to managing sales and use tax compliance. On March 28, I was joined by Chuck Maniace and Mark Christenson to present a webinar on challenges to IT managers in supporting sales and use tax compliance.  We took a […]

Read More
No More Loopholes: Amazon officially collects sales tax in every state that requires it. But why?

Amazon sellers will now have to collect and remit sales tax in every state in which it is required. What are the business implications? Amazon completed its 180-degree turn on sales tax policy this week, agreeing to voluntarily collect sales and use tax in every state that imposes such requirements. While this development does not […]

Read More
Are You Collecting Sales Tax for Your Online Sales?

There are still many who view the convenience of online shopping as the real lure of Internet shopping rather than the presence or absence of sales tax. While many people shop online for convenience, others turn to e-commerce to avoid paying sales tax. According to the Supreme Court case Quill v. North Dakota, retailers are […]

Read More
Sales Tax Legislation in Wyoming and Utah – Has Nexus Reached Its Tipping Point?

Proposed bills and rules around nexus are being discussed and debated in state capitals across the country. The evolution of ecommerce continues to place pressure on the nexus standard. As states search for avenues to collect and remit tax, businesses face expanded sales tax compliance responsibilities. With recent proposed legislation, both Utah and Wyoming took […]

Read More
Top 5 Filing Challenges: Webinar Recap and Attendee Responses

In our most recent Tax Tuesday webinar, Ashley Brody and I took a hard look at the most common filing challenges facing today’s manufacturers.  We described the trends that we hear about every day from tax professionals and recommended some best practices for staying on top of rapidly changing filing requirements.  In addition to the […]

Read More
5 Things Businesses With Colorado Customers Could See Next

Online sellers around the country have been waiting for nearly a year to see if Colorado’s controversial use tax notice law, which some characterize as a contrast to the Supreme Court’s physical presence standard, would stand up to an aggressive legal challenge. And it did! As we detailed last week in this post, after two […]

Read More
Arizona simplifies, consolidates sales tax reporting

In a perpetually evolving tax landscape, tax administrators are constantly pushing the traditional bounds of the collection responsibility of taxpayer.  The most recent developments are set against the backdrop of the current “physical presence” standard and state and federal attempts to repeal or overturn the Supreme Court case of Quill v. North Dakota. Quill and […]

Read More