Blog

Unclaimed Property: If You Lose Your Dog, Is It Still Yours?

Of course it is! A lost dog wandering the streets is fairly easy to identify as lost, and his location doesn’t change your ownership. You know that the lost and found box at the front desk is there to reunite you with something you misplaced, but how do you identify what is ‘abandoned’ or ‘unclaimed’ […]

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“So What?” The Consequences of Improper Reporting

When performing accounting functions, understanding how our actions will affect the company downstream is important. For some functions, the consequences are obvious, but for unclaimed property reporting, consequences of inaccurate reporting can be uncertain at best. Is it really a big deal if you are reporting everything to your company’s state of incorporation instead of […]

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Marketplace Sales Tax Collection Rules and Current State of Affairs

Marketplace sales tax laws are being used by states as an additional means to collect more sales tax revenue from remote sellers on marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and WalMart. These online marketplaces and the rules being introduced to compel marketplace tax compliance have introduced new sales tax collection and remittance questions and complexity. According […]

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Unclaimed Property Penalties

“We have less than $1,000 to submit, we’ll just do it ourselves.” Does this thought process sound familiar? The thought is if it’s a small amount, it doesn’t matter nearly as much. It’s totally understandable for one to think along these lines. Unfortunately, the states may disagree with you. Regardless of the dollar amount or […]

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IRS Promises Clarity on Crypto Tax Regulations This Month

For the second time in the last month, the IRS has alluded to forthcoming guidance related to cryptocurrency and digital asset transactions.  IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig said in late May that clarification on crypto tax regulations might arrive by the end of June and gave further hints as to what might be included in the […]

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A More Efficient Escheatment Process for Unclaimed Property

Companies are always looking for simplified ways of handling the entire unclaimed property process. As an example, generating reports to be remitted to the state(s) has come a long way in the software vendor world. Electronic reporting can minimize or eliminate manual efforts such as downloading state files to CD’s, printing coversheets, and mailing individual […]

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Unclaimed Property: Are State Exemptions “Free Money?”

Many people hear about state exemptions for unclaimed property reporting, and they get very excited. Free money, what could go wrong? I will share what I know about exemptions and let you decide. Let’s start with a simple kind of exemption. Some states exempt reporting of gift cards or gift certificates that do not have […]

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What Does Delaware’s Unclaimed Property Compliance Review Mean for You?

Part of a 2017 amendment to Delaware’s unclaimed property law has left many people confused. According to Del. Code Ann. tit. 12, § 1170(b), if the state feels that a report is inaccurate or incomplete the company may be selected for a compliance review. There is not a clear definition to which the policy applies in […]

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What the Sovos Acquisition of ETM Will Mean for Insurers, Financial Institutions

It’s been quite a week at Sovos. Hours after announcing Sovos’ intent to acquire Foriba, expanding our geographic footprint into Turkey and bringing together the pioneers of e-invoicing compliance, we shared our plan to expand into new and existing markets in the U.S. with the acquisition of Eagle Technology Management (ETM). Eagle Technology Management (ETM) […]

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TIGTA Audit Highlights Gaps in IRS Withholding Controls

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) reported results of a recent audit of the IRS internal controls in place to ensure that the withholding reported on information returns (i.e., Forms 1099) is accurately reflected on Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax, and that those amounts were paid to the IRS. […]

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Cryptocurrency Taxes: IRS Responds to Pressure from Congress

After four separate letters from members of Congress urging the agency to release clarification on cryptocurrency taxes, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig finally responded to Representative Tom Emmer, R-Minn., on May 16, with confirmation that clarification is forthcoming. While Rettig’s letter did provide some specifics on what the guidance would cover, it did not include a […]

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How to Prepare for 1099 Reporting Changes to Come in the Gig Economy

There has been a lot of attention paid to “gig” economy workers lately, and that includes some scrutiny by state and federal tax authorities. The growing impact to tax revenue as a result of under-reporting of income and minimal payments of self-employment taxes from this ‘new’ sector of American workers has not gone unnoticed. Academic […]

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Best Practices for Coping with the IRS Crackdown on 1099 Backup Withholding

Background Generally, under Internal Revenue Code 3406(a)(1)(A), when a payer of US source income fails to collect a US tax identification number (TIN) in the manner required for the type of payment being made, 24 percent backup withholding is applicable at time of payment. Filers are required to remit those amounts to the IRS and […]

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Shielding SAP Central Finance Migrations from Tax Compliance Mandates

With more companies focusing on global integration, cross-border supply chains and expanding ecommerce, governments across the globe are introducing new ways to enforce tax rules and close their tax gaps. The evolving global regulatory environment produces unique tax determination and reporting challenges in the United States and additional VAT and e-invoicing compliance challenges around the […]

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Colorado Economic Nexus Law Change for Remote Sellers

In December 2018, the state of Colorado made substantial changes impacting the sales tax collection and remittance requirements imposed on both in-state and remote sellers. The state extended a grace period for companies to comply with these requirements through May 31, 2019. Beginning June 1, 2019, under the new rules, most companies will be required […]

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Sovos Expert to Speak on Tax Compliance in S/4HANA at SAPPHIRE

Pawel Smolarkiewicz, chief product office at Sovos, will speak on the digital transformation of tax and its effect on SAP S/4HANA at next week’s SAPPHIRE conference in Orlando.   As countries make continuous tax compliance the new normal, businesses are finding that they have to respond by putting tax compliance functionality at the core of […]

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Congress Puts Pressure on IRS to Clarify Cryptocurrency Tax Policy

For the second time in less than a year, members of Congress have sent a letter to the IRS imploring the agency to provide guidance on its policy for cryptocurrency taxation and related tax information reporting. This time, there is a deadline for the IRS to respond. Led by Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer, 21 members […]

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Social Security Administration W-2 Correction Letters Could Serve as Warnings

Some organizations might have been surprised recently to receive a correction letter from the Social Security Administration (SSA) requesting corrected information on Form W-2 due to a name-social security number (SSN) mismatch. Although there is no penalty associated with the SSA letter, it could serve as a warning to help organizations stave off penalty notices […]

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