Blog

South Dakota v. Wayfair One Year Later - Sales Tax Retrospective and Look Ahead Q&A
South Dakota v. Wayfair One Year Later – Sales Tax Retrospective and Look Ahead Q&A

On July 25th, Chuck Maniace, vice president of regulatory analysis and design at Sovos, hosted a replay of the  “South Dakota v. Wayfair One Year Later” webinar on regulatory updates since the groundbreaking decision last June. Thanks to all those who participated, we received an additional wide range of thought-provoking questions. Our regulatory team compiled […]

Read More
Unclaimed Property State Exemptions: Wahoo! Free Money … Right?
Unclaimed Property State Exemptions: Wahoo! Free Money … Right?

Many people hear about the exemptions that states allow for unclaimed property reporting, and they get very excited. Free money, right? 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 […]

Read More
IRS Debuts Draft of 1099-NEC for 2020 to Replace 1099-MISC Box 7
IRS Debuts Draft of 1099-NEC for 2020

In a monumental moment for tax reporting professionals, the IRS has released a draft of Form 1099-NEC, the form that will eventually replace Form 1099-MISC box 7 for reporting nonemployee compensation and box 9 for reporting direct sales of $5,000 or more.  The NEC should alleviate confusion that resulted after the passage of the PATH […]

Read More
Why the IRS Needs to Release Cryptocurrency Tax Guidance
Why the IRS Needs to Release Cryptocurrency Tax Guidance

Despite IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig’s promise of “within the next 30 days” more than 30 days ago to Congress regarding the release of forthcoming cryptocurrency tax guidance, we have not seen anything materialize.  As we mentioned previously, the ongoing confusion related to tax reporting obligations continues to plague payers such as crypto or digital currency […]

Read More
The IRS Is Allowing TIN Masking on Form W-2. Here’s Why It’s a Good Idea
The IRS Is Allowing TIN Masking on Form W-2. Here’s Why It’s a Good Idea

At last, the IRS is allowing payers to truncate, or effectively mask, tax identification numbers (TINs) on Forms W-2 sent to payees. The decision comes after years of concern from companies and taxpayers about the risk of exposing TINs, or Social Security Numbers in the case of individual payees, in W-2 distributions.  The new policy […]

Read More
South Dakota v. Wayfair One Year Later - Sales Tax Retrospective and Look Ahead Q&A
South Dakota v. Wayfair One Year Later Webinar Questions Answered

Thank you all who joined our webinar on June 27, “South Dakota v. Wayfair One Year Later – Sales Tax Retrospective and Look Ahead,” and submitted the following questions during the Q&A portion. They really put our regulatory analysis team to the test, and we hope you find the responses valuable as you prepare for […]

Read More
What the Tennessee Wine and Spirits Ruling Means for DtC Wine Shipping

Supreme Court Rules Against Tennessee’s Discriminatory Residency Requirements After months of waiting by the beverage alcohol industry, the United States Supreme Court published its ruling in Tennessee Wine & Spirits Retailers Ass’n v. Thomas on June 26, 2019. The 7-2 opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, clearly and definitively struck down a rule in Tennessee […]

Read More
IRS Releases New Look W-4 to Mixed Reviews from Businesses
IRS Releases New Look W-4 to Mixed Reviews From Businesses

The IRS has released a draft version of the new 2020 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate. It represents the most sweeping changes to this form since the Current Tax Payment Act of 1943 was passed, requiring employers to withhold taxes from employee payroll and remit them to the IRS on their behalf.  The form […]

Read More
Sovos Again Named a Top Workplace Based on Employee Satisfaction
Sovos Again Named a Top Workplace Based on Employee Satisfaction

Earlier this week, the Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) released its annual list of Top Workplaces. The newspaper compiles this list based on employee satisfaction scores for companies across Minnesota. Sovos has once again been named to this list as a national standard setter of leading workplaces because of the actions we take to put employees […]

Read More
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’ property?
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’ […]

Read More
“So What?” The Consequences of Improper Reporting
“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 […]

Read More
Marketplace Sales Tax Collection Rules and Current State of Affairs
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 […]

Read More
Unclaimed Property Penalties
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 […]

Read More
IRS Promises Clarity on Crypto Tax Regulations This Month
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 […]

Read More
A More Efficient Escheatment Process for Unclaimed Property
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 […]

Read More
Unclaimed Property: Are State Exemptions "Free Money?"
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 […]

Read More
What Does Delaware’s Unclaimed Property Compliance Review Mean for You?
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 […]

Read More
What the Sovos Acquisition of ETM Will Mean for Insurers, Financial Institutions
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) […]

Read More