Sales Tax Compliance Challenges and the Great Resignation

If the last two years have been any indication, no industry is safe from the Great Resignation. The latest PwC Pulse Survey found that 77% of respondents said hiring and retaining employees is their most critical growth driver this year. As we have previously covered, many employees see the current job market as the perfect opportunity to find a position that allows them to move beyond their least favorite job duties. Furthermore, if the employee responsible for compliance leaves your organization without properly onboarding new staff, the knowledge of custom processes can leave with them. Utilizing automation in your compliance process can ensure that employee churn doesn’t affect your sales tax compliance.

Facilitating honest communication with your employees is also a great way to gain insight into their struggles and concerns. After all, you cannot fix problems within your organization if you don’t know they exist. You may discover that retaining your talent can be done by providing better tools to ease the sales tax compliance burden. If sales tax management has been highlighted as a sore spot in your organization, now is the time to take action.

Sales tax compliance is a tricky enough issue, but add in concerns over the Great Resignation and organizations are truly going to have their hands full.

The right sales tax solution makes all the difference

A recently published Sovos survey found that 83% of respondents would be happier in their role and more likely to stay with their company if tax management processes were automated. Sales and use tax obligations can distract employees from core business priorities. Over 50% of respondents report seeing a strain on IT and other resources, while 13% said it leads to a stressful workplace and employee churn.

As the digitization of tax rages on, more and more tax departments are relying on automation to keep up with ever-changing sales tax rules and regulations. The economic nexus brought on by South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. has merely exacerbated the rate of tax changes.

Consider managing the entire sales and use tax process with Sovos-backed solutions:

• Manage exemption certificates easily and accurately with CertManager
• File returns accurately in every jurisdiction using Sales & Use Tax Filing
• Global Tax Determination will ensure accurate sales tax rates and rule updates across the U.S. and more than 185 countries
• Ensure accurate sales tax filings with Sovos Taxify, our solution for small-medium sizes businesses

Ease your employees’ burden with managed services

If end-to-end sales tax compliance management is something you would prefer to not interact with, managed services might be your best bet. Ask yourself the following questions:

• How much time am I spending on this task, and how could this time better be spent?
• What value does maintaining this task in house bring to my business?
• What is the opportunity cost of trying to develop and maintain broad tax compliance regulatory expertise and process best practices internally?

Sovos’ approach to sales and use tax is not one size fits all. We will work together to tailor fit your needs so that you can focus on what matters most: your business.

Decrease risk and increase confidence

The best way to prevent The Great Resignation from affecting your organization is to empower your employees with the tools they need to keep your organization compliant. The right tools  allow for issues to be dealt with before they become too large to manage. If sales and use tax management has become a pain point within your business, we are here to help.