Regulatory Analysis

Posted December 5, 2019 by Kaitlyn Smethurst
Louisiana Imposes New Tax on CBD Products

Under House Bill 560, passed in June of this year, the Louisiana legislature imposed a new excise tax on certain CBD products which takes effect on January 1, 2020. This new tax, which is charged at the point of retail sale, applies at a rate of 3% and applies in addition to existing state and […]

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Posted December 5, 2019 by Alex Samuel
Illinois Enacts Marketplace Facilitator Legislation

Illinois recently enacted legislation requiring marketplace facilitators that meet certain thresholds to collect tax on behalf of their marketplace sellers. Marketplace facilitators must collect tax when they facilitate gross sales of $100,000 or more or when they facilitate 200 or more separate transactions for the sale of tangible personal property to purchasers in Illinois during […]

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Posted December 5, 2019 by Alex Samuel
Florida Cities Change Communication Services Tax Rate

Sales of communications services in Florida are taxable, unless specifically exempt. Communications services are defined as voice, data, audio, video, or any other information or signals, transmitted by any medium. The cities of Gulf Breeze (5.82%), Marco Island (2.80%), and Palm Shores (5.82%) have updated their Communications Services Tax rates as indicated, effective January 1, […]

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Posted December 5, 2019 by Alex Samuel
Florida Reduces Sales Tax for Rentals of Real Property

Florida recently enacted legislation which will reduce the sales tax on rentals of real property from 5.7% to 5.5% effective January 1, 2020. Examples of real property rentals subject to this tax include commercial office or retail space, warehouses, and self-storage units or mini-warehouses. The local option discretionary sales surtax imposed by the county where […]

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Posted December 5, 2019 by Matthew Gonnella
Wisconsin’s Baseball Stadium District Tax to End

Wisconsin recently recently passed Assembly Bill 73 which will end the 0.1% baseball stadium sales and use tax on March 31, 2020 within Wisconsin’s “Baseball Stadium District” which includes Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine, and Waukesha counties.  A copy of the bill can be found here. 

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Posted November 22, 2019 by Erik Wallin
Alaska is Next Frontier for Economic Nexus

Alaska one of the few places without a state-level sales tax. There are however many independent cities and boroughs which administer and collect their own taxes. As many states across the country seek to reap the tax dollars now available due to the Wayfair decision, the localities in Alaska felt left out in the cold. […]

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Posted November 22, 2019 by Kaitlyn Smethurst
Louisiana Remote Sellers Commission Makes Progress

As the Louisiana Remote Sellers Commission moves forward with their plan to impose sales tax collection requirements on remote sellers, they have taken a step forward by approving a proposal from a new vendor who will design and implement a tax administration system for the state to help manage remote collections. The new vendor will […]

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Posted October 16, 2019 by Katherine Mullen
To Collect or Not to Collect, That is the Question in Kansas

While the Kansas Department of Revenue announced that remote sellers would be required to collect tax on sales made into Kansas beginning on October 1, 2019, the Attorney General issued an opinion stating that the requirement was not lawfully passed and was of no effect. However, the Department maintains that the requirement is valid, leaving […]

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Posted August 14, 2019 by Matthew Gonnella
West Virginia Annual Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday Begins 2021

[August 14, 2019] West Virginia recently enacted legislation that creates an annual back to school sales tax holiday beginning in 2021. The following items will be exempt from sales tax during the holiday: Items of clothing priced $125 or less; School supply items priced $50 or less; School instructional material priced $20 or less; Laptop and […]

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Posted August 9, 2019 by Oliver Mavor-Parker
New Hampshire Enacts Remote Seller Protections

[July 31, 2019] A recently effective New Hampshire law will require states to provide written notice at least 45 days prior to taking any action to determine sales or use tax liability against a New Hampshire remote seller. After receiving notice, the New Hampshire Department of Justice will examine whether any proposed tax collection obligations violate […]

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Posted August 9, 2019 by Erik Wallin
Connecticut Lowers Economic Nexus Threshold

[June 28, 2019] On June 26, 2019, the governor of Connecticut signed HB 7424 into law, thereby decreasing Connecticut’s economic nexus threshold from $250,000 to $100,000. Effective July 1, 2019, Connecticut will require out-of-state retailers to collect and remit sales tax if they had gross receipts of at least $100,000 and made 200 or more retail […]

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Posted August 8, 2019 by Kaitlyn Smethurst
Ohio Repeals “Cookie” Nexus Standards

[August 2, 2019] Among the many changes found in the recently passed Ohio Budget Bill, H.B. 166, Ohio has removed the statutory provisions previously imposing physical nexus standards on sellers using “in-state software” to sell goods and services to consumers inside Ohio. This former nexus standard is commonly referred to as “cookie” nexus. Specifically, under Ohio’s […]

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Posted August 5, 2019 by Erik Wallin
Massachusetts Removes Meals from Sales Tax Holiday

[August 1, 2019] As we approach this year’s Sales Tax Holiday in Massachusetts, a debate has ensued as to whether prepared meals could be purchased tax fee during the weekend of August 17 and 18. The statute establishing the annual Holiday in the “Grand Bargain” legislation of 2018, did not explicitly state that meals were […]

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Posted August 1, 2019 by Erik Wallin
Massachusetts Budget Includes Economic Nexus and Marketplace Liability Rules

[July 31, 2019] Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker recently signed the 2020 Fiscal Year Budget which includes statutory language establishing a new economic nexus rule effective October 1, 2019. This new law replaces their existing “cookie nexus” standard with requirements emblematic of the national trend subsequent to the Wayfair Supreme Court decision. Under the old rules, a […]

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Posted July 31, 2019 by Matthew Gonnella
North Carolina Passes Bill Expanding Sales Tax on Digital Goods

[July 30, 2019] North Carolina has approved a bill that expands sales tax on digital property by eliminating the requirement that an item have a taxable, tangible corollary in order to be taxable.  The bill, which goes into effect October 1, 2019, defines “certain digital property” as audio works, audiovisual works, books, magazines, newspapers, newsletters, reports, […]

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Posted July 25, 2019 by Kaitlyn Smethurst
Ohio Department of Taxation Clarifies Effective Dates for Marketplace Legislation

[July 24, 2019] On July 23, 2019, the Ohio Department of Taxation released a tax alert clarifying and detailing the sales tax and nexus implications for marketplace facilitators, based on the recent passing of Ohio H.B. 166.  As previously reported by Sovos, H.B. 166 obligates marketplace facilitators to collect and remit Ohio sales taxes on behalf of […]

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Posted July 22, 2019 by Kaitlyn Smethurst
Ohio Legislature Passes Marketplace Legislation

[July 18, 2019] On July 17, 2019, the Ohio legislature passed House Bill 166, which among other provisions, enacts a requirement for marketplace facilitators to collect and remit sales and use tax on behalf of all sellers who use the marketplace when certain conditions are met.  Under House Bill 166, marketplace facilitators are required to collect […]

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Posted July 22, 2019 by Katherine Mullen
Economic Nexus Comes to Kansas After All

[July 19, 2019] Non-Kansans, it is time to collect in the Sunflower State! Earlier this year, it looked as if Kansas was going to buck the national trend of establishing economic nexus for remote sellers when the Governor vetoed House Bill 2033, which outlined when a remote seller would be deemed to have established nexus […]

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