Regulatory Analysis
The Cook County (Illinois) Board of Commissioners voted to repeal the recently enacted sweetened beverage tax. The tax will remain effective until December 1, 2017 after which retailers will no longer be required to collect the tax. The sweetened beverage tax consisted of a $0.01 tax on each ounce of sweetened beverage sold at retail […]
The Puerto Rico Hacienda modified an announcement initially made via their Facebook page several days ago that substantially limits the suspension of their requirement to make bi-monthly pre-payments of sales tax. Specifically, Hacienda issued Administrative Determination 17-15 on October 2. The Determination indeed suspends the bi-weekly pre-payment of sales tax, but only for medium and […]
While official guidance remains difficult to obtain, news from Puerto Rico indicates that the Governor has issued an Executive Order establishing that all donations sent to the island can clear customs free of use tax and any other local tax. According to the information provided by the Secretary of the Treasury, for the exemption to […]
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue released the finalized version of 830 CMR 64H.1.7 on September 22, 2017. The finalized regulation contains much the same (but not identical) language as the proposed regulation which in-turn borrowed heavily from the previously rescinded Directive 17.1. Throughout these machinations, the purpose has always remained the same – utilizing existing […]
On the heels of enacting Regulation 830 CMR 64H.1.7, which details how e-commerce sellers may have a sales tax collection and remittance obligation in Massachusetts, a Massachusetts judge has ordered Amazon.com to disclose the identity of all third-party sellers who utilize the Amazon marketplace and had their inventory stored in the Amazon warehouse facility in […]
The Treasury Department of Puerto Rico (Hacienda) has suspended the requirement to remit the regularly scheduled pre-payments of sales tax due for transactions taking place during August 2017. As has been the case recently, the announcement was made via the Hacienda Facebook Page. Details are scant aside from a notation indicating that the suspension will […]
As posted to the Twitter Feed for the Treasury Department of Puerto Rico (Hacienda), the sales tax exemption for prepared food has been extended until October 8. The information released on Twitter does not make any reference to a regulation or ordinance, likely due to limited infrastructure and capabilities currently available in Puerto Rico in […]
News from Puerto Rico seems to indicate that as result of the devastation created by Hurricane Maria, the Treasury Department of the island (Hacienda) has issued a four-day sales tax holiday for prepared food. This sales tax holiday is would be starting Thursday September 21, and would end Sunday, September 24 2017. This information has not […]
The Australian Treasury has recently introduced the Treasury Laws Amendment (2017 Measures No. 6) Bill 2017, which alters the GST treatment of digital currency. In an effort to promote more international commerce business in Australia, the proposed bill removes the GST obligations from digital currency effectively putting such currency on even footing with any other physical currency in circulation. More […]
On September 18, 2017, the Governor of Puerto Rico declared again a commonwealth-wide state of emergency related Hurricane Maria, which is on track to impact the island. Under existing law, should this “state of emergency” turn into a “disaster declaration” the Puerto Rico Department of Revenue retains the authority to temporarily suspend state and local sales […]
The Treasury Department of Puerto Rico issued Circular Letter 17-18 announcing another postponement of certain deadlines relating to the payment and filing of taxes – including sales tax. The postponements are intended to give businesses opportunity to recover from the possible effects of Hurricane Maria. By way of a quick summary: The deadline for the […]
Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, has enacted a one-day Sales Tax Holiday effective on October 7, 2017, in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough and the city of Ketchikan. The holiday applies to all sales and rentals of tangible personal property and services normally subject to sales tax except in the following five instances: Rentals with rental periods of […]
On September 13, the South Dakota Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision limiting the ability of the state to tax e-commerce sellers. This decision continues the prohibition against enforcing SB 106 – the South Dakota “economic nexus” law which imposes a sales tax collection and remittance duty on out-of-state sellers based solely on their […]
The Treasury Department of Puerto Rico issued Circular Letter 17-13 announcing the postponement of certain deadlines relating to the payment and filing of taxes – including sales tax. The postponements are intended to give businesses opportunity to recover from Hurricane Irma. By way of a quick summary: Sales tax, income tax and excise tax filings […]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts recently certified several Initiative Petitions filed by the Retailers Association of Massachusetts. The Association will have until December 6, 2017 to collect the requisite amount of signatures for any petition to appear on a ballot. The Initiative Petitions are as follows: Initiative Petition 17-19 – Would reduce the state sales and […]
On September 4, 2017, the Governor of Puerto Rico declared a commonwealth-wide state of emergency related Hurricane Irma. Under existing law, should this “state of emergency” turn into a “disaster declaration” the Puerto Rico Department of Revenue retains the authority to temporarily suspend state and local sales tax on certain goods and services. While no […]
For those not yet in the know, the Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) has coordinated an unprecedented voluntary disclosure/amnesty program with 24 states. Eligible sellers should give serious consideration to enrolling. More importantly they should take immediate note of the short window of opportunity. The program began on August 17 and will be closing on October […]
Following a recent trend in the United States, North Carolina has joined Indiana and Ohio in exempting currencies that may be used as investments from sales and use tax. North Carolina House Bill 434 (Ch. SL 2017-181) was signed by Governor Roy Cooper on July 25, 2017. The bill, which is retroactively effective on July […]