TaxConnex

MARCH 13, 2025

The sales tax landscape is constantly evolving, and businesses must adapt to keep pace. But tax laws aren't the only things changingbusinesses themselves are growing, diversifying, and seeking new ways to streamline their operations. According to our latest survey of over 100 finance professionals, 85% of businesses are at least somewhat likely to adjust how they manage sales tax in 2025, with 47% being very likely to make changes.

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TaxConnex

MARCH 6, 2025

Youd think that if you eat it, its sales tax treatment would be the same at least similar across different states and given methods of preparation of the food. Wrong. Sales tax applies to food in nothing short of a cornucopia of varying ways depending on where you buy it and whether its groceries or prepared (and, in some case, where you eat the prepared food or it youve added certain foods to it).

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Sales Tax South Dakota Mississippi 130

TaxConnex

MARCH 4, 2025

The explosion of eCommerce has created a plethora of tools, resources and middlemen to help your company sell online. Some are household-name marketplace facilitators like Amazon. Others are potentially useful valuable back-office providers, like Square. Square is a point-of-sale (POS) system for merchants, either brick-and-mortar or online, to accept card payments and streamline other business operations.

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Sales Tax online accounting Account 147

TaxConnex

FEBRUARY 13, 2025

Online businesses looking to do business on Native American tribal lands in the U.S. should know that sales tax obligations for these sovereign nations and territories resemble those obligations in other areas of the U.S. but can differ in important ways. Areas such as the Navajo Nation have tribal sovereignty; for tax purposes, this means their sales tax laws are separate from the states within which they reside.

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Sales Tax Wisconsin Oklahoma 213

TaxConnex

JANUARY 30, 2025

AI and automation are all the rage, but does it have a place in your sales tax compliance process? If so, where? For many businesses, software and automation can serve an important purpose in the compliance process. Businesses need a way to calculate the correct sales tax to charge in states where they have a sales tax obligation, and for this, automation can be a great solution.

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Sales Tax E-commerce Ohio 147

TaxConnex

JANUARY 23, 2025

A new construction project, a renovation or expansion of a property, ongoing management of a property: All these and more can come with a ton of sales tax nuances. Particularly for those construction companies with projects beyond the borders of their home state, where they may have done well with sales tax compliance for many years. For sales tax purposes, a contractor is generally an entity or person engaged in the construction, alteration or improvement of real property.

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Sales North Carolina Tax Construction 147

TaxConnex

JANUARY 21, 2025

An exemption certificate is one of the most useful tools that your online company has for sales tax. This little piece of paper is used to exempt an otherwise taxable transaction from sales tax. The overall concept is that the end user incurs sales tax and that all sales of tangible personal property are taxable unless specifically enumerated, usually in legislation.

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TaxConnex

JANUARY 16, 2025

Finding qualified tax professionals is tough across all industries for a number of reasons. Whats working for and against your company as you work to find the folks to help with your sales tax compliance? First, realize that youre not alone. Even though overall employment is expected to hover around its current 4.2% for most of this year, unemployment among accountants has historically been less than half of that.

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accounting and finance Sales Tax public accounting 147

TaxConnex

JANUARY 7, 2025

Many shoppers went online this season to find the perfect gift. Its a safe bet that few of them hit the target, which leads to returns, which leads to refunds from sellers, to which leads to the nagging question: Does sales tax get refunded along with the purchase price? The simple answer is yes. The more accurate answer, particularly when something as complex as sales tax gets involved, is: Probably, but watch the details.

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Sales Rhode Island Tax tax return 147

TaxConnex

DECEMBER 10, 2024

TaxConnex is paving the way for a new category of sales tax management services UPSOURCING. Building on our strong foundation of sales tax advisory services and managed sales and use tax filing and remittance services, we are introducing two powerful new solutions into our portfolio: Sales Tax Calculation Software: Designed to simplify the process of calculating the proper sales tax, this software integrates seamlessly with a variety of business systems and shopping carts to provide precise, re

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Sales Tax 264

TaxConnex

DECEMBER 3, 2024

There’s always something changing in the world of tax, especially sales tax. Here’s a review of some of the recent changes and updates. NOMAD news. Will “NOMAD” soon be just a NOD? The five-letter acronym stands for the states without a statewide sales tax – New Hampshire, Oregon, Montana, Alaska and Delaware – and two of those states might be leaving the group sooner than later.

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Sales Tax Montana Alaska 162

TaxConnex

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Black Friday for retail, the kickoff day for holiday shopping, started almost half-century ago with long lines outside brick-and-mortar stores and the dawn unlocking of doors (and the occasional injury of a shopper in the stampede). Then came Cyber Monday after Thanksgiving, as ecommerce – initially with such tactics as flash sales, mostly possible only online – began claiming a bigger slice of the retail sales.

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Sales Retail Tax online accounting 147

TaxConnex

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Assessing a company’s sales tax risk and exposure starts (and maybe ends) with the right questions. As we saw in a previous blog, these questions cover a range of topics and hinge on knowing many sales tax terms. Let’s look at some of the questions discussed in our recent webinar “What to Ask Your Clients to Identify & Manage Their Sales & Use Tax Risk.

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Sales South Dakota E-commerce Tax 113

TaxConnex

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

Whether you’re a consultant working with companies or you run your own company. whether you’re just looking to clean up your own operation or you’re doing homework for an M&A. sales tax risks and exposure should be an important topic. And getting to the bottom of that topic means knowing what questions to ask. Our recent webinar “What to Ask Your Clients to Identify & Manage Their Sales & Use Tax Risk” addressed many of these questions – along with what to do once you find out the an

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TaxConnex

OCTOBER 15, 2024

Income tax often seems to grab most of the headlines, but sales tax can make for a hefty crime – and punishment – too. A famous case recently examined in the TaxConnex podcast It Depends episode, “Sales Tax Crimes - Pt. 2: The Eccentric TYCO CEO’s Sales Tax Scheme,” clearly shows how you shouldn’t do the sales tax crime if you can’t do the time. Big numbers, common crime Unscrupulous vendors often collect and not remit sales tax (as in one recent case with a juice store owner in the District of

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TaxConnex

OCTOBER 8, 2024

Search engines have conditioned all of us to find what we need to know with a few clicks. But not all search engines – or state tax websites – are created equal. What it’s like typing “sales tax” into that little rectangle with the magnifying glass on each state’s website? Which states are up front from the first click with what you need and who seems to almost delight in hiding their information?

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Sales Tax Rhode Island West Virginia 113

TaxConnex

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Navigating sales tax compliance in complex organizations can be a challenge, influenced by various factors. Industries like telecommunications, hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, and technology face unique complexities when it comes to sales and use tax compliance. In this blog we discuss some of the reasons why these particular industries can be a bit more challenging than others.

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Sales Tax Hospitality Healthcare 214

TaxConnex

OCTOBER 1, 2024

Information technology companies face a special challenge in sales tax and regulatory compliance, chiefly because of what you sell and how you sell it. What do you do exactly? Sell Software as a Service (SaaS)? Provide an information service? A telecom service? Your company probably fits into at least one of these categories – or more than one, which is where sales tax obligations and regulatory compliance can get complicated.

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Technology Tax Sales 147

TaxConnex

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

The exception certificate figures big in your sales tax toolbox. But that document isn’t going to do you much good if it’s out of date. A sales tax exemption certificate means you, the seller, don’t have to collect and remit sales tax on certain products and services and to certain clients (such as schools, hospitals or churches) in a state. Your buyer produces a valid exemption certificate that you keep on file.

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TaxConnex

SEPTEMBER 24, 2024

Wouldn’t it be great if you, a seller in multiple states, could get free sales tax calculation and reporting? Sure would – and that’s long been the draw for becoming a “volunteer seller” in Streamlined Sales Tax (SST) states. Does everyone qualify? And even if you do, how do you make sure to maintain no-cost sales tax calculation and reporting services?

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Sales payroll Tax audit 203

TaxConnex

SEPTEMBER 17, 2024

Getting the right sales tax on your invoice is a pivotal step in managing your sales and use tax obligation. Sales and use tax is a tax imposed on the use or consumption of a product or service and meant to be paid by the end consumer. In certain situations (when you have sales tax nexus), it is your obligation to collect and remit it. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done.

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TaxConnex

SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

When you sell across multiple states – or even within various localities in a single state – one striking observation emerges: the consistent inconsistency of sales tax rates. Why? The federal income tax has just seven brackets to cover the whole span of what somebody can make. Why do the states with sales taxes have such a range, from the high combined state and local taxation (pushing 10%) of Louisiana, Tennessee, Arkansas and Washington to the lows of Alaska , Wyoming and Maine.

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TaxConnex

SEPTEMBER 5, 2024

Ecommerce couldn’t exist without shipping (and probably not without shipping’s partner “handling,” either), but do either incur sales tax? As is often the case in sales tax, it depends on what, how and where. If the item is taxable, for instance, generally the shipping is, too – if the shipping is taxable at all in a jurisdiction, which it or the handling – or both – may be.

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TaxConnex

AUGUST 27, 2024

Have Home Rule Jurisdictions Made the Burden of Managing Sales and Use Tax Too Much? As if managing sales and use tax obligations on a multi-state level wasn’t hard enough, some states make it even tougher with “home rule,” where jurisdictions are granted the authority to pass their own, additional tax laws. This can create deep confusion for businesses with no physical presence in a jurisdiction with these rules.

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Colorado Sales Tax Alaska 264

TaxConnex

AUGUST 22, 2024

There’s always something changing in the world of tax, especially sales tax. Here’s a review of some of the recent changes and updates. Another RDFer? The state of Washington is inching toward instituting a retail delivery fee. “Analysis reveals that a fee in Washington of 30 cents per order could generate between $45 and $112 million in revenues in 2026, growing to between $59 and $160 million by 2030,” reads a recent report by the Washington State Joint Transportation Committee.

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Sales Tennessee Illinois Tax 147

TaxConnex

AUGUST 20, 2024

At first glance, the sales and use tax requirements for a contractor seem quite simple. Contractors are typically considered the end-user/consumer of all tangible personal property purchased and used by them in conjunction with the performance of a contract to improve real property. As such, all purchases by a contractor are usually subject to sales and use tax.

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Sales Tax Construction Government 264

TaxConnex

AUGUST 15, 2024

General tax laws are strange. Maybe sales tax laws make more sense? You can be the judge of that. In Florida, you can get a tax break for displaying a cow on your property. You can get a big tax break in New Mexico if you just live to 100. Louisiana lets small private aircrafts soar tax-free, and Connecticut extends that to bigger planes. Some taxes are used to benefit specific groups.

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Sales South Dakota South Carolina Tax 264

TaxConnex

AUGUST 8, 2024

Many industries come with confusing sales tax complexities. So does agriculture, and several aspects make this industry trickier than others for sales tax. Here are points to keep in mind regarding sales tax and agriculture. Laws vary by state Sales tax changed dramatically in 2018 with the Supreme Court Wayfair decision in a case that greenlighted states mandating online retailers collect and remit sales tax on transactions in states where they had no physical presence.

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Agriculture Sales Tax South Dakota 264

TaxConnex

AUGUST 6, 2024

Certain excerpts pulled from The CommLaw’s Client Advisory found here: [link] On July 24, 2024, the en banc Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling in the Consumers’ Research v. FCC case declaring the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Universal Service Fee (USF) to be unconstitutional. The court found that the structure and application of the USF, managed by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), violates the nondelegation doctrine and the Appointments Clause of th

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Mississippi Louisiana Texas Tax 147

TaxConnex

AUGUST 1, 2024

If it seems like jurisdictions just ceaselessly add additional sales tax laws, statutes and restrictions, recent news out of three states should be refreshing. North Carolina has become the latest state to ax transaction thresholds for economic nexus. The state’s previous 200-transaction threshold was eliminated effective July 1. The state’s economic nexus threshold is now just $100,000 in sales into the state annually.

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TaxConnex

JULY 30, 2024

Sales tax isn’t simple. Here’s a step-by-step overview of various complications of sales tax compliance – and how to handle them. Nexus Historically this connection between a company and a tax jurisdiction has been primarily physical , meaning that a company had an office, employees, trade show exhibits, inventory, contractors and so on in a state. Then came 2018’s South Dakota vs.

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South Dakota Alaska New Hampshire Montana 264

TaxConnex

JULY 23, 2024

The nature of sales tax audits has changed over the last several years, post-Wayfair. Prior to Wayfair, a significant component of sales tax audits was focused on use tax. Specifically, tax due on purchases that were not charged since the vendor did not have nexus in the state of the sale. Today, more and more companies have an obligation to charge sales tax, and use tax is less of an issue.

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audit auditor Sales Tax 264

TaxConnex

JULY 16, 2024

Knowing when and where you have sales tax obligations is a key part of compliance. And understanding your taxability – especially if you don’t sell just tangible personal property (TPP) – is key to getting the right sales tax rates on transactions. Tax mapping helps you determine how items are taxed in a jurisdiction. Anything not tagged to a tax code in mapping is taxed as TTP, which may not be the best or correct sales tax rate.

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TaxConnex

JULY 18, 2024

Maintaining compliance documentation is crucial for businesses to ensure smooth and successful audits. Proper documentation allows auditors to interpret and verify your financial transactions accurately. Unfortunately, many businesses find themselves unprepared when faced with an audit, lacking the necessary documentation. This can lead to auditors assuming transactions are taxable, or making historical projections or arbitrary assessments of taxable sales.

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audit Sales Tax tax return 264

TaxConnex

JULY 9, 2024

Sales tax compliance has many moving parts, not just in the filing but in everything that goes into making sure you stay on the legal side of the jurisdictions where you have sales tax nexus. Just remember, a lot can go wrong along the way. 1. Billing systems You charge the customers sales tax for online purchases, they pay and you remit the money to the tax jurisdictions.

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Sales Tax Colorado tax return 264

TaxConnex

JUNE 27, 2024

There’s always something changing in the world of tax, especially sales tax. Here’s a review of some of the recent changes and updates. ‘Fun’ with refunds. Two Penn State University students are using artificial intelligence to automate sales tax refunds for businesses, news reports said. The students designed a process with AI to remove the need of manually searching to find overpayment discrepancies.

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Sales Tax Tennessee Colorado 147

TaxConnex

JUNE 18, 2024

Six years ago this Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, narrowly, to complicate life for online sellers. In the landmark 2018 case South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. et al, the Court determined that an out-of-state seller could establish “nexus” through just economic activity. (Nexus is an economic presence that triggers the obligation to collect and remit tax or at least communicate with appropriate states.

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