Monday, January 30, 2012

Great Article: The Biggest State Tax Story of 2011: Internet Sales Taxes

Gritty Underbelly 2from Sylvia Dion at The State and Local Tax "Buzz"

In 2011, more informed articles, misguided editorials, and downright scary blog posts were written about the ratcheting up of the nexus wars than any other sales and use tax topic.  The states are looking for every scrap of sales tax revenue they can find, and they have online retailers in their sites. Sylvia provides a handy summary of what happened, and what Congress is doing about it.  Enjoy.



This link is part of a series called "Excellent articles that I wish I had written."  The short name is "Great Articles." 

And this is an article that I'm more than happy to see Sylvia write rather than me!

The Sales Tax Guy
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Don't forget our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/
Picture note: the image above is hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo. 

Friday, January 27, 2012

Great Article: State and Local Tax Due Diligence: Don't Restructure Without It!

Dirksen Federal Buildingfrom Brian Strahle and leveragestateandlocaltax.com

Be careful when you sell, buy or restructure your business.  Sales and use tax issues may be hiding.  Enjoy the article.



This link is part of a series called "Excellent articles that I wish I had written."  The short name is "Great Articles." 


The Sales Tax Guy
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Don't forget our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/
Picture note: the image above is hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo. 

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Great Articles: THE List of Sales Tax Exemption Certificate Expiration Periods?

 by Silvia Aguirre at salestaxsupport.com

There are all kinds of expiration dates for exemption certificates. And there is no one source to find them. There are, as I like to say, nooks and crannies that need to be explored. And you should never trust tables of information. Sylvia gives even more examples. Enjoy.




This link is part of a series called "Excellent articles that I wish I had written."  The short name is "Great Articles." 

The Sales Tax Guy
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Don't forget our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/

Monday, January 23, 2012

One way of treating your auditors

The Last Boss


Years ago, I was the controller of a company with a very cooperative owner.    "Chet" had a pretty luxurious office with TV, video games, bar, lots of space including a private gym, and his own shower and bathroom.  He had also hired a very competent secretary by the name of Jane (and in those days, they were actually called "secretaries").  Truth be told, Jane pretty much ran the company.  Chet just went along for the ride.

By the way, the picture is not of Chet, but I thought this article could use a mildly relevant illustration.

Whenever we got word that the sales tax auditor (or any other enemy auditor) was coming, we'd tell Chet he had to go on the road for a couple of weeks.  His response was, "Got auditors coming, eh?  Great!  I've got to get out of here anyway.  Jane!  What customers should I go visit?"

So we would put the auditors in Chet's office and told them they'd have it for three weeks - until Chet returned.  And Jane continued in her role as secretary, but now she was the mother hen for the auditors instead of Chet.  And she did even more for them than she did for Chet.  She NEVER got Chet coffee, but she'd bring the auditors coffee, pop, snacks, make copies for them, etc.  She'd even order lunch in for them.  And she kept the door to their office closed so they'd have "privacy."  She would also "sssshhhhh" any conversations among the other executives that might be occurring outside of Chet's door so the auditors didn't hear anything embarrassing. If the auditors needed to go anywhere in the company she would escort them.  The auditors were isolated pretty effectively from the staff of the company.  Jane enjoyed her job as the auditor's "guard."

And the auditors lived in the lap of luxury for three weeks.  But ONLY three weeks.  They knew that, when Chet returned, they would be relocated to the dimly lit room in the sub-basement behind the furnace where we used to keep the asbestos.  They were motivated, in other words, to wrap it up.  

Just kidding...about the asbestos part.

We never knew exactly what they did for those three weeks, but they usually missed really important things that we worried about them catching.  One IRS auditor completely blew the LIFO inventory adjustment, for example.

If you don't know what that is, rest assured it was a big "estimate" on our part.  It's the kind of thing you REALLY don't want the auditors to ask questions about.

Every day, those auditors seemed to go home well rested. And that was important because we cared about the health of state and federal employees.

Whenever we put the auditors in Chet's office, we always had very fair, reasonable assessments.  And we never found the need to appeal.  Amazing.


This article was inspired by revisiting this one.  I've often talked about this story in seminars, but never wrote it up.  And touching up the old post convinced me to do this entry.



The Sales Tax Guy
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

See the disclaimer - this is for education only.  Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.  Remember: there are details that haven't been discussed, and every state is different.  Here's more information

Get these articles in your inbox - subscribe at http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Don't forget our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/
Picture note: any images above are hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo. 

Friday, January 20, 2012

Great Articles: Two on Groupon and Living Social, etc.

For whatever reason, I've had two good (and technical) articles circling for too long in my bookmarks.  They're both on Groupon, Living Social and other similar services.

Yes, there are rather interesting sales and use tax issues associated with these type of offers. And I don't want to write about these topics.  I mean I REALLY don't want to write about them.  So I'll refer you to two excellent treatments.  I have written a couple of articles on generic coupons, which were hard enough.

The first is from Sylvia Dion on allbusiness.com

And the other is from Rusty Little on http://dowlohnesprice

Personally, I don't use these offers. My life is complicated enough as it is.


This link is part of a series called "Excellent articles that I wish I had written."  The short name is "Great Articles."

The Sales Tax Guy
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Don't forget our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/


Thursday, January 19, 2012

Movie Production Equipment

One the Movie Set

There have been a few articles written about this issue, mostly along the lines that it's a stupid exemption and that states should repeal it.  I don't disagree.  I have the sense that politicians like to grant these exemptions because they get to rub shoulders with Hollywood types, and they like to brag about how they got the latest Transformer movie made in their state.  But according to what I've read, the economic and long-term job impact of movies doesn't seem to justify the giveaways that states offer.

I recently saw one state talk about $20,000,000 in credits given in one year.  But they could only point to about 1000 long term jobs created, and they weren't even full-time jobs.  That's $20,000 per job.  I'm not sure that money couldn't have been better spent.  But hey, what do I know?

States offer a couple of different types of movie exemptions for production materials and equipment:

1. The purchases are exempt from tax at the time of purchase and the producers present exemption certificates, etc. to the seller

2. The producers pay the sales and use tax and then get a refund, rebate or credit

3. There aren't any sales and use tax exemptions, but there income, franchise or occupation tax credits.  Some states even offer grants.

For many states, these exemptions are conditional on the amount spent in the state or the money available to the state to fund the exemption.

As of this date (January 19, 2012) these states have some sort of sales and use tax exemption (item 1 or 2).  If their special treatment is in the form of item 3, then I won't list it here.  And some cities may do special things that won't be shown here either.  Remember, this is just for education.  Check these out yourselves to get more details. 

Alabama
California
Connecticut
Florida
Georgia
Idaho
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Massachusetts
Mississippi
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
Oklahoma
South Carolina
South Dakota
Texas
Utah
Washington

Remember, these are only for sales and use tax exemptions and there are details you need to check!

So get out there and make that movie.  Tom Hanks is waiting for your call!




The Sales Tax Guy
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

See the disclaimer - this is for education only.  Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.  Remember: there are details that haven't been discussed, and every state is different.  Here's more information

Get these articles in your inbox - subscribe at http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Don't forget our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/
Picture note: any images above are hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo. 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Oldie But Goodie: Use Local Experts

This is an old article that I've touched up and present to you now about using local sales and use tax experts.
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com/2005/05/using-local-experts.html

The Sales Tax Guy

http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Great Article: 12 Sales Tax Tips for Small Businesses

Colony Store

from Avalara

They've been posting these tips over the last few days and I have been enjoying the pace.  Finally they have them all posted and I strongly recommend you all read them.  They're short, readable, and range from exemption certificates to nexus.  They give examples and they're all valid and important tips.   Enjoy.



This link is part of a series called "Excellent articles that I wish I had written."  The short name is "Great Articles." 

The Sales Tax Guy
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Don't forget our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/
Picture note: the image above is hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo. 

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

A Short Course in Sales and Use Taxes for Artists (Part 2)

Well, you don't see this everyday

This is Part 2 of a "short course" on sales and use taxes for artists.   Read the first article in the series for foundational information, more on how this series came to be, and a list of articles (at the bottom).  Consider it a prequisite to this article.

Services that you sell (and buy)

In Part 1, the discussion covered the works of art that you sell (hint: they're taxable).

In this part, we'll talk about the services you may sell and buy.  And yes, they're sometimes taxable.

Models
If the model is working independently, it's very rare that this service would be taxable (but never say never).   However, if you've hired him or her through an agency, there are a couple of states where the fee is, to some extent taxable.  And that includes any worker hired through a help supply service.

Make-up artists
Their services are even more taxable than models.  Several states tax personal services including make-up. No agency needs to be involved for their services to be taxable.  

Digital transfer
If you deliver your work to someone digitally, you might think there's no tax.  Well...  In the last few years, more and more states have started passing laws and regulations essentially declaring that digital downloads are taxable.  And they usually include in the definition photographs, art, music, movies, books, photographs, etc.  Essentially, if it was taxable before, and the only thing that's changed is the method of delivery, it's still taxable.  Note, this hasn't happened yet in the majority of states.  But it's coming.  Let's face it.  The states were counting on the sales tax on all those CD and DVD sales, but that's going away.  I blame iTunes and Netflix.

Commissioned work
This is usually taxable.  Even though it's custom and commissioned, you are selling "stuff" and therefore it's taxable.  There are a couple of interesting exceptions.  One state says that commissioned work that has no value to anyone else is not taxable when sold by the artist to the person who commissioned the work.  And another state has an exemption for artists producing work at parties as long as the person giving the party hired them, not the individuals in the portraits.  But if you're on the street doing cartoons for hire, you better be charging tax.

Restoration and repair
This is a big one.  This type of labor is taxable in about half the states.  So if you've been hired to repair, restore, or clean an item, there's a good chance you're performing a taxable service.

Doing work on the customer's property
This is even bigger.  This type of work could range from pin-striping a car, to silk-screening, to engraving.  Even though you haven't technically transferred any property to the customer, you have sold them a service which has improved their property and made it more valuable.  This is usually taxable (and often called a fabrication service).

Admissions
If you charge an admission to a performance or display of your art, you may need to give the state some of that money.  In many states, admission charges are a taxable service.  And occasionally, the state doesn't impose a tax on admissions, but the local county or city will.  Thankfully, there are frequently exemptions for registered (with the state) non-profit organizations.

Finally, remember that the rules are completely different in every state.

Part 1 - Introduction and overview
Part 2 - Services that you sell and buy




The Sales Tax Guy
http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

See the disclaimer - this is for education only.  Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.  Remember: there are details that haven't been discussed, and every state is different.  Here's more information

Get these articles in your inbox - subscribe at http://salestaxguy.blogspot.com

Don't forget our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/
Picture note: the image above is hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo.