The Issues Involving Food Taxability - it isn't THAT Weird

There is a lot written about the taxability of food. Most of it involves some "weird" rules with bloggers throwing up their hands in disbelief at how bizarre the world has become.

While I bow to no one in my belief that sales tax rules are frequently stupid and often corrupt, it's worth noting that some of the laws make sense, even if convoluted, when you consider what they're intended to accomplish.

Depending on the state, food is frequently an exception - either not taxable or taxed at a lower rate. However, our elected officials want to make sure that there are certain foods that are NOT treated in this special way. Because we just can't possibly let someone have a Coke or a Milky Way tax-free. Our beloved politicians know better than the poor huddled masses. Although why they are OK with letting us eat potato chips and ice cream is beyond me.

These "weird" rules involve two objectives:

1. The politicians have to figure out a way of differentiating nontaxable food from food that they have decided is bad for us and is therefore taxable. The most common items that are taxed differently are candy and pop (or soda). That means intricate rules to differentiate candy from cookies, and similar gyrations to separate juice from orange drink.

Frankly, I'm not sure why cookies should get a pass. They're just as bad for you as a nice Peanut Butter Cup. And Hostess products? C'mon. What's the difference between a delicious Snowball and a Baby Ruth, other than some flour?

Here's the Sales Tax Guy solution. If it's sweet, it's taxable. Period. People drink too much orange juice anyway - bad for your teeth.

2. Possibly even more complicated is differentiating restaurants, whose sales are universally taxable (sometimes even at a higher rate), from places that also sell groceries. This would include delis, bakeries, etc. who function as grocery stores, but also as restaurants. For example, there are rules that say that if someone is sold six donuts, it's not taxable. But if you buy just two, then you're obviously going to stuff your face with them right away. And our betters want to make sure you pay sales tax on them.

And the Sales Tax Guy solution? If they walk out the door with it, and it's not sweet, it's not taxable. Done. Bakeries may complain, but do you think I'm going to let a little thing like sales tax stand between me and my chocolate eclair? Really?

Ohio comes to close to this rule. If food is sold to be eaten off the premises, then it's not taxable. Simple. They complicate things with beverages, but it's still much simpler than any other state. More about Ohio here.

There's a final rule that a few states have. This one is to make sure those nasty, icky businesses, who can't vote, don't get to take advantage of non-taxable food. In those states, they add "for home consumption only" to the criteria for exempt food. Or they'll do something else to insure that only individuals and families (voters) get to buy their food free from tax.

One solution to the whole problem is to make all food taxable. That REALLY simplifies things. But then you'd have people complaining that it just makes sales tax even more regressive. But that's a topic for my next post.

Or go with the Ohio method. Of course, that would mean the state would lose a lot of tax revenue - and we can't have that. But it would sure be less regressive - and really easy. And I'm thinking the voters would like it. Are you listening, politicians?

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

See the disclaimer on the right.

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Adventures in Sales Tax: Spas

If you follow my Twitter feed, you may have noticed that I have a weird interest in tweeting about sales tax violations that result in felony charges.  The vision of someone doing the "perp walk" because of sales tax is a strangely intriguing one to me.  These situations usually occur because a small business has collected sales tax and failed to remit it to the state.  The business has charged the customer tax, but not remitted it.  That's defrauding the customer.  That's a pretty clear and "perp-walkable" crime to me.  And they failed to pay the money to the state, which really ticks off the revenuers.

Today I came across this article about a couple of massage parlors getting busted in Columbus, Indiana.  There were the obvious charges that you would associated with such a business.  But there were over $350,000 in sales tax assessments!

I tweeted the article, but then thought about it.  Some states impose a tax on massage services.  Not many, but some do.  I knew that Indiana didn't impose such a tax (they don't generally tax services).  What could the assessment be for?  Yeah, they might sell a bottle of oil once in a while, but not enough to get to that kind of liability.  And if these places really are being used for what the criminal complaint describes, who buys oil?

So I opened up my trusty sales tax database.  I confirmed that there was no tax on massage services.  Then I searched Indiana for "spa."  Nothing.  Then I searched for "massage."  Bingo! 

Under Ind. Code § 6-2.5-4-4 (which is the section of lodging, accommodations and hotel rooms):

(a) A person is a retail merchant making a retail transaction when the person rents or furnishes rooms, lodgings, or other accommodations, such as booths, display spaces, banquet facilities, and cubicles or spaces used for adult relaxation, massage, modeling, dancing, or other entertainment to another person: (1) if those rooms, lodgings, or accommodations are rented or furnished for periods of less than thirty (30) days; and (2) if the rooms, lodgings, and accommodations are located in a hotel, motel, inn, tourist camp, tourist cabin, gymnasium, hall, coliseum, or other place, where rooms, lodgings, or accommodations are regularly furnished for consideration.

Those sneaky sons of guns in Indianapolis.  They nailed 'em on a section of the tax law I didn't expect...hotel rooms.  Now, nobody would ever think the business of a massage parlor is renting cubicles - it's incidental to the "service" being performed.  But if you're looking for a way to tax this kind of activity, and your state doesn't tax services, this will do quite nicely.  Everyone taxes hotels, just slide this extra "booth" clause in there.

What a great way to nail the bad guy.  Create a tax he would never have thought of and nail him with it just as the SWAT team bursts in!  (OK, I'm making that up).

So I learned something new today about Indiana.  And I'm going to be looking at those lodging statutes a little more carefully in the future.  And if you operate a massage parlor, you probably should as well.  Before those guys with the bullet-proof vests knock on your door.

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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

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Picture note: any images above are hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo. 

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Beware of sales tax seminars in state capitals.

This article may not be terribly helpful to most of you. But it’s kind of funny. And there’s a point to the story. But it’s mostly kinda sorta interesting. Oh, what do I know? Read the dang story.

A couple of years ago, I was doing a sales tax seminar in a hotel that just happened to be in the state capital. It was a small city (as many state capitals are) and the class wasn’t very big. I was sitting at the registration table waiting for the first folks to arrive. I scanned the roster and came to “Joe Smith, XXXX Department of Revenue.”

“Oh, great,” I thought. That’s just what I need - a sniper, and from the state too. All I could hope for was that the participant worked in accounting.  Revenuers have accounting departments, right?

A “sniper” in public speaking and training circles is someone in the audience who thinks they know more than the speaker, and is anxious to show off their dazzling brilliance. I’ve found pepper spray is helpful.

As it happened, Joe was the first one to arrive. I asked him, as he was signing in, what he did at the Department of Revenue. “I’m the director of the sales tax audit division.”

Oh, great. This was shaping up to be a bad day.

I wanted to chat, but other folks started arriving and he wandered off to take a seat in the front row. In the front row! This day was looking even worse.

I decided I needed to make sure the rest of the group knew he was in the room. I didn’t want someone blurting out, “Yeah, I need some sales tax advice. I’m the accountant for Arnold’s Pizza Place, over on 31st and Hillside. In fact, my boss gave me a bunch of coupons for everyone in the class. Our address and a map are right on the coupon.  Here, pass them around. Make sure everyone gets one. Don’t forget that guy in the front row. Anyway, we’ve been collecting sales tax for years but never paid it to the state. Is that a big problem?”

And yes, I’ve had that question in my seminars. Really.

I didn’t really feel comfortable just starting the seminar saying, “Attention everyone, this is Joe.  He runs the audit division for the state.  You might want to shut up.  Just saying.”   Instead I did something I never do, “OK, it’s a small group, let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves.” 

I know, you hate it when we do that, don’t you?

The last person to introduce himself was Joe.   After doing so, I noticed that everyone else had the look people must have when they get to the top of the first drop on the roller coaster.  Joe then said, “Now I’m not here to collect names for our auditors.  You folks have nothing to worry about.  We got the seminar brochure in the mail, so we thought we'd see what Jim here was saying.”

Oh, yeah.  This was shaping up to be the worst day of my life.  I also made a mental note to tell the marketing department to, in the future, not send brochures on tax topics to any state agencies.

Joe’s statement that he wasn’t looking for people to audit apparently wasn’t believed.  This turned into the most boring seminar I ever taught.  For six hours, there were NO QUESTIONS.  The audience, other than Joe, simply stared at me in absolute terror.  There was an AUDITOR in the room!

Nobody would talk to me, even at the breaks.  The only person that didn’t clamp their hand over their mouth and run from the room was Joe.  So I picked his brain and got a lot of good insights into revenue department strategies, etc.  So there was that silver lining - for me.

Here’s the relevant point for you folks.  And I’m serious.  Reconsider before going to a seminar on sales tax, or any tax or regulatory topic, in a state capital.  There’s a good chance that there will be an auditor in the room.  And you will not get the dynamic, interactive seminar that you paid for. I've done seminars in several state capitals over the years, and had experiences similar to what I've described in many of them.  I ain't lying here.  And the above is a true story!

Oh, in case you’re wondering, Joe said I got everything right and was pretty good  Yes!  

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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.
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Picture note: any images above are hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo.  And the picture isn't from this seminar.

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One way of treating your auditors

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.

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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.

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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.
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Picture note: any images above are hosted on Flickr. If you'd like to see more, click on the photo. 

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Restaurant Container Exemptions (or the Sales Tax Guy talks McRibs)

It's time to talk about containers again, for several reasons.  First, this article gave me an excuse to take the above picture.  Second, I therefore had a reason to visit McDonald's for a McRib.  Third, how often do you get to write off a McRib as a business expense?

Most importantly, in my previous articles about containers, I didn't really talk about restaurants.  But lately, I've started using McDonald's in the container section of my Taxing Policy webinars, so I thought it was time for a picture to illustrate the PowerPoint presentation.  And, well, I haven't written an article in a while.

Most states have container exemptions.  These allow the vendor to be able to purchase containers tax free if the containers will be sold, with the product, to the customer. Basically it's an extension of the resale exemption.  The seller is essentially buying the containers for resale.  Even though they're not billing the customer separately, they are billing them for the containers as part of the cost of the actual merchandise sold.  In other words, Target didn't have to pay tax on the bag.  Just like the socks inside the bag, they bought the bag for "resale."

So let's take the top picture apart and talk about each item.

1.  The bag for the delicious fries, cup (and lid) for my iced tea, the box for the holiday pie, and the clam-shell for the wondrous McRib are all clearly containers.  McDonald's doesn't expect them back from you.  You bought them with the food.  Therefore, they are containers that generally qualify for the exemption.

2.  What about the napkins and straw?  In most states, disposable items like these that are available for the customer to take, are also exempt.  They obviously aren't containers, but they are clearly part of the selling price of the food and, once you've taken a straw, the restaurant would really prefer you not put it back.  This kind of "free for the taking" rule is only for restaurants.

3.  What about the brown tray?  Did you buy it with the food?  Can you take it with you?  No.  They didn't sell you the tray with the food.  That tray was purchased by McDonald's to use over and over again (after they've cleaned it, of course).  Unlike the above items, it was not sold to you with your food.  It is a "returnable container."  Therefore the restaurant paid sales tax for the tray.

4.  Finally, what about the "place mat" on the tray?  That's a stumper and I can see it going both ways.  It is certainly something that has value to the customer providing a clean place for your fries to spill out of the bag.  But it's also usually a marketing piece for the restaurant.  I personally would take the position that it meets the test for a disposable item and therefore is not taxable.  But the auditor might argue that one.

So there you go.  Containers for restaurants. Remember, every state is different.  Some states have broader rules, some are stricter.  Do your research and don't take my word for it.  See the disclaimer.  And it's almost lunch time as I write this.  Hmmm.  Wonder if they still have McRibs at my McDonald's?

Merry Christmas and/or Seasons Greetings.  May all your holidays be glad and let there be McRibs available at your McDonald's. 

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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. 

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Dealing with the Home Office

A recent webinar participant had a couple of complicated questions, so we made a phone-date to chat when I knew I would be spending an hour or so in a Chicago rush hour.  So, while I was in the warm embrace of traffic, we talked sales tax. 

Warning, the language gets a tiny bit crude a little later.  Just letting you know in case you have delicate sensibilities.

A problem she was having that ran through all of her questions was the problem of dealing with her corporate office.  She was kind of the chief-cook-and-bottle-washer in the office at a branch location of a much larger (though not gigantic) company.  She had grown so frustrated at the inconsistent guidance she was getting that she decided to sign up for all four of our webinars.  Yay for her!

The conversation eventually evolved to talking about what she could do to solve the problem with corporate.  Before I tell you the answer I gave her, let me put a different disclaimer than usual here: there's a reason I finally decided to start my own company.

I have spent years in the corporate world and years presenting seminars on regulatory issues (like sales and use taxes).  I have heard this complaint more than a few times. I gave her this precious bit of wisdom:

"These problems are above your paygrade."

Folks, I want you all to learn about sales and use taxes.  I want you to care about sales and use taxes.  I want you to care about your company.  And your company should want these things too.  But if, once you've learned, they refuse to listen to you, then relax.  This problem has now sailed WAY above your paygrade (but you can still be smug knowing you're better informed about sales and use taxes than they are).

See, if you're at the right paygrade, then when you complain, people will listen to you.  And they may change things.  They may do it grudgingly, but they'll at least pay attention and give you explanations.  But if they won't do that; if they pretty much ignore your concerns, or respond in a blow-you-off kind of way, than the issue is above your paygrade.  Simple.  They've just told you in their own special way.

But that doesn't make you feel that much better, does it?  Because when it all blows up, you're still gonna get in trouble, right?

Email is a wonderful thing because it solves a problem that I had back in the day.  Back then, pre-email, we had to write "cover your ass" memos whenever we felt that an issue we had raised had been ignored.  So we wrote something like, "in regards to the meeting we had today on the Johnson Project, I just want to confirm that you said that I should just forget about it."  And our bosses would immediately spot that as a CYA memo.  This was not a career enhancing move, but was usually the only thing we could do that would get us off the hook when the proverbial poop hit the fan. 

Today, you kids have email.  So you probably haven't even HAD a meeting.  You've been exchanging emails with your boss that document the entire Johnson Project conversation.  So when someone starts chucking poop, you've got cover.

So make sure you raise the issues via email, then go home at 5 and watch The Simpsons.  Relax.  Then go back to work in the morning, ready to face the bright new day, with a song in your heart, and ready to deal with some fascinating new sales tax issue. 

And if you're corporate, listen!  Those people may actually know more about it than YOU do.  And if they won't listen to YOU, then it's obviously above your paygrade too.

You see, what it comes down to is that if they don't listen to you and respect your opinion, then you obviously don't need to worry about it anymore.

Now I know that some of you more responsible readers are going to still take ownership of the problem and want to solve it for the good of the company.  And that's admirable and I don't want to discourage this.  So please learn and try to solve the problems.  But I don't want you to get ulcers and migraines from the frustration of dealing with people that don't care as much as you do.  I have the ulcers to prove it. 

At some point in time, go home and watch the Simpsons.  

As I said, there's a reason I am out of that world. 

And just to show you how hip I am, feel free to watch Family Guy too.

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

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

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Sales Tax Poetry

Collect sales tax, you kept?
Beware the tax man, he'll catch you.
Orange suits will look nice.

Now, you're all supposed to snap your fingers and say, "Cool, man. Cool."

This was published for fun in the latest issue of e-AP News Trust me, there are no anthologies coming.

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

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

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Your taxes at work or why you shouldn't assume the auditor knows what they're talking about.

I was doing a seminar in the Capital of East Dakota a few years ago.

When I walked into the meeting room a couple of hours before the event, I was surprised by the number of participants that were on the roster. Usually, in a city the size of Snagglepuss (the capital of East Dakota, as if you didn't know), I would have expected about 20 to 30 people. But the list showed almost 80 folks. This was pretty close to a record for me. I've only seen crowds of that size in Manhattan. And this wasn't Manhattan. Not even close.

I took a look at the roster again to see if I could find any reason for the big numbers and immediately spotted the cause. Almost 50 people were from one organization...the East Dakota Department of Revenue.

I groaned. It's never a good thing when someone from the tax department is at one of my seminars. It's not that they interfere. In fact, they are usually complimentary about the program. What drives me nuts is that everyone else in the seminar shuts up. There's virtually no interactivity, no questions, no comments...nothing! After all, who is going to ask a question about their sales tax issues when there's an auditor sitting in the front row? And the auditor isn't going to ask any questions - they don't want to look like they don't know about sales tax. So it turns into a really boring seminar for the audience.

In this case, I had not just one auditor, which is bad enough. I had 50 of them, far outnumbering the civilians in the room. It did not promise to be a good day.

And it didn't inspire confidence in the East Dakota Department of Revenue either. As a seminar presenter, you can tell if your audience is getting the material you're presenting. You see smiles of comprehension, knowing nods, and people ask questions to clarify points as opposed to "Can you explain use tax again?" In this class, I was looking out on close to 50 people who were clearly lost. There were a lot of dull stares coming from the auditor part of audience. Their lack of understanding was confirmed by the questions they were asking at the breaks. I felt like saying, "Wait a minute, you guys are sales tax auditors?"

You may be wondering how the civilian part of the audience was doing. I saw nothing but pure terror on their faces. And they kept making sidelong glances at the auditors that were sitting among them.  Also interesting was how many of them had taken off their name badges.

During one of the breaks, I was chatting with one of the few auditors who I could see was getting the material and asking smart questions. I asked him, "Why are you guys here?"

He said, "Oh, this is our in-service training for the year."

I said, incredulously, "For the year???"

"Yep.  There's not a big training budget"

"Who's minding the store?"

He said that this was only about one third of the audit staff.

Now think about this...

The price of this class was $200 per person. Even if they got a deal from the seminar company I was working for, they probably still paid $7000 or $8000 for those 50 people.  And they were only a third of the staff.

For that same price, they could have had someone do a custom seminar for their entire audit staff, not just one third of them. Instead they got a seminar not designed for them, but for businesses and taxpayers.  And this one day general seminar was their only training for the entire year!!!

So there are two take-aways from this:

1. The auditors in your state may not be getting the training they need, so you should not assume they're always right.

2. The training department for your department of revenue may not be spending your money wisely.

Please keep in mind there are are lots of good, knowledgeable, and competent sales tax auditors out there. I have met quite a few. If you get one of these folks, your audit will be professionally conducted by a sharp representative of the state.

But there are a lot of dolts out there too. Particularly in East Dakota.  I mean, they named their capital Snagglepuss!

By the way, other than the made up geographical names (which I'm having fun with), this is an absolutely true story.

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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 we haven't 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. 

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Sales Taxes and the Amish

There have been some stories this week about some problems that Amish are having with a new rule in New York requiring EVERYONE to file electronically. This means the Amish too. This is a pretty thorough article. While it makes for a good story, I'm not sure it's that big of a deal.

I've always found the Amish culture interesting and have read about it over the years. And I've even done sales tax seminars for them. One thing to keep in mind is that Amish rules are very intricate and convoluted. It's not so much that they have a problem with electricity, but that they have a problem being connected to utility lines, which connects them to the outside world, which weakens their community. For Amish, preserving their community is paramount. And admirable.

So they don't have phones or utility-provided electricity. But you'll often see public telephones near their communities. And they may use battery or generator powered electric devices in their shops and on their farms. But it's all highly variable. They make these decisions locally and some groups are stricter than others.

I have a friend whose company has more than a few Amish customers. There's usually a problem because they can't use the internet, web or email, have trouble faxing in orders, and the mail is too slow. They can't take digital pictures of damaged goods and email them for the obvious reasons. She can't call them back when they leave a message because, well, they were standing at a pay phone. But she tells me that they are almost invariably the nicest customers to deal with.

So what has this to do with electronically filing sales tax? They can't. Period. Electronic filing requires a computer, internet connection, email and the web. They don't do any of those things. So what's the solution?

As the article I mentioned above shows, after some prodding of a typically unresponsive and resistant government bureaucracy, they were told that they can still file their returns by mail. And here's the other thing. Most Amish have accountants. THEY can do all the things necessary to file electronically.

Electronic filing is a good thing. It helps avoid errors, and allows the government to cut some staff that were doing data entry. Making the "G" more efficient is highly desirable, if unlikely. Plus, in this instance, the rule gives more business to local accounting firms. Which is a wonderful thing.

So don't worry about the Amish (I'm guessing you weren't). I'll be honest, the real reason I wrote this was to use that nice picture I took in southeastern Pennsylvania. And to dazzle you with my knowledge of things that have no relationship to sales taxes.

Have a glorious day. I don't know about where you are, but here in the western suburbs of Chicago, it's a beautiful day. Why are you reading this blog? Go outside and play! Go on, git!

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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 we haven't 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.

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New Cover Art for the Latest Sales Tax Guy Album!

A friend of mine gave me the moniker Jim "I got the sales tax blues" Frazier.  He's now shot two "album covers."  Here are his comments about this picture on Flickr (and you can click on the picture to see it and more of his photos).

You heard it hear first folks.

We have once again gotten the scoop on Jim "I got the sales tax blues" Frazier's next Album.

Rumor has it that the title is "So you want to date my daughter?" and the above is some of the artwork from the album. 

Rumored tracks include "Better start running now", "From an appropriate distance", and "Make her cry, I make you cry".

Here's his previous "cover" shot



His real name is Chuck Isdale and he is very...creative ;-)  You should see his Gloria Swanson tribute. 

Full disclosure:  the gun isn't real, I don't play the guitar, and they aren't my daughters.

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