Friday, February 26, 2010

Editorial: Exemptions for Planes and Boats

In the furious effort to find new sources of sales and use tax dollars, states are looking to close loopholes. They're particularly in favor of those exemptions that seem to benefit the wealthy. You know, those fat cats who we need to tax and tax and..... Yeah, them. (I'm speaking ironically here)

Two obvious possessions of those evil wealthy people (again, irony) are airplanes and yachts. And amazingly, many states have sales tax exemptions for these things. Why?

Well, the obvious (and superficial) reason is that the rotten politicians (not so much irony here) gave the wealthy some nice exemptions because they're corrupt and they like rich people. But luckily, our heroic media (more irony) find out about these exemptions and stir up action.

The deeper reason for these exemptions, which is rarely noted when the media is on the hunt for ways to nail the fat cats, is that these exemptions create jobs. Planes and boats have to be built, repaired, maintained and stored someplace. And those activities create jobs, lots of jobs. If state A, which is right next to state B, has an exemption for planes and boats, as well as all of the maintenance work and parts, than state A is going to get a lot more business for their airports and marinas than state B. Yeah, the business owners will benefit. But they'll also hire people. This is a good thing.

Since airplanes and yachts are pretty expensive items, the sales taxes won't go unnoticed. If state A eliminates the exemption, those cheap fat cats will do whatever they can to avoid the sales and use taxes. They'll find some other state, that does have the exemption. And with them go those jobs.

So, by eliminating the exemption, state A's sales tax revenue will go up. But the unemployment will go up too. And since a lot of customers skedaddled, the tax revenue won't go up as much as the politicians and media had hoped.

Politicians, the media, and the voters need to understand that sometimes tax exemptions, whether they're for sales tax, income tax, property tax or whatever, often exist not just for lining the pockets of the business owners. They usually accomplish a valid objective of providing a beneficial business environment to create and maintain jobs. And, maybe even more tax revenue in the long run.

It's funny how often I'll see this typical series of sales tax stories come out of the media. The first ones will talk about how horrible all of these sales tax exemptions are. There will be demands that, in the name of fairness, the exemptions be eliminated. Then you start to see the stories of how the businesses will be affected. Then the politicians start saying things like, "well, maybe that exemption serves a purpose. We'll keep it."

It gets tiring to watch after a while. But I do it all for you, gentle readers.

As an addendum, airplanes and ships also generally qualify for exemptions when used by common carriers.



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on 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, February 25, 2010

Personal Services

Many states tax some selected services, most notably leasing and repairs of tangible personal property. But a few states tax a whole range of activities known as personal services. These are the kinds of services that an individual would purchase (hence the name personal). This also means that no customer is going to be accruing use tax if the vendor didn't do their job. So the burden for the sales tax pretty much is fully on the vendor.

If you provide one of these services, (or a service that's kind of like these, but with a different name), make sure that you know the rules for any state where you do business.

Barbers and hair stylists (or as I like to call them, follicle engineers)

Turkish bathes (who goes to these things anymore?)

Tattooing and piercing

Cosmetologists

Manicures/pedicures

Spas

Electrolysis

Weight control salons

Health clubs and gymnasiums

Saunas

Golf clubs

Tanning


Massage therapy (sometimes exempt if there's a doctor's prescription)

Escort services (get your mind out of the gutter)

Please keep in mind that most states don't tax these services. But a few do. And this list is not all-inclusive. As I've often said, if you provide services, you should make sure of their taxability in any state where you perform them.

One more thing to keep in mind. If you sell products, like shampoo, lotions, tanning oils, etc., then you better be charging sales tax on that stuff, even if your services aren't taxable.



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars.
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/


Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Amazon.com and Affiliate Programs - Updated and Refreshed

This first appeared in September of last year. This issue is currently dominating sales tax news again, mostly because of moronic politicians. So I've fluffed it up and reissued it. If you've read this before, I've added a few more politician jokes. They make it so easy.

In this past year, New York and a couple of more states* have made a very interesting play to create nexus for Amazon.com** in their states. I must give those politicians credit for creativity, but in the long run, it's not going to work. And it will hurt folks in their states as well. But politicians aren't rocket scientists, so we have to make allowances.

All of these companies** have "affiliate" programs. Individuals and small businesses put a link on their web sites so that whenever someone buys something through the link, they get a commission. Yay! Pretty simple. And a good way of generating traffic for the retailers.

But these politicians are arguing that an online store's "affiliates," who are merely living in their states, give the retailer a sufficient physical presence - or nexus. And maybe it does. But this isn't like a retailer building a warehouse or a store in the state. The retailer has no economic investment. All they have are affiliates in the state, who are basically small businesses and individuals. Therefore, it's very easy for the retailer to solve the problem if the state passes the law. Cut off the affiliate program in that state. Leave.

And that is precisely what the online retailers have done (except for Amazon.com in NY). They have skedaddled by cutting off those affiliates and therefore the commissions for those affiliates. And I can't blame the retailer. Sure, it'll hurt them because they've lost the revenue generated by the referrals, but I'm guessing that it's less painful than losing business in a state because they have to charge sales/use tax.

So the state gets no revenue anyway! The retailer has solved their problem by no longer having nexus in the state. And as an extra jab, the state has hurt their own people (voters) who have lost their affiliate income.

And, I repeat, the state won't get any of the revenue they were trying to snag anyway.

The irony is that this is such an easy law to get around. It's a shame that politicians (who generally don't get elected because of their SAT scores) can't see longer term than one budget cycle. They pass the law and the retailer cuts off the affiliates, making the law a waste of time. And they hurt the income potential of their own citizens . Really smart.

And what's to stop any potential or existing affiliate from setting up a virtual address in a state with no sales tax. If the retailer's records show they have an affiliate with an address in Delaware, and a banking and credit card address in that state, then New York or Rhode Island is out of the picture. Hmmmmm. Please keep in mind, I'm only thinking out loud. I'm SURE that won't work.

*Update: these states are either thinking about it, or have done it.

Virginia
Maryland
Rhode Island
California
New Mexico
New York
Hawaii
North Carolina
Illinois
Vermont
Mississippi
Colorado

**Amazon.com, Overstock.com and others

Here's Amazon.com's page on sales tax.



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on 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.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Recent Twittered News Links

These are the news links I've posted on Twitter for the couple of weeks:



Felony, er, Misdemeanor Watch: Draper man facing charges of tax evasion, fraud
http://bit.ly/bwvsHh

Felony, er, Misdemeanor Watch: Albany Business Owner Stole Sales Tax - http://bit.ly/acrHLR

Tax holiday on guns, ammo weighed in MS - http://bit.ly/cQKgmT

Windy Wyoming debates excise tax for wind energy http://bit.ly/9YJns2

Well, it's not exactly a "new" tax pitfall, just one they weren't paying attention to before, CA got strict http://bit.ly/byxnj4

Michigan's going to try to tax services - again. http://bit.ly/9gP2NS

Anaheim slashes sales tax on big ticket items http://bit.ly/bH5dlX - A novel approach - I kinda like it.

Betcha didn't think about the sales tax impact of the east coast snow...http://bit.ly/cf2MRl

California Web Tax Grab Hits Small Businesses http://bit.ly/cdkN8Y

Colorado gets creative regarding the "amazon tax" http://bit.ly/di6lbM

Nice to see them thinking - if a business is registered with the city, it better be registered for SUT http://bit.ly/a6G31J

Is Washington's tax exemption on bullion a gold mine? http://bit.ly/btPwHX - They should read my blog post http://bit.ly/9KVIox

My, aren't we touchy...Editor's Notes: Portland takes on Chicago http://bit.ly/d5xMJD

Lawmaker wants pot growers, sellers to get license http://bit.ly/acsHOY Seems only fair

New Walmart could double sales tax revenue for Godfrey http://bit.ly/bc1saF I grew up near there - not exactly a big town.

Advice for tax cheats - http://bit.ly/bFCqaH

Sales Tax Felony watch http://bit.ly/deMRh3 http://bit.ly/cftsCB

Sign a contract, get annexed for the sales tax http://bit.ly/cftsCB

Medicaid sales tax windfall for state - Talk about gaming the system http://bit.ly/9MJVMt



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

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/


Thursday, February 18, 2010

Is the Government Exempt from Sales Tax?

Short answer...no.

But, it depends on the state.

In most states, sales to federal, state and local governments are exempt from tax. But there are often restrictions, such as:

1. the purchase must be made directly by the agency, on the agency's PO, received by the agency and paid by the agency, or
2. the purchase must be used by the agency in a way that is within its normal scope of activity.

Variations on item 1 are pretty common; item 2 are less so.

But in some states, sales to state and local governments are taxable! And in one state, sales to the federal government are taxable.

Here are the states where sales to state and local governments are taxable

Arizona (In addition, sales to the federal government are also taxable at 50% of the basis)

Arkansas

California

Hawaii

Minnesota

North Carolina (the state is exempt, but local jurisdictions pay tax and get an annual refund)

South Carolina

Washington

Remember, there are variations. Every state listed will have some exceptions that allow certain agencies to buy tax-free. And many states that aren't on the list will impose sales tax on certain oddball state agencies. Plus, remember what I've always said about information presented as tables and lists.

The point here is to wake you up to the fact that sales to government agencies are not automatically exempt. Most vendors in most states don't realize this. If I'm in Texas, and I'm selling to someone at the capitol in Arkansas, it will be a shock to me when I find out I should have charged them Arkansas tax.

"Hey, they're the state! What are you talking about? That's silly."

I'm trying to avoid your saying that.

And if you live in one of the states I've listed above, and they're still having a budget crisis, you have to ask what they're doing with all that money?



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
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, February 17, 2010

Package Pricing on Webinars!

It took us a while, but we now offer package pricing on our webinars. Purchase three webinars and you get the fourth one free! That means any four webinars for $285 instead of $380. In order to take advantage of this, just email us directly at info0801@takechargeseminars.com. Tell us the webinars you want, and we'll schedule you.

Here's even more information!




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

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

So, what state do I worry about?

map700

A variation on this question came up in a telephone conversation yesterday. And it comes up so often, that I apologize to all of you for not addressing it sooner.

Here's the scenario:

Your company is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

The customer is headquartered in Albany, New York.

The contractor, who has been hired by the customer, orders the goods from you while sitting in their field office in Jacksonville, Florida.

You ship the goods from your manufacturing plant in St. Paul, Minnesota to the job site in Folkston, Georgia.

The contractor is headquartered in Redding, California.

The contractor's AP department is in Helena, Montana.

Which state gets the sales tax or use tax?

Here's a hint.

It isn't New York, Texas or California. The location of the corporate headquarters is so irrelevant, it isn't funny.

It's not where it was ordered from. Again, not relevant.

A very common misconception is that the billing address is somehow important. It isn't. AP folks often screw this up and base their assumptions on the taxing rules in their state. And since Montana has no sales tax, that must mean that everything the contractor buys is not taxable. Right? Wrong.

Another common mistake is to tax the transaction based on where it was shipped from. Wrong. The ship from state is irrelevant.

By process of elimination, we've narrowed it down to one state - Georgia. And that is the state that has jurisdiction. Because they are the state where the goods were received and taken control of by the buyer. And since it was an interstate sale, there can't be any sales tax. So use tax is owed to Georgia by the buyer.


Unless...

...you have nexus in Georgia. Maybe, for example, you have an engineer who regularly visits job sites in Georgia to help spec out projects and assist with installations. Then you'll have to bill the Georgia use tax on the invoice and remit the money to Georgia. Even though you're in Texas.

But no matter who has to pay the tax, the only state that gets the tax is Georgia. Because Georgia is where the delivery occurred.

So the next time you're dealing with a transaction involving multiple states, it's really pretty easy to figure out the state you have to be concerned about. Just ask yourself, where was the delivery point?



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
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.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Oh, come on.....

A small micro-editorial:

In at least two big industrial northern states, the governors are suggesting increasing the number of services that are taxed. Oh, but they'll reduce the tax rate to offset the larger tax base.

Oh, come on. Does anyone really think that will stick?

In a few years, either the same politicians, or a new set, will come up with some need to raise the sales tax rate. And they'll have a lot bigger tax base to work with.

But what about those additional services that were taxed when they reduced the rate? What, you're thinking that they'll be willing to give up taxing those services? Not a chance.

Please don't think I'm against raising taxes. If a government needs money, than they gotta do what they gotta do. My point is that they're sneaky about it.

As a rule of thumb, I always assume all politicians will try to raise taxes. And they will try to be tricky about it.



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

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
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, February 11, 2010

Some Links For You

http://www.salesandusetax.com/
This is a consulting firm. But they have a nice collection of state sales and use tax links.

Smile Your Way Through a Sales Tax Audit
from smallbusinessreview.com
This is a pretty good article on what to expect from an sales tax audit, and how to deal with it. It goes into some of your options, people you should get to help you and where to find them. Worth a read.

Sales Tax Audit
from Wikipedia
Yep, they have an article on sales tax audits. Go figure. It's detailed in terms of the process and the records. Since the author doesn't even mention use tax, I'm guessing the person who wrote it may not be terribly well-versed in the theory. But if you're curious, it's worth a look.

Sales Tax - No Place for DIY
from theprogressiveaccountant.com
This article is a summary of four major sales and use tax software/service provides: Avalara, BNA, CCH, and SpeedTax



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/


Wednesday, February 10, 2010

A Policy a Day Keeps the Auditor Away

I was doing a class in Miami and we had just broken for lunch. I had been talking about why you should have sales and use tax policies and procedures. "Mike" came up to me as everybody else hurried out and said, "You know, that policies and procedures thing really works."

Sensing a good story, I sat down and encouraged him to continue.

Mike said that, a couple of years ago, he had gotten word that the Florida Department of Revenue was going to conduct a sales tax audit. About a month before the audit was scheduled to begin, the auditor shows up for the pre-audit meeting.

Auditor: I don't suppose you have a sales tax manual that I can look at, do you? (She really didn't expect it...she was just going through the questions on her checklist.)

Mike: Yes, as a matter of fact, we do. I've made a copy of our accounting manual for you, and I've put yellow sticky-notes on the pages related to sales and use tax (ta da!).

Auditor: Oh. Great (flipping through the binder).

Auditor (three days later, the auditor calls): Hey Mike, I just took a look at this sales tax manual. Wow, you've really covered the bases here. Heck, I've even gotten some good ideas out of it. Listen, honestly, do you actually follow these procedures?

Mike: Yes. You'll notice that there are revision dates on all of the procedures and we update them whenever there's a change. And we review the entire manual once a year.

Auditor: OK. Listen, we scheduled me in for six weeks. But let's change that to my coming in for just one week. I'll do some testing of your procedures manual and talk to some of your people, then we'll see how to handle the rest of the audit. Oh, and those 1,000 documents I told you to pull...just pull the first 100 for now.

Auditor (on Friday of the initial week of the audit): Mike, I've got nothing. You've got your ducks in a row, and you're not doing anything systemically wrong. There's no point in continuing. We'll call this audit closed and I'll put a note in the file that you guys have systems, policies and procedures in place. Now, I'm off to audit someone who doesn't have a good sales tax manual.




Having well documented systems gives you enormous credibility with the auditor. They want to be productive and, if you appear to have "your ducks in a row", they know they're going to be wasting time. So they might just cut your audit short and go bother someone else.

So the question is, do you have a good sales tax manual? Or is the auditor going to be cutting another audit short to come and nail you?

True story, by the way.



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/


Monday, February 08, 2010

Did you know we do custom scheduling now?

If you don't see a program that meets your calendar, please let us know. We plan extra time into our schedule to be able to fill in special webinars. If you'd like your state covered sooner than we have listed, or you really need to learn about a particular topic, but none of our dates work for you, just let us know. We'll find a date that works and put it on our official schedule. That way, the new date gives others a chance to participate as well.
As long as we have an open date and time, and can schedule it more than 10 days in advance, there's no additional cost for this, other than the standard $95 per webinar fee.
If you'd like to schedule a private webinar just for your organization, that's also very possible. We can discuss more of your questions, customize the presentation, make it longer, etc. Your cost would be higher than our standard $95 per webinar fee. We can discuss this. Please contact us if you're interested at info0801@takechargeseminars.com
The beauty of webinars is that we can be extremely flexible. You can take advantage of that.



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


Friday, February 05, 2010

Watch Out, Construction Contractors!

There was a case recently in Minnesota. You can read the opinion here, if you dare. Section I is what I'm going to talk about.

Remember the typical way that contractors are handled in most states: they pay sales or use tax on their building materials but do not charge their customers tax. What they sell (construction contracts) isn't taxable.

The intention of the law is that the contractor, when preparing his bid, factors in his material costs, which include the sales tax. So the contractor really looses no money. The tax gets passed on to the customer, buried in the material costs.

But in the above situation, the contractor got busted. He didn't bury the tax in the material cost. Instead, he showed it separately on his billings and apparently in a pretty obvious way. It was so obvious, (and I'm reading between the lines a little) that his customers (and the auditor) could easily assume that he was billing for the sales tax.

Minnesota law states that, if you bill someone for sales tax, you owe that money to the state, even if the billing was incorrect or illegal. Similar laws exist in many of the states.

This guy had billed his customers sales tax by showing it on the invoice. Minnesota held out their hand and said, "pay up." He argued that he had already paid the tax to his building materials vendors. They said, "Don't care. You collected sales tax. Pay it to us." He lost.

I'm often asked about this by contractors. "My customer wants to see my costs broken out separately on the invoice. Can I show the sales tax I paid?"

The answer is be very, very careful. You don't want it to look, in any way, like you're charging them sales tax. Frankly, the best way is just to show the material cost, with the tax as part of the number. Heck it's calculated for you - it's at the bottom of your materials invoices. But if you show the tax on the invoice, even if you're careful to say that it's merely one of all the costs you've paid for the materials, you might get an over-zealous auditor. Like me.

Check the law in your state to see how much flexibility you have. And write your contracts so that you don't have to break out the sales tax on the your invoices.



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
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, February 03, 2010

Illustrations and Parables - Lori's Story

Lori bought a lot of propane by the tank from a gas supplier. After hearing me say, in a seminar, that you should ask your intrastate vendors why they didn't charge you tax, she did.

"How come you're not charging me tax on this propane."

"Because it's not taxable."

"Yes it is"

"No it's not."

Lori then showed them the law in their state that says gases, like propane, are not taxable when sold for residential use. Her purchases were for business use.

"So you're going to start charging me tax, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. If it'll make you happy."

Lori happened to be at my next class too, and she told me the above story. She was pretty proud that she had been able to kick a little vendor butt based on my advice.

I said, "Lori, let's think about this. This propane vendor obviously thought that all of his sales were not taxable."

Lori said, "Yep."

"If that's so, then they had no reason to be registered with the state, since none of their sales were taxable, as far as they knew. So if they're charging you tax to make you happy, how do you know they're actually registered and paying it. Couldn't they just be charging you an extra 7% and pocketing it? Would they really go through the registration process just for you?"

Lori, who is really a nice person, said, "Those b_____s!"

In my previous article, I recommended that you ask for proof that your interstate vendors are registered in the delivery state if they charge you tax. But asking for that proof for your intrastate vendors seems unnecessary. But in Lori's case, the situation smelled a little funny.

Her plan was to demand that permit from the propane dealer when she got to work the very next morning. Unfortunately, she has never been at another of my seminars. So I haven't gotten the next chapter in the story.

The morals of this story?

1. Don't assume your vendor knows the sales tax rules for what they sell.
2. If you're suspicious, demand proof that they're registered in the delivery state. Even if they're located in your state.



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/


Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Make your vendors prove they're registered

It's generally required that sellers get certificates from their customers to make sure they really are buying something for resale, or there's some other reason that they don't have to pay sales tax.

But I want you to think about reversing the situation. I want you to start asking your vendors, who are charging you sales or use tax, for proof that they are registered in your state. Huh?

Whether this is a problem in your state is a function of how the laws are written, where the responsibilities lie, and how sharp the auditors are. So if you don't want to take my advice, that's fine. Just make sure that you know you're off the hook.

Let's say that Mary has just shipped you some new ladders from the "land of ladders," Wyoming.

Mary has charged you 6% tax, which is also the rate in your state, oh, Maine. [I'm just making the states up as I go along, folks.]

Any reason not to pay this?

The answer is yes! If you received the goods in Maine, then Maine tax applies. How do you know that Mary is collecting Maine tax? After all, she's far away in Wyoming.

"Well, they're charging me the Maine rate. I've got a calculator right here."

The average rates in the US range from about 5 to 9%. This means there's a chance that someone shipping from out of state is going to be charging your tax rate, without any assurance that your state is getting the money.

There's an easy solution. Call the vendor (Mary) and ask her a two part question. First, what state's tax is she charging? You may be amazed at how often her response is, "We're charging Wyoming's tax. What tax did you think we were charging?" If that's her response, then please refer Mary to this blog. And don't pay her the tax. Pay it directly to Maine as use tax.

Alternatively, Mary may respond, "Let's see. You're in Maine. Yep, we're charging you Maine tax." You may think that solves the problem. But you should ask the second question.

"Can you send me a copy of your Maine reseller permit please?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you're charging Maine tax, then you must be registered in Maine to remit that tax properly. We like to make sure of that, so please send me a copy of your permit. You can fax it if you'd like."

"Uh, we're not registered in Maine."

"Then what did you mean when you said you were collecting Maine tax?"

"Oh, we just look up the rate on the web and charge you that. But we send the money to Wyoming."

Hand on my heart, I've heard a variation on that story quite a few times. I couldn't make it up.

Again, tell Mary about this blog. Please. And don't pay her the tax. Pay it directly to Maine as use tax.

Why do you care what tax is charged?

The first answer is universal. Does your state have budget problems? Wouldn't you prefer that any taxes you pay go to the appropriate state, like yours? Asking those questions makes sure Maine gets the money instead of those guys in Wyoming.

The second answer brings up a nastier and more painful possibility. If you get audited, and the auditor comes across the invoice from Mary in Wyoming, and he does a particular test, he'll discover that Mary isn't registered in Maine. That means Maine never got any tax revenue. Which means that Maine will make you pay that money again - to Maine. And good luck getting that money back from Mary in Wyoming.

The test that the auditor runs is to take some of your out of state vendors who have charged tax, and simply check to see if they're in the state's registered vendor database. If they're not in the database, there's gonna be trouble.

But you can do essentially the same test by simply getting the permit from any of these types of vendors. And if you can show the auditor that you're doing that check, they will probably be seriously impressed. Which is nice.

Here's the action item: Whenever you are charged tax in a significant amount by a vendor shipping from out of state, get a copy of their registration permit for the delivery state.

I don't normally recommend you do this for vendors that are in your state. Your risk is pretty small. But tomorrow I'll tell you about one case where it made sense to check.

Finally, a question that comes up is "What if they put the state on the invoice next to the tax? Doesn't that show they're really charging Maine tax properly?" Nope. You want to see the permit. That's another story!



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

See the disclaimer - this is for education only. Research these issues thoroughly before making decisions.

Here's information on our upcoming seminars and webinars. Don't forget, we just announced our February to April schedule!
http://www.salestax-usetax.com/