December 17, 2015 5 min read
Many state and local governments have turned to sales tax increases in order to address growing budget deficits. But the newly installed government of one Canadian province has decided to change course and cancel a planned provincial sales tax increase that was scheduled to take effect in
Read More November 30, 2015 5 min read
A state by state comparison of services subject to sales tax While it is politically unpopular to raise sales tax rates, many states have found it possible to supplement lagging revenues by expanding the tax base – they make more types of goods and services subject to sales tax. Whereas services used to be considered mostly
Read More November 27, 2015 5 min read
South Carolina reminds shoppers that Amazon orders will lose their sales tax free status as of Jan. 1, 2016. As of New Year’s Day, South Carolina will become the 27th state to require sales tax be collected on Amazon orders. Amazon has long been aware that it will lose its sales tax
Read More November 27, 2015 5 min read
Conditional legislation holds the fate of the Washington state sales tax. Washington voters recently approved an unusual ballot initiative which effectively holds the state sales tax hostage unless legislators propose a separate constitutional amendment related to future tax increases.
Read More November 09, 2015 5 min read
preferential tax treatment preferential tax treatment Many states and cities offer preferential tax treatment to certain types of businesses. This often includes a temporary exemption from collecting sales and use taxes. Recently the District of Columbia successfully opposed an effort by a local television station to qualify for such a
Read More October 29, 2015 5 min read
sales tax returns sales tax returns The New York Attorney General’s office recently won a major procedural victory in a four-year-old lawsuit accusing Sprint Nextel of filing false sales tax returns. New York’s highest court ruled state law “unambiguously” requires collection of sales tax on the full price flat-rate wireless
Read More October 20, 2015 5 min read
AT&T to BOE “Can you hear me NOW?” California’s 25 million sales tax appeal denied On October 8, a California appeals court rejected the state’s effort to collect an additional $25 million in sales taxes on specialized computer equipment used by telephone and data networks. This was not the first
Read More September 30, 2015 5 min read
Exemption certificates Do you know the validity period of your exemption certificates? Did you know that each state treats them differently and that you should review them periodically to make sure they are still good? It is a good business practice to periodically review exemption certificates
Read More September 29, 2015 4 min read
Many states and localities have recently raised sales taxes in response to mounting budget deficits. But no U.S. jurisdiction has taken such drastic measures as Puerto Rico, which not only increased its sales tax rate by nearly 65% this year – it plans to replace the sales tax altogether with a value added tax (VAT).
Read More September 23, 2015 5 min read
Voters in San Mateo, a city in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley, will decide in November whether to retain a 0.25% sales and use a tax approved in a prior referendum six years ago. If adopted, “Measure S” would extend the local tax until March 2048.
Read More September 14, 2015 5 min read
Fate of community improvement They say one vote can make a difference. That is especially true when there is only one person voting in an election. Property owners in the Business Loop 70 section of Columbia, Missouri, learned that lesson the hard way as their efforts to impose a half-cent
Read More August 31, 2015 5 min read
Online travel companies (OTCs) faced another setback last month as the District of Columbia’s highest court held Expedia and its competitors owed back sales taxes dating to 1998 on their “retail margins” for hotel rooms sold in the district. Washington, D.C. assesses a 14.5% sales tax on the “gross receipts”
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