August 2019 Roundup: Sales tax laws you need to know

Update 9.20.2019: The Kansas Attorney General has determined Department of Revenue Notice 19-04 is "of no legal force or effect"; failure to include safe harbor for small sellers is "inconsistent with Wayfair." See Attorney General Opinion 2019-8 for more details.

While you focus on your business, we stay on top of legislative and policy changes that can affect your sales tax compliance.

Sales tax never takes a break. Although only a handful of state legislatures are in session in August, there were still plenty of sales tax changes.

Congress looks to regulate state remote sales tax laws.

A small group of federal lawmakers from non-sales-tax states are still pushing to regulate the way states tax remote sales. Learn more.

Digital products will soon be subject to sales tax in North Carolina.

Several sales tax changes are on the horizon in the Tar Heel State, notably the extension of sales and use tax to digital goods that don’t have a physical counterpart. Learn more.

Economic nexus is under consideration in Florida.

Florida and Missouri are the only two states that have a general sales tax but haven’t adopted a tax on remote sales since the South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. decision — and Florida is now making a move. Learn more.

Exempt sales in a state can create economic nexus.

Economic nexus laws create new sales tax collection requirements for retailers, but in some states, they also establish registration requirements for businesses that make only exempt sales. Learn more.

Home-rule states strive to simplify remote seller sales tax compliance.

Sales tax compliance can be particularly challenging in home-rule states where local jurisdictions administer and establish their own sales taxes; some home-rule states are working to change that. Learn more.

Illinois is providing two tax amnesty programs this fall.

The Illinois Department of Revenue will waive applicable interest and penalties for eligible taxpayers who pay in full outstanding taxes due during the amnesty periods. Learn more.

Kansas jumps on the remote sales tax bandwagon.

Rather than wait for lawmakers to enact economic nexus, the Kansas Department of Revenue is using the Wayfair ruling and an existing provision of the law to tax remote sales. Learn more.

Kansas remote seller law questioned.

Does the Kansas Department of Revenue have the authority to require remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax? Enquiring lawmakers want to know. Learn more.

New sales tax collection requirements kick in for remote sellers and marketplaces on October 1.

Almost 20 states are enforcing new or amended sales tax collection requirements for remote sellers and marketplace facilitators as of October 1, 2019. Learn more.

Remote sellers can collect a single local use tax rate in Texas.

To reduce the burden of remote sales and use tax compliance, Texas has created a single local use tax rate for remote sellers. Retailers can opt collect the single rate or the actual rate in effect for each location starting October 1, 2019. Learn more.

Sales tax for the dogs (and other pets).

Some pet boarding services are taxable in some states, others aren’t. Unfortunately, keeping the rules straight is not for the birds. Learn more.

There’s more to economic nexus than sales tax.

We spend a lot of time exploring sales tax economic nexus here at Avalara. But economic nexus can be applied to other taxes as well, as the news from Hawaii, Texas, and other parts of the country reveals. Learn more.

Washington won’t let you pay taxes with bitcoin.

Washington and other states may accept virtual currency for tax payments one day. For now, however, Ohio is the only state that does. Learn more.

Why investors care about sales tax.

Neglecting or underestimating the complexity of sales tax can cause issues that can catch the eye of potential investors. Learn more.

Sales tax automation can help you comply with all the above changes. Learn more.