August 2024 Roundup: Tax laws you need to know

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

It pays to be on time. In this case, sometimes literally. While all states penalize businesses for filing or remitting sales tax late, many states reward them for filing or remitting sales tax on time. Learn which states give a vendor discount to punctual businesses.

Sales tax holiday like it’s 1999. Sales tax holidays have been gaining popularity in the last few years, but Texas has been ahead of the game since the days of boy bands, the movie “10 Things I Hate About You,” and Y2K panic. The Texas back-to-school sales tax holiday is turning 25 this year.

High-tech taxability. Determining the taxability of tangible goods and services can be a challenge for businesses, but what happens when a product or service exists online, or is downloadable or streamable? Get the state-by-state guide to digital product taxability.

Bay State back taxes? If your company owes taxes in Massachusetts, you’re in luck. There will likely be a Massachusetts tax amnesty program sometime before the end of June 2025. Read about the budget bill making this possible and get answers to your tax amnesty FAQs. 

Mark your calendars. Keep track of 2024 sales tax holidays with this handy article.

Leveling the playing … prairie? Illinois created the Leveling the Playing Field for Illinois Retail Act in 2019 to make the state’s sales and use tax requirements fair for Illinois-based businesses. But two companies are taking umbrage with the act, arguing the Prairie State remote sales tax laws are burdensome for out-of-state businesses. 

Can automation improve procure-to-pay? On its surface, buying the goods and services needed to do business sounds simple. (As an avid office supplies enthusiast, it sounds kind of fun to me.) But the process can be pretty involved: putting in the request for the goods, sourcing vendors, creating purchase orders, etc. What if automation could simplify the process?

Eggs, butter, milk, sales tax. Currently, the state sales tax rate on groceries in Illinois is 1%. Starting January 1, 2026, the Land of Lincoln is eliminating the state grocery tax, but allowing jurisdictions to impose local sales taxes on food. Find out what this means for grocers and home chefs in Illinois.

What is Entry Type 86? If your company does international shipping, it’s important to know your HS codes. Learn about Entry Type 86 and what’s included in that category as well as how it works. 

Stopping criminals in their e-tracks. California was one of the first states to impose regulations to protect marketplace buyers from fraudulent sellers. The Golden State is cracking down even further on organized retail crime with SB 1144.

If snow is tangible, is tax owed on it? No, this isn’t the late-night ramblings of your college buddy Jeff. It’s the subject of a recent court case wherein an artificial snow-making company was found liable for tangible personal property taxes.

Grocery exemptions Sooner or later. Until recently, groceries in Oklahoma were subject to both state and local sales and use taxes. But as of August 29 2024, House Bill 1955 eliminates the state sales tax on groceries (though local taxes will still apply) in the Sooner State. Find out what counts as “food and food ingredients” (and how this might complicate your September sales and use tax returns) in this short, easily digestible blog post.

Clearing the haze. E-cigarettes and vapes weren’t always regulated or taxed like other tobacco products, and now that they are, states all tax them differently. Get the latest e-cigarette tax guide.

This time it’s personal … property. How familiar are you with the taxability rules for personal property? We break down the taxability of tangible personal property and answer common questions businesses and CFOs have about personal property taxes.