California Sales Tax
Overlooked Exemptions – Shipping, Freight, and Packaging
It is easy to ignore the sales tax consequences of shipping, freight, & packaging because such charges are often an afterthought. However, each state treats shipping, freight, and packaging differently. The result is that multistate businesses may be paying tax when they don’t need to, or alternatively may not be paying tax when they should.…
Read MoreOverlooked Exemptions – Technology
Technology exemptions are some of the most easily overlooked exemptions because they are not well advertised and changing by the day. In an attempt to keep up with the vast technological advances of the 21st century, old sales tax schemes are forced to evolve and adapt if they want to keep these technologies within their…
Read MoreBad Debts – An Overlooked Sales Tax Exemption
Bad debts are often carefully considered for federal tax purposes but overlooked when it comes to sales tax. It is common for businesses to fail to collect the total balance of their sales. These bad debts are generally remembered when it comes to calculating income for federal returns and even state income tax returns. However,…
Read MoreManufacturing – An Overlooked Sales and Use Tax Exemption
Many states offer unique and specific manufacturing exemptions that can provide great savings to those who are aware of them. Sometimes these exemptions come about by the state alone, which is interested in enticing big businesses to move into the state to provide jobs to its residents. Other times, businesses already located within the state…
Read MorePreparing your Online Business for an Out-of-State Sales Tax Audit
The day has come that your online business has been issued a sales tax audit notice. How do you prepare for this painful process, especially in a state in which you don’t reside? Each state and locality has different procedures and authority when it comes to auditing your business. That’s not to mention the varying…
Read MoreOut-of-State Sales Tax Audit Defense
Your business has been audited for sales and use tax by an out-of-state taxing agency. Unfamiliar with the laws and rules of the foreign state, you are already at a disadvantage before you begin the audit. It is impossible for a business owner to be an expert in the complex and technical field of sales…
Read MoreIs Software as a Service Taxable?
The sales tax implications of Software as a Service (“SaaS”) have plagued the tech industry since the rise of remotely accessed software. To those in the industry, how software is transferred may not be the most defining or important characteristic of a program. However, it is probably going to be the very first question a…
Read MoreAre Software Subscriptions Taxable?
The sales and use tax implications of software subscription sales vary substantially from state to state. If your software subscription business makes sales across the country, you may have sales tax liabilities lurking in multiple states due to the ambiguity in the application of sales tax laws to this industry. Most sales tax schemes predate…
Read MoreThe Sharing Economy and Sales Tax Nexus: A Peer-to-Peer Business Problem
Sales tax nexus is just the more recent issue plaguing peer-to-peer platforms, which have been struggling with tax issues since their inception. June 2018 added a new problem to the mix, when the Supreme Court held in South Dakota vs. Wayfair that states could require businesses to collect and remit sales tax when certain economic…
Read MoreCalifornia Economic Nexus Changes and Marketplace Facilitator Law
California’s Marketplace Facilitator Act, AB 147, has changed California’s economic nexus law to a $500,000 threshold and enacted a new law classifying marketplace facilitators as the retail seller of all sales they facilitate for a marketplace seller. The new law, enacted April 25, 2019, simplifies California’s sales tax scheme, exempting small businesses and shifting the…
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