April 15th is enshrined in the national consciousness as income tax filing day (even though the exact date can change from year to year), but sales taxes don’t have that kind of tax day.

Filing in Arizona? Depending on your revenue in that state, you may need to file on a quarterly basis or on a monthly basis. Either way, your deadline is the 20th of the month following the end of the collection period. In Georgia, depending on sales volume, you may be required to file on a monthly, semi-monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis. In Washington state, quarterly taxes are due on the last day of the month following the reporting period, but monthly taxes are due on the 20th of that month.

Inconsistent regulations

It’s all part of the complexity of sales taxes. Not only are they complicated in each jurisdiction, but they can be different from one jurisdiction to another. In the past, that didn’t matter so much. Your business was responsible for the sales taxes in your town, and you only needed to keep up with the changes.

Then came the Wayfair decision. Now you are responsible for sales tax in just about every jurisdiction where you have sales, subject to a threshold and some other details of your business. For most of our clients, that means you have to be prepared to collect, file, and remit sales taxes in every state and possibly the territories as well.

Sales tax regulations change with amazing frequency, and you could be responsible for sales tax compliance in hundreds of jurisdictions.

How can you keep up?

Automation is the obvious solution.

Automation is famously the solution of choice for work that is dirty, dull, and dangerous. Sales tax compliance is not especially dirty, but it can be dull and it is definitely dangerous. Making mistakes is very easy to do with something as complicated and ever-changing as sales tax compliance. Business owners can end up spending way too much on compliance and still facing audits or penalties.

Sales Tax DataLINK is a sales tax solution that provides the highest level of accuracy, down to the level of individual invoices, at a consistent, affordable price. You won’t face sticker shock every month as you try to negotiate a forest of extra fees and price adjustments.

Outsource

You can even transfer the whole thing to us. We offer full sales tax services, with expert accountants on hand. Call us at 479-715-4275 and let us help make your sales tax compliance easier.