Sales Tax Series Blog 4: Business Risks and Challenges, the Ever-Changing Sales Tax Landscape
Posted on: September 27, 2019 | By: Andy Vitullo | Professional Services, QAD Financials, QAD Business Process
The United States Sales and Use tax environments are ever changing. States continue to pull this lever for revenue enhancement. Monthly, jurisdictions publish new tax rates. Tax laws and regulations change at the whim of state legislatures. County and City changes occur as the result of ballot initiatives. Lack of understanding of the sales tax environment can create unintended business risk. Corporate leaders are personally liable for sales taxes accrued by their business. Your business must develop internal processes to maintain this ever-changing landscape.
Sales Tax business processes will require a combination of knowledgeable internal resources, tax professionals and ERP professionals. If your business lacks those internal resources, a myriad of professional services firms can support your business. Tax professional services will provide the following:
- Determination of nexus requirements.
- Product or Services Tax Rates.
- Customer Exemptions.
- Product Exemptions.
- Compliance with statutory agencies.
ERP Professional Services will provide the following support.
- Design of ERP Tax Environment.
- Testing and Documentation.
- Ongoing updates to ERP.
Your business processes should address monthly and annual reviews with your professional services. ERP tax master data maintenance typically follows tax law changes. Reporting systems should generate compliant filing reports and forms. Finally, your business should consider a holistic integrated tax service that supports ongoing tax rate management, trading partner exemption management and filing services that includes tax returns.