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Hello!

Welcome to Manta’s Small Business Expert

Series

Thanks for joining us today.

We’ll get started right at 2 p.m. EDT

#mantaexperts Today’s webcast is sponsored by

Sales Tax Basics for Small Business Owners

Everything you need to know

to make sales & use tax compliance easy

#mantaexperts Today’s webcast is sponsored by

CEOWelcome

John Swanciger

@carie_fergHelp Q&A

Resource List

How It

Works

@Manta

The Story

• Sales tax helps state

deficits

• Sales tax compliance

challenges

• Cost of BUA (business as usual)

• Meet the expert: Mark Giddens

• Sales vs. use tax

• Determine nexus

• Technology’s impact on sales tax

• Avoid sales tax audits

• What you want to talk about: Q&A with Mark

Let’s Talk About

Meet Mark Giddens

Click on the speaker widget to learn

more about Mark.

Sales tax—Intrastate transaction, collected by the seller on

the gross receipts from a retail sale

Seller’s use tax—Interstate transaction, where the seller is

compelled to collect tax because of Nexus

CONSUMER use tax

Purchases of equipment and supplies from out-of-state for

use in business

• Withdrawals of inventory for taxable use such as R&D,

promotional materials, warranty repairs, etc.

Sales vs. Use Tax

• Auditor red flags

• What is and

isn’t exempt?

• Burden of proof:

consumer or seller?

Sales & Use Tax: Exemption Certificates

Nexus: What is it?

• The right

questions to ask

• Nexus rules and

Amazon laws apply

to everyone

• Quill vs. North Dakota

• Nexus-creating activities

• “Amazon Laws”

The Broadening of Nexus

Photo courtesy of istockphoto.com.

Nexus-Creating Activities (Examples)

Multi-state locations

Maintenance/service/repairs

Own/lease real property

Hosted Data Centers

Field sales/service staff

Charge Licenses/royalty/fees

Direct and/or online sales

Maintains inventory

Affiliates

Tradeshows

Commissions to resellers (1099s)

Investors/board members

Marketing/Web advertising

Drop shipments

• Close isn’t close enough

• The problem with ZIP codes

Jurisdiction Assignment

Greenwood Village, Colo., has one ZIP code,

but four different sales tax rates!

Technology’s Impact: Before You Automate

• Estimate tax

“leakage”

• Determine tax

process costs

• Cash flow considerations

• Saves time

• Increases accuracy

• Mitigates risk

• Improves efficiency

• Increases

profitability

Technology’s Impact: Automate

Technology’s Impact: What to Automate

• Calculate, report, return, remit

• Taxing jurisdictions ≠ zip code

boundaries

On average, accounting professionals

spend *11 hours a week filing sales tax

returns and remitting payments. This is

time that can be reclaimed and used

elsewhere if your company automates

the sales and use tax process. *Wakefield Research 2014

Avoid Sales Tax Audits

Return information that doesn’t

match other records

Mistakes found in previous audit

Previous finding of exemption

certificate misuse

Not reporting use tax

Failing to file a return

Failing to report sales

Taking excessive credits or

exclusions on a return

Filing returns with errors

• Do a nexus study

• Stay up-to-date with

rate, rule, and boundary

changes

• Report consumers’ use

tax

• Be compliant from day

one, especially new

businesses

• Automate with

technology

• An understanding of

your filing

requirements

• Calculations that are

rooftop accurate

• Product taxability

coverage

• Detailed sales records

• A process for

managing exemption

certificates

You should: Make sure you have:

Avoid Sales Tax Audits

Know the difference:

• Services on tangible personal property

• Real property services

• Professional services

19

Avoid Sales Tax Audits: Services

States that do tax

(many) services

*Connecticut

*Hawaii

*New Mexico

*South Dakota

*West Virginia

States that do

not tax (many)

services

*Alabama

*Florida

*North

*Carolina

*Oklahoma

*Utah

Hint! States often define taxable services differently.

Open the resource list to get more

information about our upcoming and

on-demand webinars. Don’t miss our

upcoming webcast series, each 10

minutes long, on the following:

Oct. 6 - 10 Sales Tax Rules

Oct. 13 - Tax Tips for Online Sellers

Oct. 20 - Avoid Sales Tax Audits

Ask the Expert: Mark Giddens

Today’s webcast is sponsored by

Visit community.manta.com/ to Ask the Expert

Manta believes in empowering small businesses to achieve

success. We’re inspired by your determination and energy. And

we understand that every company is unique.

We strive to provide the marketing tools and educational

resources you need to stand out, connect with your customers

and your peers, and grow your business.

Send us a note and let us know what you’d like to learn from

upcoming webinars like this one.events@manta.com