Federal Internet Sales Tax Legislation Gets Its Day In Committee

Federal Legislation with State Impact:  Today, August 1, 2012, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation held a hearing to discuss The Marketplace Fairness Act, S. 1832.  This proposal was the third bill introduced by the 112th Congress that would seek to grant States the authority to require out-of-state (“remote”) retailers to collect sales […]

Massachusetts Issues Final “Groupon – Sales Tax” Guidance: DOR Directive 12-4

Final Administrative Guidance:  Last Monday, July 16, 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (“the Department”) issued its final directive, 12-4, on the sales tax implications of Groupon type vouchers. (Applause please!) Ordinarily, a Department of Revenue’s issuance of administrative guidance wouldn’t necessarily warrant such fanfare, but in this case it’s only taken the Department ten months, two working […]

Massachusetts’ Revised Guidance on Groupons & Sales Tax; An ‘About Face’ or Simply a More Reasonable Approach?

Revised Administrative Guidance:  The tax implications of Groupon, LivingSocial and other deal-of-the-day transactions are undoubtedly a topic I’m passionate about.  If you’re a  frequent visitor to The  State and Local Tax “Buzz”, you’ve likely read at least a few of my prior contributions on this topic. Today I’m back to reporting on a new, or should I say updated, “Groupon […]

Federal Internet Sales Tax Legislation; An Explanation for the Small-Medium e-Commerce Business

Internet Tax Bills and E-Commerce Tax Myths: Explained in Plain English by Sylvia F. Dion, CPAon SalesTaxSupport.com Internet sales tax on e-Commerce transactions? It’s an issue that many e-Commerce businesses haven’t had to worry about – at least not in states where they lacked a substantial physical presence. But things could be changing! If you’re a frequent […]

“Clouding” the Sales Tax Issue

The following is a guest post by Diane Yetter, one of the nation’s leading authorities on Sales & Use Taxation and founder of the Sales Tax Institute (see end box for more about Diane). In this post, a follow-up to Diane’s recent COST presentation, “Taxing Software, Digital Goods, and the Cloud”, Diane discusses the inconsistencies in how states […]

As We Wait for Massachusetts, More States Issue “Groupon Sales Tax” Guidance

Administrative Guidance:  Groupons and Sales Tax! Now here’s an issue that states are paying close attention to – specifically how discounts offered through internet based “deal-of- the-day” marketing companies, such as Groupon and LivingSocial, impact the sales price subject to sales tax. In this post, I provide an update on Draft Guidance issued by Massachusetts last […]

Wondering How Sales Tax Applies to a Groupon? Massachusetts Issues Draft Guidance

Image: Groupon Webpage onMassachusetts Deals This past June, I wrote a post entitled “Wondering How Sales Tax Applies to a Groupon? So Are Many of The States”.  If you’re a frequent visitor to The State and Local Tax “Buzz”, my guess is you’ve read this post as it’s become the most popular blog post I’ve published to […]

A Tale of Two “Main Street Fairness” Blog Posts

Congress has once again introduced federal legislation, which if passed, could require out-of-state retailers to charge and collect sales tax on sales to customers in certain states . That right, on July 29, 2011, Congressional Democrats in both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives introduced “internet sales tax” legislation.  In the Senate, S. 1452 was introduced by […]

California Enacts Explosive “Amazon Law”!

The Golden State becomes the newest state to enact an “Amazon Law”! That’s right! On June 29th, California’s Governor Brown signed into law, what is quickly becoming the nation’s most explosive “Amazon Law” to date.  By now you’ve certainly heard about this significant development in the taxation of internet sales as this story has received […]

Wondering How Sales Tax Applies to a Groupon? So Are Many of The States!

Groupon, LivingSocial; those increasingly popular internet based social coupon programs.  If you’re a business launching a new product or service or just looking to increase your customer base, you’ve probably contemplated promoting your business through one of these programs.  With Groupon being named one of the “fastest growing companies in Web history” by Forbes.com, it’s […]