Feature: Avalara brings you useful tips about sales tax compliance

Hamburger and a Side of Sales Tax
Forget baseball. Dining out may as well be the unofficial national pastime. From charbroiled cheeseburgers to Euro-Asian inspired tapas, Americans spend $1.5 billion a day at restaurants, equal to 4% of the total U. S. gross domestic product. More than half of adults say that restaurants are an essential part of their lifestyle; with the typical American dining out over 5 times per week.

With all of our expertise demanding delicious dishes, you might expect that – in terms of sales tax – food service would be a piece of cake. Unfortunately for consumers and businesses alike, negotiating sales tax rules is more difficult than keeping your soufflé from collapsing.

In many locations, prepared foods are subject to sales tax – yet the definition varies from state-to-state. In Washington, this means any food served with a utensil while in North Carolina it simply refers to food that is made ready for consumption. Under these rules, a hoagie sandwich would be taxable in Durham but not in Spokane. In other states, means that the food is to be consumed “on premise”, however Arizona clarified that sales from a drive-thru window at restaurants with a dining room should be taxed. Buying a hot dog from a vendor in Jersey? Buy it on the street before going into a stadium or mall if you want to save a few bucks on sales tax.

While many people just struggle to calculate the tip, sales tax can even complicate gratuities. Some consumers simplify the computation by simply doubling the sales tax. In Chicago, currently with the nation’s highest sales tax, you’d be shelling out a 22.5% tip. Doing the same in Buffalo, WY would net you a miserly 10% and possibly an angry glare from your server. And while an ongoing debate continues on whether to tip based on the pre- or post-tax amount, you may find yourself availed of the math when the tip is included. This help can come at a cost, however; in Maryland mandatory gratuities are taxable.

So if dining out doesn’t give you indigestion, manual sales tax management will. Maybe you’d be better off cooking yourself. Besides, 30 states across the country exempt groceries… although the definitions for qualifying foods vary from state-to-state. Now what did I do with my apron?

Industry News: Keeping you up-to-date in sales and use tax fields

California Legislation to vote on sales tax program that could raise $30 billion to $40 billion for transportation projects, including a subway to the sea. 
Click here to read the full article on latimes.com

Repeal efforts for a 1.75% sales tax increase in Chicago fail and county board president stands by his administration.  Chicago has a 10.25% sales tax, the highest in the country. 
Click here to read the full article on suntimes.com

Avalara Expands Transactional Tax Compliance Expertise with Acquisition of Tax GIS/Mapping Technology Company
Click here to read the press release. 

Best Practice Webinar Series:

Upcoming dates and topics:

• Approval Process and Treasury Function, Wednesday, August 6 - Click here to register!
• Tax Notices, Wednesday, September 17
• Use Tax, Wednesday, October 15
• Nexus, Wednesday, November 5
• The Registration Process, Wednesday, December 17 

Stay tuned for details and registration instructions for our September - December webianrs.  Dates and topics are subject to change.

Events: 

• Third Party Advantage Conference, Hyatt Regency, Vancouver, BC, August 17 - 19
• Southeastern Accounting Show, Cobb Galleria Centre, Atlanta, GA, August 27 – 28
• Shop.org Annual Summit, Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, NV, September 15 – 17
• GPUG Summit, Green Valley Ranch Resort & Spa, Las Vegas, NV, September 22 – 28

Check out our Events Page for a complete listing of events Avalara is scheduled to attend in 2008. We look forward to seeing you there!

AvaTax: Taking care of rate, boundary and taxability changes so you don't have to

Tally of Rates and Boundary Updates
As an on-demand solution, AvaTax takes care of your entire monthly jurisdiction boundary and rate changes along with product taxability changes and sales tax holidays so you can concentrate on revenue-generating activities instead of tedious research and manual updates.  From January 1, 2008 – July 1, 2008, 1,328 rates were updated (including general sales tax, general use tax, food sales tax, and food use tax rates).

Call us at (877) 780-4848, to find out how we can help you eliminate the burden of manually maintaining rate, boundary and taxability changes.