Posted on September 24, 2009 by Althea Azeff
If you needed more proof that states and localities will continue to seek ways to fill budget shortfalls, consider this: Despite the $48 billion in federal stimulus dollars provided in fiscal 2009, “states will continue to be fiscally strained,” according to a 163-page report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office released yesterday.
Under an American Recovery [...]
Filed under: Legislation | Tagged: Avalara, GAO, Government Accountability Office, Joseph Biden, Recovery Act, state budget, state budgets | 2 Comments »
Posted on July 12, 2009 by Althea Azeff
As discussed in an April Sales Tax Buzz post, sales tax receipts generally outpace income taxes as the primary food source for state budgets. Noting the dismal Q2 receipts that came off a disastrous Q1 2009, while considering that June closes the fiscal year in a majority of states, fiscal 2010 does not look pretty [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: California, Colorado, Hawaii, IOU, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Q2, sales tax receipts, sales tax revenues, state budgets, Tennessee, Texas | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 15, 2009 by Althea Azeff
Sales tax receipts make up one of the best indicators of how a consumer-driven economy is faring. We’re not faring well. And sales tax receipts are the primary source, outpacing income tax, for the majority of state budgets. Based on the numbers you’re about to read, you can easily understand why so many state budgets [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: 50-year low, Colorado, consumers, New York, Oklahoma, Rockefeller Institute of Government, sales tax receipts, state budgets | 5 Comments »
Posted on March 18, 2009 by Althea Azeff
In what could very well become historic times in the sales tax arena, I wanted to call attention to a draft federal bill that is set for consideration this Friday, March 20, in a final set of congressional meetings – namely the Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act (H.R. 3396 and S. 34), as can [...]
Filed under: Legislation, SST | Tagged: Amazon Tax, Dr. William Fox, H.R. 3396, Main Street Fairness Act, National Tax Association, President Obama, S. 34, sales tax, Sales Tax Fairness and Simplification Act, SST, state budgets, Taxability | 2 Comments »
Posted on January 13, 2009 by Althea Azeff
The media, online retailers, and many states are positively a-buzz on today’s news about the dismissal by a New York state judge of the Amazon.com suit challenging that state’s law requiring certain non-New York Internet retailers to collect and remit New York sales tax.
The suit – Amazon.com, LLC v. New York State Department of Taxation [...]
Filed under: Court Cases, E-Commerce | Tagged: Amazon, Amazon Tax, Amazon.com, cases, E-Commerce, New York, online retailer, state budgets | 6 Comments »
Posted on December 31, 2008 by Althea Azeff
If I had a transaction taxes crystal ball, here is what I would likely see in store for 2009:
A sharp increase in the number of audits, as a result of ever-growing number of state and local revenue shortfalls throughout the country.
Sales, use, VAT, and GST compliance will become more difficult to achieve as the global [...]
Filed under: Global | Tagged: audits, global economy, GST, state budgets, VAT | 2 Comments »
Posted on December 26, 2008 by Althea Azeff
With holiday sales reports showing record lows since the 1970’s and double digit declines in the sale of luxury goods (-34%), electronics (-26%), clothing (-21%), and the worst-ever drop in online sales (at -2.3%), the many issues related to sales tax are at the fore as we look ahead to 2009, especially as states face [...]
Filed under: E-Commerce | Tagged: Amazon, holiday shopping season, state budgets, statistics | 4 Comments »
