Sales Tax

Global payment gateway BlueSnap today announced an integration with Avalara, a leading provider of cloud-based software that delivers a broad array of compliance solutions related to sales tax, VAT and other transactional taxes.

Florida Governor Rick Scott has signed a state law that establishes a sales tax holiday for purchases of a hurricane supplies such as batteries, tarps and portable generators.

After several years of head-scratching, the IRS has finally offered guidance on the tax treatment for virtual currencies like Bitcoin (IRS Notice 2014-21). In brief, taxpayers have been advised to treat Bitcoin as property for U.S. tax purposes. But accountants, particularly those with small business clients, are still struggling to get a better handle on how this will work in real-life situations.

One of the leading developers of online sales and use tax automation software has developed the first such system to support bitcoin and other virtual online currencies.

State and local taxes are a complex web of thousands of jurisdictional rules, and it isn't Charlotte waiting at the end of the web. Instead, there are revenue hungry state and local taxing authorities who are looking for back taxes, penalties and interest.

The online sales and use tax automation provider Avalara, Inc., has acquired the entire line of Zytax energy-related tax automation solutions for U.S. and international jurisdictions. Incorporating Zytax’s products now provides retail fuel and energy companies with a single source for all their transactional tax processing needs. Avalara acquired the Zytax offering from FuelQuest, a provider of on-demand software and services for global downstream energy companies.

Two bills introduced in February call to impose a 1-cent-per-ounce excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. For a 12-ounce can of soda, the tax would add 12 more cents. The price of a twelve-pack would increase by $1.44 and another $2.88 would be added to the cost of a 24-pack.

The tax season may be over now, with most Americans having filed their returns before last week's April 15 deadline, but federal and state income taxes are just one part of the myriad of taxes that people pay.