With the inconsistency state to state, and even within states and localities, the potential for costly errors related to Sales and Use Tax requirements can be staggering – particularly if you do business in more than one state. The good news is that Avalara, the one and only AICPA endorsed solution in its field, can streamline this process by, among others: determining sales taxability by latitude and longitude rather than by zip code, filing sales and use tax returns and make related payments on your behalf, managing tax-exempt certificates and performing Nexus studies. Every year, Avalara processes and files over a billion tax transactions and returns on behalf of its customers. Unless you like the idea of spending several salaries worth of money, it’s hard to argue with the ROI and outstanding risk management that Avalara can provide.
AvaTax works in the cloud, giving you a hands-free and worry-free way to manage compliance. Advanced tax calculator: Calculate guaranteed-accurate rates in every one of the 12,000+ jurisdictions in the United States — updates take effect instantly. Support across your organization: Compliance in complex organizations is easier than ever, with full multiple-entity support for every location and department. Product taxability: Thousands of sales tax rules, applied to every product in your catalog for accurate calculation in every jurisdiction. Address validation: Automatic validation and correction ensures sales tax calculations are accurate to a house-by-house level.
AvaTax works with your existing business software. What integrations are you hoping for? What business applications do you use? AvaTax integrates seamlessly with 600+ accounting systems, ERP and CRM providers, and ecommerce platforms. Search for your software below to learn more. Avalara provides a list of AvaTax integration options here: search integrations
Filing sales tax returns and remitting payments is complex; different rules apply for every state and local jurisdiction in which you have a sales tax obligation. Simplify the process from end to end with Avalara Returns. When you sign up for Avalara Returns, you sign up for more time in your day and less stress in your life, especially around filing time. Returns uses transaction data from your ecommerce or accounting platform to automatically prepare all your returns in minutes — paper or electronic. Submit a single payment to Avalara via ACH transfer for your entire tax liability, and you’re done. We’ll remit to each jurisdiction on the appropriate date. Your returns and payments managed — automated, easy, accurate.
Everything you need, all in one place. Improve your ability to store and manage compliance documents and minimize your audit risk and exposure. Say goodbye to filing cabinets and network drives and say hello to a highly available and secure cloud-based solution for requesting, renewing, storing and analyzing your documents. Avalara’s CertCapture simplifies and automates how you manage customer tax exemption status and exemption certificates. From collecting and storing certificates, to reporting and analyzing missing or expiring forms, to easy integration at all customer transaction points, CertCapture helps you automate the end to end activities of managing customer exemptions. Additionally, there is a ‘lite’ version that integrates with Avalara’s tax determination software.
Sales tax compliance is notoriously complicated for many businesses, particularly those that sell more than one product and collect in more than one tax jurisdiction. As accounting professionals well know, keeping track of inconstant rates, rules and regulations is taxing. An unhealthy dose of stress is added whenever there is confusion over what triggers a sales and use tax obligation. And there is almost always some degree of confusion. Nexus has long been defined as the physical connection between a taxing authority and a business that triggers a sales and use tax collection obligation. Yet in recent years, many states have stretched the definition of nexus to include less concrete connections. In other words, businesses don’t always have to be physically present in a state to create a tax obligation. More than 20 states have enacted click-through or affiliate nexus laws, which base nexus on the relationship between an out-of-state retailer and in-state referrals. These include the following:
Similar legislation is under consideration in at least four additional states: Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington; and expanding nexus is a topic of conversation in still others. While this may be good for state sales tax revenue, it creates a sales and use tax compliance nightmare; since states are independent-minded, every remote sales tax law is different.
Knowing what triggers nexus where will enable you to guide your clients unscathed through the treacherous path to remote sales tax compliance. Read on for a list of three top nexus triggers, and a solution.
