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Tax & Regulatory
Time for Tax Fairness?
Many believe this will be the year that Congress will level the playing field between Main Street merchants and online retailers and tax fairly.
NRF Stores –
August 2010
Reminding Customers of Online Taxes
State governments are asking businesses to remind online shoppers that they still owe state sales taxes on online purchases.
News OK
8/29/2010
NC has Few Takers to Online Sales Tax Amnesty
Just over two dozen of the 450 online retailers offered amnesty if they begin collecting North Carolina taxes on Internet sales have taken the offer. Many retailers do not believe they owe, but the state revenue agents are auditing hundreds of companies that are not stepping forward.
Associated Press
8/27/2010
Florida Makes $1.1M in Unclaimed Property Sale
Florida made over $1 million at its annual unclaimed property auction this year. About 40,000 unclaimed items were up for bid and, even after the sale, rightful owners can still claim the amount the item was sold for in cash.
Miami Herald
8/27/2010
County Tax Amnesty Program Successful
Reading County in Pennsylvania is announcing that their tax amnesty program to collect back taxes is off to a solid start.
Reading Eagle
8/24/2010
Philippine City Starts Tax Amnesty Program
Antipolo city in the Philippines is starting a tax amnesty program to raise P300 million that the government has lost in revenue.
Manila Bulletin Publishing Corporation
8/23/2010
Paying Attention to Sales and Use Tax
When dealing with sales and use tax, attention to detail is key. Making sure you understand all the exemptions and complexities can save your company time and money.
Cherry Bekaert & Holland
8/18/2010
Illinois to Run Tax Amnesty Program
The Illinois governor announced he has approved a 40 day tax amnesty program that officials hope will raise $250 million.
Business Week
8/17/2010
Kansas to Offer Tax Amnesty Program
Kansas has announced it will be providing delinquent taxpayers a reprieve through the new tax amnesty program to run from Sept. 1 through Oct. 15.
Kansas City
8/13/2010
New eBilling Program for Taxpayers
Since the e-billing program for tax payments has become available, thousands of Virginia residents have signed up for the program, which allows taxpayers to receive their tax bills through email instead of through the post office.
Leesburg Today
8/13/2010
Are You Paying the Correct Amount of Use Tax?
North Carolina state legislators put a $1,000 cap on fees companies can charge to help recover unclaimed property from the state. "The purpose of the bill was to protect property owners from abusive property finders who find money for people that's rightfully theirs at no cost whatsoever," state officials said.
Web CPA
8/12/2010
U.S. Governments Have Too Much Unclaimed Property
The increased amount of unclaimed property in the U.S. is causing a logistic nightmare for the government. The government is taking measures to return these unclaimed funds to their owners, on both the federal and state levels.
PR Urgent
8/12/2010
NC Puts Cap Unclaimed Property Fee
With states across the country suffering from the economic downturn, they are looking for ways to close the tax gap. Many states have such a large volume of records that they are unable to examine them all, leaving incorrect calculations of consumer use tax uncovered.
Lincoln Tribune
8/11/2010
Five Men Arrested in U.K. for VAT Fraud
A HM Revenue & Customs investigation into suspected multi-million pound VAT fraud and money laundering has led to five arrests so far. The men arrested are allegedly part of an organized crime syndicate; believed to be creating a chain of companies and false paperwork for the purpose of reclaiming VAT.
Accountancy Age
8/11/2010
Internet Sales Tax to Come
Due to the increased amount of pressure on states to raise their revenue, and with e-commerce sales continuing to rise, experts believe Internet sales tax will be enforced in the not so distant future.
Multi Channel Merchant
8/10/2010
U.S. Executives Against VAT
A recent survey on the impact a value added tax (VAT) could have on American businesses has been released by Sabrix. The majority of executives polled are against VAT and believe it would significantly increase the cost of compliance.
Accounting WEB
8/9/2010
Will Taxing Internet Sales Succeed This Time?
Legislation to tax Internet sales has been attempted five times before 2010, all failing, but many believe this year's bill will succeed. The Main Street Fairness Act has a lot working for it; for starters it has a catchy title that will get people's attention, it will benefit from good timing and has the potential to improve the still-improving economy.
Human Events
8/9/2010
Ohio City Launches Tax Amnesty Program
The city of Campbell, Ohio is launching a tax amnesty program to give people who haven't paid their city income taxes a grace period to help the city's financial crisis.
Vindy
8/9/2010
NBTA Finds Travel Taxes Cost Travelers
The National Business Travel Association Foundation released a study of car rental, hotel and meal taxes in the top 50 U.S. travel destination cities. They study revealed that the discriminatory travel taxes and fees enacted on travel-related services impose an average increased cost of 56 percent over general sales tax.
Business Wire
8/5/2010
D.C. Expects to Generate $20M from Tax Amnesty Program
D.C. officials announced they expect to generate $20 million in the next two months by forgiving penalties for tax debtors in return for the full payment of their debts. About 42,000 individuals and businesses owe the city an aggregate debt of $130 million.
The Washington Post
8/4/2010
Wisconsin Takes Unclaimed Property to the Fair
Wisconsin is spreading the awareness of unclaimed property by taking it to the State Fair. This year Wisconsin citizens can go to the State Fair to find out if they have any unclaimed money or property as a way to increase returns.
ABC News
8/4/2010
NRF Pushing for Internet Sales Tax Legislation
The National Retail Federation is urging Congress to move quickly on legislation that would make it easier for states to require internet retailers and other out-of-state merchants to collect sales tax.
Transworld Business
8/3/2010
$1.2B Returned in CA Unclaimed Money; Another $32B to Go
Cashunclaimed.com has reported billions in California unclaimed money being claimed due to increased efforts to inform the public of the over $32 billion in state unclaimed funds.
PR Web
8/2/2010
U.K. Offshore Tax Amnesty Not Doing Well
According to numbers released by the U.K. tax authority, HM Revenue and Customers, the offshore tax amnesty program is not getting enough respondents.
Tax-News
7/30/2010
New Resolution Proposed to Stop Taxation for Online Purchases
Today a member of Congress introduced a bipartisan resolution to protect small businesses from tax collection burdens that would be imposed by the Streamlined Sales Tax. The resolution, titled "Supporting the Preservation of Internet Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses," states that Congress should not impose unfair tax collection burdens that would hurt the U.S. economy and consumers.
PR Newswire
7/29/2010
Places to Find Unclaimed Property
Today, there are several places people can and do have unclaimed money and property. Some places to begin the search are at the U.S. government's Treasury Direct site, the FDIC unclaimed funds site, and MissingMoney.com.
Fav Stocks
7/26/2010
U.K. Health Tax Amnesty Extended
Dentists and doctors who have unpaid taxes are given a chance to come forward with no penalty in the U.K. health tax amnesty program. The original program ended June 30, but officials have extended the program till September 1 to allow health professionals another chance to pay delinquent taxes.
Accountancy Age
7/23/2010
D.C. to Offer Tax Amnesty Program
Washington D.C. announced it is launching a two-month tax amnesty program starting the last week in July to allow tax payers to pay their back taxes without penalty.
Washington Post
7/23/2010
Ways to Find Unclaimed Money
Many people have unclaimed money or property and either don't know they have it or don't know where to find it. Some places you can look are old tax refunds, forgotten savings bonds, and through your state unclaimed property department.
Money Water
7/19/2010
States Stop Using eBay for Unclaimed Property Sales
Indiana unclaimed property office has halted their sales of abandoned property because of issues with eBay. Over the past few years several states have used eBay to sell their unclaimed property, but recent changes to eBay's rules have made states unable or unwilling to continue using the site.
Journal Gazette
7/18/2010
Online Sales Tax Proposed in Congress
A bill was introduced in Congress that would require Internet retailers to collect sales tax regardless of whether they have a physical presence in a customer's state. The Main Street Fairness Act would apply to the states, currently totaling 23, that have simplified their tax laws as members of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement.
Electronista
7/5/2010
Marketing Group Sues Colorado Over 'Amazon Tax'
The Direct Marketing Association is suing to overturn Colorado's "Amazon tax" that applies sales tax to affiliate sales in the state. The lawsuit challenges provisions of the law requiring online retailers to report to the Colorado Department of Revenue what consumers owe in sales and use taxes from previously untaxed online sales.
Business Journal
7/1/2010
Georgia to Offer Tax Amnesty
After signing the legislation officially joining the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, Georgia announced a tax amnesty program that will begin October 1, 2010.
Lexology
6/30/2010
Isle of Man Announce Tax Amnesty Program
The Isle of Man government announced they are having a three-month period tax amnesty program for delinquent tax payers starting July 1 and ending on September 30, 2010.
Tax-News
6/30/2010
Retail Trade Groups Pressure the Feds for Online Sales Tax
With the retail industry struggling to compete with online retailers, and state governments not doing much to help, industry trade groups have been pressuring the feds to force retailers to collect taxes on out-of-state transactions.
Journal Sentinel Online
6/26/2010
Nevada Due to Begin Tax Amnesty Program
Nevada's tax amnesty program is scheduled to begin July 1, and the state is hoping to bring in several million dollars worth of uncollected revenue to help with the severe budget shortage.
Nevada News Bureau
6/24/2010
VAT Rise in U.K.
U.K. chancellor George Osborne announced a rise in the standard VAT rate from 17.5 percent to 20 percent. Accountants have warned that some businesses, especially non-profits, stand to lose more than others once the change takes place.
Accountancy Age
6/23/2010
Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty Ends Successful
Pennsylvania collected $261 million in back taxes through their aggressive tax amnesty program and campaign. Pennsylvania was letting delinquent tax payers know about the program on TV, the Internet, emails, radio and print ads with slogans like "If you owe PA back taxes, we know who you are."
Business Journal
6/21/2010
Pennsylvania's Tax Amnesty Program Winding Down
Pennsylvania's Tax Amnesty program is winding to a close with less than 24 hours left until the final deadline. The state's total so far is over $180 million in collected unpaid taxes, with more delinquents filing claims expected to be received before the end of the day.
Business Journal
6/18/2010
Billions of Unclaimed Properties Spurs Kenyans to Call for New Law
Kenya is trying to come up with new laws to deal with the billions of unclaimed assets that are currently unaccounted for throughout the country. With no proper regulation and system, banks and businesses have no motivation to find the owners of the unclaimed property they are currently holding onto.
Business Daily Africa
6/16/2010
Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty Program Deadline Looming
The tax amnesty program designed to let delinquent tax payers pay back taxes without penalty in Pennsylvania is quickly coming to an end. The state, starving for revenue, has vowed that it will be cracking down on delinquents when the amnesty expires in two days.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
6/16/2010
Staples Files Lawsuit Against Delaware Over Unclaimed Property
Staples, the office supply chain, has recently filed a lawsuit against the State of Delaware, claiming that the state grossly overestimated the company's unclaimed property liability. Staples believes it owes $130,000, while the state is asking for nearly $4 million.
The Sacramento Bee
6/15/2010
States Collect Online Sales Tax
As awareness grows, and more states join the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement, states are beginning to collect tax from virtual sales. Last year Kansas collected about $26 million from remote retailers and the amount will continue to grow as more companies and citizens pay their share of state sales tax.
Kansas City
6/12/2010
New Report Shows Effective Sales and Use Tax Management Used
Aberdeen Group has released a report, "Effective Sales and Use Tax Management: Reducing Errors and Increasing Productivity," which found that top companies were able to dramatically reduce their corporate risk profile, and maintain sales and use tax compliance, by leveraging automated tax management tools.
Market Wire
6/10/2010
Two Sentenced for Running Scam to Steal Unclaimed Funds
Two former co-workers at a New Jersey restaurant have been sentenced for running a scam to steal unclaimed funds from the state in 2006. Stefan Arteaga-Pitzenbauer and Luis Maura have both pleaded guilty to stealing $8,584 by creating and approving payment of fraudulent claims.
NJ.com
6/9/2010
Illinois Considers Tax Amnesty Program Verses Cigarette Tax
The state of Illinois is debating whether their tax amnesty program is the best option to raise funds, and is considering taxing $1 per cigarette pack instead. Both would raise the same amount of funds, and a cigarette tax has public health benefits with it.
Progress Illinois
6/7/2010
Florida Passes Tax Amnesty Program
Florida announced they have passed a tax amnesty program for delinquent tax payers for a three month program starting July 1 thought September 30 to try and raise money for their budget deficit.
PR Newswire
6/3/2010
Paperless System for Returning Unclaimed Property
Missouri Treasurer Clint Zweifel announced he has developed a paperless system to return unclaimed property held by the state. Not only will this system cut costs, it will also put the average wait time for getting the property to approximately 15 days.
The Associated Press
6/3/2010
Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty Deadline Approaches
Delinquent tax payers wanting to take advantage of Pennsylvania's tax amnesty program only have till June 18, 2010 to submit their applications.
Cherry Bekaert & Holland
6/2/2010
Missouri's Online Sales Tax Bill Not Passed
A bill for Missouri to adopt the Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement was not passed at the General Assembly spring legislative session. The bill would have allowed the state to collect sales tax on online purchases and generate millions of dollars for the state and local governments.
Moberly Monitor-Index
5/28/2010
Louisiana Warns Residents of Unclaimed Property "Finders"
Louisiana's Department of the Treasury's Unclaimed Property Division has received several complaints from citizens who have been contacted by individuals offering to help locate unclaimed property for a fee. The State warns that these people, known as "finders", are in no way affiliates with the state's Unclaimed Property Division. Locating unclaimed property is a free service offered by the state, and citizens are urged to ignore the claims made by these "finders."
The Town Talk
5/28/2010
Pennsylvania's Tax Amnesty Program Reaches a Third of Net Goal
Pennsylvania announced their tax amnesty program has reached a third of their net goal of $190 million collected in back taxes. With only 23 days left, the state is hoping more delinquent tax payers step up to pay back their overdue taxes.
The Patriot-News
5/27/2010
Illinois Passes Tax Amnesty Program to Raise $200M
In an effort to raise funds for Illinois' scarce budget, the House has passed a tax amnesty program that will allow people who are behind in their state income tax to get caught up without paying any penalties or interest to raise more than $200 million.
STL Today
5/25/2010
Courts Rule States can Make Money off Unclaimed Property
Illinois State Supreme Court ruled that there was nothing wrong with the state making money off of unclaimed property. When property has been unclaimed for an extended amount of time, the state invests it while waiting for the owner to claim it, then keeps any profit from that investment. Some property owners have challenged the law, and insist that the interest should go to the owners instead of the state.
Northwest Herald
5/21/2010
The Ease of Finding Unclaimed Property
Americans are owed over $33 billion in unclaimed money, and many citizens do not realize how easy it is to find and claim unclaimed property. With technological advancements, states now have websites where you simply search for money owed.
The Christian Science Monitor
5/13/2010
Amazon Denies North Carolina Request for Customer Information
In an effort to collect sales tax on ecommerce purchases, North Carolina has asked Amazon for the names and addresses of residents who have purchased items on the site since 2003. Amazon denied North Carolina the names, stating that the audit is in violations of the First Amendment and customer's privacy rights.
Accounting WEB
5/11/2010
Missouri Looks to e-Commerce to Solve Budget Issues
Missouri is looking for solutions to its difficult budget situation by considering bills that would implement the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement for Missouri and require collection of sales tax on e-commerce purchases.
Moberly Monitor-Index
5/4/2010
Ohioans Vote on Tax Issues
Ohio citizens are hitting the voting polls to vote on raising sales tax, raising existing use tax on hospitals and renewing fire protection levies.
The Ledger Independent
5/3/2010
Unclaimed Property Seen as Scam
According to a recent survey, many individuals do not check unclaimed property lists because they believe they are a scam. That is why states like New Jersey are trying to educate citizens on what unclaimed property is, and how to claim what is rightfully theirs.
North Jersey
5/2/2010
Will the Government Ruin the Internet With Taxation?
In trying to tax online ventures, could the government ruin the Internet? As the government tries to figure out ways to collect online sales tax, many worry about the effect it will have on the Internet.
Finance & Commerce
4/28/2010
Deadline for Glendale Tax Amnesty Program Fast Approaching
Time is running out for Glendale, Calif. businesses to take advantage of the city tax amnesty program. Business owners and landlords have been given a grace period to pay their delinquent sales tax by April 30; so far more than 350 people have participated.
YourWestValley.com
4/28/2010
Michigan Looks for e-Commerce Taxation Solutions
Michigan State estimates that it lost over $94 million during 2009 in sales tax due to online purchases. They estimate that 18 percent of this will be collected in receipts in 2010, but are looking for ways to collect the rest through tax programs.
Michigan Policy Network
4/27/2010
Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty Program Opens
The state of Pennsylvania opened its first tax amnesty program since 1996 in an effort to collect billions of delinquent payments.
Philly Business News
4/27/2010
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