When Is the Right Time to Automate Your Business’s Sales Tax?
Sales tax is a confusing, time-consuming, and unprofitable hassle for most growing businesses. This is especially true if you are required to collect sales tax in multiple states, or if you sell through multiple channels. If you dread every sales tax filing, stop - there’s an easier way!
- You’re spending too much time on sales tax – An entrepreneur’s most valuable resource is her time. If you’re spending more than 30 minutes per taxable period on sales tax, then you’re spending too much time on an unprofitable task. You could be out there making new products, trying a new marketing campaign or taking a mentor for coffee. Buy your time back by automating sales tax.
- You often file late – Everybody knows that Income Tax Day is April 15th. But sales tax due dates can fall at any time of the year. Most businesses pay sales tax either monthly or annually, but the actual due date can vary by state. For example, currently, sales tax is due on the 20th in Georgia, the 23rd in Ohio, and the last day of the month in California. If you’re having trouble keeping up with sales tax due dates, automate and you won’t have to worry about paying those pesky late fees again!
- You make mistakes – It’s not your fault. We’ve seen finance geniuses stumped by confusing and unintuitive state sales tax forms. Most states require many lines of data entry and whole dollar rounding to fill out a sales tax return properly. We’re often asked “The numbers won’t add up no matter what I do. Can I just fudge it?” You shouldn’t be fudging your numbers, so it may be time to automate sales tax.
- You’re tired of dealing with outdated filing systems – All U.S. states that collect sales tax allow some form of online filing, but many state tax filing websites saw their best day in 1999. Some web sites have been known to stump many taxpayers by timing out as they painstakingly enter amounts for every city, county and special taxing district. That can be hours of work – gone in single computer error! If you’re tired of remembering passwords and navigating outdated user interfaces, it may be time to automate your sales tax filing.
- You simply don’t want to deal with sales tax anymore! – Nobody ventured out into the world with a new business idea because he wanted the chance to file sales tax returns. Part of the reason you wanted to be your own boss was to get away from thankless administrative hassles. If you simply never, ever want to look at a sales tax filing again, then it’s time to automate!
*This article represents the thoughts of the author, an employee of TaxJar and is not endorsed or verified by PayPal. You should consult your own tax, legal and accounting advisors before engaging in any transaction. Neither PayPal nor TaxJar provide tax, legal or accounting advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, tax, legal or accounting advice
TaxJar is a service that makes sales tax reporting and filing simple for more than 8,000 online sellers. Try a 30-day-free trial of TaxJar today (no-credit card required!) and eliminate sales tax compliance headaches from your life!
Contributing Writer, Jennifer Dunn, TaxJar