Are Out-Of-State FBA Sellers Exempt From Sales Tax Collection In Pennsylvania?

Out-of-state FBA sellers in Pennsylvania may not need to collect state sales tax on sales made with their inventory.

In the beginning of September, FBA sellers, with the help of the Online Merchants Guild, secured a victory against the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (DOR) when the Commonwealth Court determined that FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) inventory is not sufficient to establish a sales tax collection requirement for nonresident FBA sellers. In this blog article, we explain what FBA inventory is, the background that led to this decision and what it means moving forward.

What Is An FBA Seller? 

FBA is a service that allows businesses to outsource order fulfillment to Amazon. Businesses send products to Amazon fulfillment centers and when someone makes a purchase, the FBA workers pack and ship the order, take care of customer service and process returns.

What Sales Tax Obligations Do Out-Of-State FBA Sellers Have?

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Pennsylvania Sales And Use Tax

The state of Pennsylvania levies a 6% state sales tax on the retail sale, lease or rental of most goods and some services. Local jurisdictions impose additional sales taxes up to 2%. The range of total sales tax rates within the state of Pennsylvania is between 6% and 8%.

Use tax is also collected on the consumption, use or storage of goods in Pennsylvania if sales tax was not paid on the purchase of the goods. The use tax rate is the same as the sales tax rate. Returns are to be filed on or before the 20th day of the month following the month in which the purchases were made. For example, purchases made in the month of January should be reported to the state of Pennsylvania on or before the 20th day of February.
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TaxConnections Executive Search Services Division has been retained to conduct a search for a Senior Director of Tax for a publically listed regulated company in the New Jersey area. With a presence in more than 46 U.S. states and Canada this company employs more than 7,000 professionals. Our client seeks a tax executive with experience in a regulated industry to lead and develop a strong tax team.

Key Responsibilities Include The Following:

  • Leads departmental research initiatives and interprets tax law; defines and implements corporate tax strategies, policies and standard operating procedures to ensure on-going compliance with statutory tax laws; manages exposure to risk; maximizes and leverages tax benefits and minimizes the company’s overall tax liability within a regulatory industry and rate case construct.
  • Anticipates and plans for developing and upcoming tax issues, and communicates them effectively to senior executives.
  • Ensures that the performance of the tax reporting and compliance staff results in the prompt and accurate processing and filing of the relevant tax returns and manage payment of the relevant taxes to the relevant tax authorities on time.
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Senior Tax Director Job- Camden - New Jersey

TaxConnections has recently been retained to conduct a search for a Senior Director of Tax for a publically listed regulated company in the New Jersey area. With a presence in more than 46 U.S. states and Canada this company employs more than 7,000 professionals. Our client seeks a tax executive with experience in a regulated industry to lead and develop a strong tax team.

Key Responsibilities Include The Following:

  • Leads departmental research initiatives and interprets tax law; defines and implements corporate tax strategies, policies and standard operating procedures to ensure on-going compliance with statutory tax laws; manages exposure to risk; maximizes and leverages tax benefits and minimizes the company’s overall tax liability within a regulatory industry and rate case construct.
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Get An Early Tax “Refund” By Adjusting Your Withholding

Each year, millions of taxpayers claim an income tax refund. To be sure, receiving a payment from the IRS for a few thousand dollars can be a pleasant influx of cash. But it means you were essentially giving the government an interest-free loan for close to a year, which isn’t the best use of your money.

Fortunately, there’s a way to begin collecting your 2018 refund now: You can review the amounts you’re having withheld and/or what estimated tax payments you’re making, and adjust them to keep more money in your pocket during the year. Read More

On March 13, 2018. the Internal Revenue Service announced that it is ending the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program on September 28, 2018. The IRS has made the announcement to allow time for taxpayers who have undisclosed foreign financial accounts and assets to enter into the program and make a OVDP voluntary disclosure before the program ends.
OVDP Program

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The clock is ticking down to the tax filing deadline. The good news is that you still may be able to save on your impending 2017 tax bill by making contributions to certain retirement plans.

For example, if you qualify, you can make a deductible contribution to a traditional IRA right up until the April 17, 2018, filing date and still benefit from the resulting tax savings on your 2017 return. You also have until April 17 to make a contribution to a Roth IRA.

And if you happen to be a small business owner, you can set up and contribute to a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) plan up until the due date for your company’s tax return, including extensions. Read More

Dynasty Trusts Are More Valuable Than Ever

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law this past December, affects more than just income taxes. It’s brought great changes to estate planning and, in doing so, bolstered the potential value of dynasty trusts.

Exemption Changes

Let’s start with the TCJA. It doesn’t repeal the estate tax, as had been discussed before its passage. The tax was retained in the final version of the law. For the estates of persons dying, and gifts made, after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026, the gift and estate tax exemption and the generation-skipping transfer tax exemption amounts have been increased to an inflation-adjusted $10 million, or $20 million for married couples (expected to be $11.2 million and $22.4 million, respectively, for 2018). Read More

What is the Pennsylvania EITC Program?

The Educational Improvement Tax Credit program allows business donors and accredited individual donors to redirect their annual business and individual income tax liabilities to local schools and charities that help kids from ages 3 to 18.

What tax benefit does a donor receive? Read More

Monika Miles

Businesses obviously grow by selling their products outside of their local boundaries and across state lines. Pennsylvania (PA) has experienced, like most states, a relatively large amount of sales from companies outside PA, and, with that, the loss in sales tax revenue from those sales, as out of state companies do not often collect sales tax. Pennsylvania has a growing economy, and like most states, it is continually modifying its tax laws to be current with changing conditions and technologies.

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Pennsylvania, like many other states, is adjusting its tax statutes to include more goods and services within the taxable definitions. Following recent changes to its somewhat confusing new legislation, the state issued a “clarifying” bulletin for use in interpreting the new requirements. In this blog, we will discuss a few areas of this clarification, as well as an amnesty program available to some businesses.

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Tax Season Stress Relievers –

It’s almost that time of year that we all look forward to, especially accountants buckling down with their survival kits! It goes without saying that money and stress go hand in hand. For that reason it is easy to understand that the tax preparation season can be a stressful time of year for CPAs. It is not uncommon for them to put in 70-80 hours/week during the tax season including sleepless nights, lots of coffee, and weekends at the office. To help reduce some stress for our CPAs this tax season, we have put together a list of tips to help ease the stress and make these coming weeks as painless as possible: Read More