Mastering the Basics: Sales and Use Tax Made Simple

About the Course

The presentation is designed to give the participant a basic understanding of the framework of the taxing scheme so that they can know the potential sales and use tax issues that are likely to occur, what questions to ask, the core compliance strategies designed to mitigate risk, and most importantly when to get help.

Specific course topics include the following:

A discussion on the types of sales tax and their distinct differences (and why that is important to know).

The basic core taxability of retail sales, rentals, and certain services.

The differences between exemptions and exclusions (and why that matters).

Tax base computations and concepts.

How tax rates are determined.

Also, how sourcing (both intra-state and inter-state) is determined.

An in-depth discussion on compensating use tax, and

We will also discuss current policies and trends regarding both economic and physical presence nexus.

The course wraps up with a series of recommended best practices and guidance for how to best prepare for future audits, how to mitigate risk and exposure, voluntary disclosure, letter ruling requests, and managed audits.

Course Objective

Provide the attendees a basic understanding of key sales and use tax concepts and theory so that they can understand the potential issues likely to occur, and how best to address them within their compliance process.

Who is the Target Audience?

The core audience for this class include the following: accountants, small business owners, tax managers, tax directors, C-level professionals, accounts payable personnel, and other tax professionals including new associates tasked with dealing with transaction/indirect tax matters.

Basic Knowledge

Attendees will benefit from the class if they come with a general understanding of business practices and accounting. They do not need to have prior sales and use tax experience, but the course will be more helpful to individuals who deal with business tax compliance matters, or at least business practices on the operations side of their organization (i.e., sales personnel). This class would be ideal for small business professionals who are not tax subject matter experts, but whose duties require a basic working knowledge of these types of transaction taxes to avoid or mitigate audit risk and exposure.