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Sales Tax Filing Mistakes: Filing Basis, Computation, Omissions

sales tax filing mistakes

In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some of the common mistakes we see made by businesses when they file their sales taxes. From improper timing to issues with reporting and several others, there are a few errors to avoid in this area — and luckily, doing so is very easy if you have quality experts assisting you.

At SalesTaxSolutions.US, we’re happy to offer a huge range of ecommerce business sales tax assistance, from sales tax compliance services to tax returns, tax reports and more. We’ve seen a number of the most common sales tax filing mistakes made by businesses, and we know exactly how to help you avoid them. Here are a few others to be aware of.

Mistakes With Annual, Quarterly and Monthly Filings

If you have sales tax nexus in multiple states for your business, you may run into issues where some want you to file on a quarterly basis while others require monthly filings, and still others prefer annual. This may be due to sales volume thresholds or other factors, and it can cause a lot of confusion when filing your sales taxes.

The best thing you can do is check with whomever is responsible for receiving these filings in your area and ask questions about what they’re looking for from you on an annual, quarterly and monthly basis. It’s also a good idea to keep good records of how much sales tax you owe in each state for each filing period, regardless of what type it is. This will help ensure that you’re being as accurate and consistent as possible when filing your business taxes.

Computation Errors

One type of error that was more common in prior generations before computing advances, but may still take place from time to time today, is miscalculating your business taxes. This can typically happen due to human error, but there are cases where it’s simply not possible for this sort of mistake to take place. For example, if the rate in one state changes while you’re filing your return, and you already submitted your form with rates present from the old year, you won’t have a problem. However, you will have computational issues to fix if you’ve already submitted your return and received a refund.

These types of errors aren’t too common anymore, but it’s useful to check with experts who can help ensure that your business is being as accurate as possible when filing its taxes.

Forgetting Necessary Information

Another possible error for companies who file in multiple states is completing sales tax forms incorrectly or filing the wrong form entirely. This error is usually made due to the fact that returns are not uniform between different states. Each state has its own forms and guidelines to determine what information needs to be listed, and your business may need to provide different information for each one. For example, one state may want you to list gross and taxable sales by each city while another may only want the taxable sale amount for the state.

This can cause problems when filing your business taxes if you don’t have information readily available for all the necessary fields. To avoid this, be sure to contact any possible filing locations well ahead of time and make sure you understand what they want to see on your forms.

For more on how to avoid mistakes when filing your business’s sales taxes, or to learn about any of our sales tax or other tax return programs, speak to the staff at SalesTaxSolutions.US today.

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Christopher Stout

Christopher Stout has 25 years of experience as a sales tax accountant, working across a wide variety of industries and sales platforms. He's personally prepared or supervised the preparation of over 60,000 sales and use tax returns in his career.

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