Tax

Checklist: Companies Amendment Act changes

If your business is a registered company, a law change means you must have a director who lives in New Zealand – or who lives in Australia and is a director of an Australian registered company – by 28 October.

You’ll also need to provide some extra information about directors and any ultimate holding company with your next annual return.

Make sure you’re sorted by following this quick and easy checklist:

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How to Get Sales Tax Compliant for 2016

Sales tax is complex. Maybe you’re new to selling online or maybe you’ve decided to get serious about sales tax compliance. Or maybe you thought you were compliant but a scare (like a letter from a state’s department of revenue!) just convinced you otherwise. No matter what has you tackling sales tax compliance, TaxJar has your back. Here’s how to get started with sales tax compliance, if:

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The Anatomy of a Sales Tax Rate

We get a lot of questions about exactly how much sales tax you should be charging your customers.

As with most things in the sales tax world, the answer is usually “It depends.”

This post will explain what factors go into those weird “6.75%” or “9.5%” sales tax numbers you see when charging sales tax to your customers. And we’ll also arm you with the tools and knowledge you need to be sure you’re charging your customers the right amount of sales tax! (And if you’re building your own shopping cart and reading all this sounds like pulling teeth, we get it. Check out TaxJar’s SmartCalcs Sales Tax API and let us handle it for you!)

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Does Your Summer Business Have to Pay Tax?

Summer is one of the most active seasons for small businesses. Not only do businesses start hiring more people but, according to the Paychex IHS Small Business Index, there tends to be an upswing in the number of businesses started during the summer months. The trouble is some people see their summer business as a seasonal project, rather than as an actual company, so they don’t pay close enough attention to their new tax obligations. To help summer entrepreneurs stay out of trouble, here is a quick breakdown as to what taxes their business has to collect and pay.

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Sales Tax Shaming: Why do states do it?

Starting way back in 1995, Connecticut launched its first publication of delinquent tax payers. Washington followed suit in 1997 and now, as of December 2014, 23 states either publish a list or have a searchable database of delinquent tax payers. The thought process behind creating these publicly accessible lists is that if someone owes back taxes, they are more inclined to pay if they are publically embarrassed.

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