The Sales Tax People Podcast

When a contractor doesn't charge you sales tax, the state may come to you for it as use tax... the tax you owe when no sales tax was charged.

Danny, Parr, and Paul walk through a franchisor client that got audited on its warehouse build-outs and ended up owing the tax, plus penalties and interest.

In this episode:

Who pays tax on materials: the contractor or me?
Why the state can audit the buyer?
How lump-sum vs. separated contracts can change who collects
What tax software indemnification does and doesn't cover

Not sure your construction purchases are taxed correctly? Talk to a specialist, free. 

Book a What's Next call at: https://sales.tax/

00:00 Intro
00:29 A franchisor's construction audit
03:00 Who pays tax on materials: contractor or buyer?
04:15 Why sales tax depends on the state
07:42 Can the state audit the buyer?
08:50 Audit roulette
10:03 Why contractor audits get complicated
11:45 Drop-shipped windows across state lines
14:59 Break it down transaction by transaction
18:31 Where tax software setup goes wrong
20:40 What indemnification does and doesn't cover
23:46 Why sales tax hits your margins

#SalesTax #UseTax #AuditReadiness

Charging a flat $100 and paying the sales tax yourself sounds simple. But if your invoice doesn't show the tax, in many states the state may treat the full $100 as the sale price and charge tax on top of it. Danny Wright, Jason Parr, and Paul Johnson explain how tax-inclusive pricing works, why some states want tax on its own line, and how it can go wrong in an audit.

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:11 Can you charge a flat price and pay the tax yourself?
03:20 Why the invoice has to show the tax
04:22 Pricing so the tax doesn't eat your margin
05:48 What an auditor sees on your invoice
07:43 Why buyers may end up paying the tax twice
08:57 Buy one, get one free: what's next

Not sure your pricing holds up? Talk to a specialist, free. Book a What's Next call at https://sales.tax/

#SalesTax #Pricing #Ecommerce

Sales tax exposure grows quietly in the background, and by the time most business owners notice it, it's already cost them tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars. In this episode, Danny, Parr, and Paul recap Amplio's Amplify Growth Summit and break down why the businesses that get hurt worst are the ones stuck at either extreme: trusting the wrong advisor, or leaning too hard on "set it and forget it" automation.

We cover:

• The three questions every business needs to answer: where you sell, what you sell, and how you sell
• Why sales tax liability is one of the biggest (and most overlooked) profit killers in M&A due diligence and escrow holdbacks
• A real example of a Denver-based fractional CFO who didn't realize SaaS is taxable at the city level, even though it's exempt at the state level
• Why the cost to fix non-compliance is often the same as the cost of staying compliant all along — the real killer is the penalties and interest stacked on top
• How AI and automation should support your compliance strategy, not replace human judgment

If sales tax has been sitting on your "figure it out later" list, this episode explains why later gets expensive fast.

🔔 Subscribe for more conversations on sales tax compliance, growth strategy, and the financial blind spots that quietly cost businesses money.

📩 Need help understanding your sales tax exposure? Reach out to The Sales Tax People at [sales.tax]

#SalesTax #BusinessCompliance #SmallBusiness #Ecommerce #TaxCompliance #MergersAndAcquisitions

YESCO has been lighting up the Las Vegas Strip for over a century — about 70% of the Strip's iconic casino signage was built by them, including the newest screens on the Sphere. But behind the neon is a sales tax story most people never hear.

In this episode, Clark Smith, YESCO's Treasurer and Director of Finance and third-generation family employee, joins Danny to talk about how a routine recovery audit turned into a decade-plus partnership, and how a multi-entity mix-up nearly put a multi million dollar acquisition at risk.

We cover:
• How YESCO got its start in 1920 with $300 and a paintbrush
• The audit that first brought The Sales Tax People and YESCO together
• How a multi million dollar acquisition almost fell apart over a sales tax filing mistake
• What it's like managing sales tax across 37+ states, every single month

If you're running a business that's grown (or growing), you probably have some of the same issues. It’s best to find them before a buyer or auditor does.

🔗 Check out YESCO here
🔗 Learn more about The Sales Tax People here

Nexus. Taxability. Who's responsible to collect. If you've been following this series, you now know the three questions every business needs to answer about sales tax compliance! This last one ties it all together and covers one thing a lot of businesses get wrong next: sales tax software.

Sales tax software and sales tax knowledge have to work together. Simply buying a tool doesn't make you compliant! It has to be set up correctly around your specific nexus footprint, taxability, and collection responsibility.

In this episode:

- Why sales tax software alone isn't enough and what "married" to your compliance strategy actually means
- What to do next if this raised questions for you

If sales tax is keeping you up at night, let's talk!

Schedule a free, quick, no-pressure conversation with a real sales tax expert to get clarity and peace of mind here.

You've got nexus. You know what you sell is taxable. So why might you still not owe the tax?

This is the third and final video in our 3-part series on the questions every business needs to answer about sales tax. This time, it comes down to how you sell and who's actually responsible for collecting.

We cover:

- B2B vs. B2C, and why the type of customer you sell to changes your responsibility
- Marketplace facilitator laws: how selling on Amazon, Etsy, Walmart, Home Depot, Wayfair, or eBay shifts tax collection to the platform — and why you still need to confirm they're actually collecting on your sales
- Wholesale and resale: when your customer is the one responsible for collecting tax from their customers, not you
- Why you may still need to report exempt sales on your return, even when you're not the one collecting
- What happens when you don't file: penalties, interest, and penalties on the penalty

Put all three questions together (nexus, taxability, and who's responsible to collect) and you've got the foundation for managing sales tax compliance the right way!

Talk to a real sales tax expert about your compliance responsibility. Schedule a free "What's Next" call here.

Nexus tells you where you owe sales tax. Taxability tells you what you actually owe it on. Most businesses get the second part wrong, and it's an expensive mistake!

We break down how each state decides what's taxable, why tangible goods are taxed by default (unless specifically exempted), and why more services are becoming taxable every year.

We'll give you real examples: a protein bar that's taxable in some states and exempt in others, a security company taxed differently for "monitoring" vs. "management" services, and a company selling AI that was actually overcollecting tax on professional services.

Get taxability wrong and you could end up paying the tax yourself out of pocket (plus penalties and interest😧) during an audit. Watch to learn how to determine taxability correctly and protect your margins.

📌 Topics covered:

Nexus vs. taxability — what's the difference
Why tangible property is taxable by default
How taxable services vary by state
Real-world taxability mistakes and their cost
What to do if you've been over- or under-collecting

If you're unsure whether what you sell is taxable, get an expert's opinion here.

Where you sell is the first question in sales tax, and the answer comes down to nexus.

This is part 1 of our 3-part series breaking down the questions every business needs to answer about sales tax! Here's what we cover:

- What nexus actually means: the connection between your business and a state that triggers a tax obligation
- Physical nexus vs. economic nexus, and why economic nexus changed the game
- The common thresholds ($100,000 in sales or 200 transactions) and why they're calculated differently from state to state
- What happens when a business crosses a threshold without realizing it

We always start with nexus. It's the foundation everything else gets built on. Get it wrong, and the rest of your compliance is built on sand 😳

Next up: Question 2 covers taxability, because having nexus doesn't automatically mean everything you sell gets taxed.

Talk to a real sales tax expert about your nexus footprint. Schedule a free "What's Next" call here.

#SalesTaxNexus #SalesTaxCompliance #TheSalesTaxPeople

Sales tax can feel complicated. Here's where to start.

We're kicking off a new miniseries on the three questions every business owner needs to be able to answer about their sales tax responsibility:

Where do you sell?
What do you sell?
How do you sell it?

If you can't answer these with confidence, you may have a blind spot that's exposing you to risk. That's exactly what we're here to help with.

Follow along as Jason, Paul, and Danny break down each question. If you want to talk through your specific situation sooner, we offer a free 30 minute consultation. No pressure, just clarity.

Head to our site: sales.tax

Is Your "Set It and Forget It" Sales Tax Strategy Quietly Costing You Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars?

In this episode of Tax Talk, Danny, Parr, and Paul break down exactly when a business needs to start worrying about sales tax compliance — and why waiting until there's a visible problem is almost always the most expensive path. You'll hear a real-world example of a $50M SaaS acquisition that faced nearly $1M in escrow holdbacks because sales tax was never addressed, and learn why a free second opinion could be the smartest move your business makes this year.

Questions we answer in this episode:

When does a new business need to start thinking about sales tax?
What are economic nexus thresholds and how do they vary by state?
Does physical presence (employees, inventory) trigger sales tax obligations?
How often should I review my sales tax compliance setup?
What happens if I ignore sales tax notices or never address compliance?
Can sales tax issues affect an M&A deal or company acquisition?
How much does it cost to fix sales tax problems reactively vs. proactively?

🔍 Learn about our Sales Tax Nexus and Taxability services → https://sales.tax/services/nexus-and-taxability/

📌 See how Acima saved hundreds of thousands and supported a $1.65B acquisition → https://sales.tax/client-stories/acima/
📌 See how Sports Research saved over $4,000,000 in fees and penalties → https://sales.tax/client-stories/sports-research/

🎙️ Hear Jason Parr on The Go-to-Market Podcast explain how nexus has changed: "Nexus used to be about where you conducted business. Now it's all based on where your customers are located." → https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEdaGo4pVfU&list=PL7A8ewX5HdTLMsdEmFrIotm3IqPQn8yKO&index=6

Don't let sales tax smolder beneath your business. Whether you're a startup entering the US market or an established company that hasn't reviewed your setup in years, a quick conversation could save you from a six- or seven-figure surprise.

📅 Book a Demo for more customized help
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