Back to School for Tax Professionals Too

The waning days of summer means it’s back-to-school time for students everywhere. But this time of year provides the perfect opportunity for us as professionals to think about continuing our education and professional growth as well. And even though we are focused on all things sales tax at the Sales Tax Institute, we believe it’s important that we as professionals continue to push ourselves to grow in other areas as well.

As we are so focused on our careers and the day-to-day obligations of our jobs, we sometimes lose sight of or neglect our personal growth or achieving a good work-life balance. I believe that it’s important to remember these things as we push our careers forward.

And that’s why each month for as long as we’ve been doing the Sales Tax Compass, we make sure to include articles that focus on personal development and growth, both inside and outside the office.

If you look at our “What We’re Reading” articles in this month’s newsletter, under the Career Development section, you’ll find articles on managing stress and anxiety in the workplace, tips on getting the most out of LinkedIn, and guidance on how side hustles can help your career. We find these resources helpful in our lives, and we like to pass them along to you in the hopes that you find them helpful too.

Another great resource is our blog, which has a number of blog posts devoted to career and personal development. You can find those blog posts here. And as always, if there’s something you’d like us to cover in our blog, let us know!

Our goal at the Sales Tax Institute is to help you be the best at what you do. The Sales Tax Institute has been around for 22 years – we have the experience, the expertise, and we know what’s important when it comes to sales tax education. If you need to learn a sales tax skill (and there are many to be learned!), you can rely on us.

And this point in time provides a unique opportunity for anyone who deals with sales tax to continue their professional development, even experts who have been doing it for many years. And the reason is South Dakota v. Wayfair, which we’ve been covering in-depth lately.

South Dakota v. Wayfair has essentially turned sales tax nexus on its head in one fell swoop. For decades, physical presence was the standard for determining sales tax nexus. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Wayfair has struck down the physical presence requirement. Which means that many businesses and tax professionals need to make big adjustments to how they deal with sales tax, and now!

As we’ve said many times before, the Court’s decision in Wayfair is a huge development. In fact, it’s the biggest I’ve seen in my 30+ years in sales tax. And we’ve been following the developments closely, keeping you up-to-date with our Remote Seller Nexus Chart (if you haven’t bookmarked it yet, do so now!) and our Remote Seller Resources page.

These resources have tons of great, helpful information when it comes to remote seller nexus legislation across the states, but they can only take you so far. If the Court’s decision in Wayfair has fundamentally changed how you look at your business operations as they relate to sales tax, then you’ll need expert advice on how to navigate the new sales tax landscape, and now is the best time to do it.

In order to get you up to speed on all the latest developments and prepare you for the future, we are now offering our newest course: Sales Tax Jumpstart: Compliance, Administration, and Automation Post-Wayfair.

Sales Tax Jumpstart will take place online over the course of nine weeks, on Thursdays from September 13 through November 8. The course will give you the tools and knowledge you need to get compliant in the wake of South Dakota v. Wayfair.

I am so excited about this new course, and we have been working hard to get it to you quickly, when you need it. The course is built with you in mind – it’s online so you can attend from anywhere, it’s interactive so you can get answers to your pressing questions, and it’s flexible. If you have to miss a scheduled session, you’ll be able to watch a recording of that week’s session so you can keep up.

There are lots of other great perks, including two “office hours” sessions where you can ask me anything, a complete set of Sales Tax Institute tools and worksheets, the opportunity to earn 21 CPE credits and much more.

This course is a really great package, and we’re offering it for a one-time largely discounted price as this is our beta offering. If Sales Tax Jumpstart sounds like it is the right fit for you or somebody you know, I’m highly encouraging you to check it out. And don’t wait – registration is only open until Thursday, September 6 or when the course sells out, whichever comes first. (And the response has been great – we are 75% of capacity after just 1 week of registrations!)

We’re also excited to announce that we’ve nailed down the dates and location for our 2019 live courses. The Advanced Sales and Use Tax Workshop will be taking place April 29 – May 1, 2019 in Chicago, IL. Basics of Sales and Use Tax will be taking place June 19 – 21, 2019 in Chicago, IL. Registration will available this fall, so keep an eye out for that announcement later this year.

As always, we’d love to hear about the topics you’d like to learn about. If there are topics that you would love to see covered at the 2019 Advanced Workshop, send us a quick email and let us know!

All of us at the Sales Tax Institute are dedicated to helping you do your best, not just in sales tax but in your career and personal development as well. We look forward to continuing our mission, whether that’s through keeping you informed via newsletter, social or our website or teaching you at one of our courses. Thank you for all of your support!