Gross receipts taxes are generally levied and assessed against a seller based on the gross proceeds of all sales of tangible personal property and/or services (regardless of how they are taxed for sales tax) into a state without any deductions for costs of doing business.
The imposition of gross receipts taxes borrows concepts from other tax types. Sometimes a state’s gross receipts tax may “look and smell” like a sales tax but is not applied in the same way. In some states, it is a replacement or additional income tax and yet in others it is administered as part of the business license process.
In many cases, the responsibility to manage these hybrid taxes falls to sales tax professionals. However, most sales tax professionals specialize in just that – sales tax – and may not be aware of how to manage the specific nuances of gross receipts taxes.
There is a renewed focus on gross receipts taxes of varying stripes across the United States leading to changes in who is liable for the taxes and filing obligations as well as states starting to audit. You need a framework to determine if these taxes affect your business in order to stay compliant. Become confident in how to manage gross receipts taxes in this 90-minute on-demand webinar.
Who should watch?
This on-demand webinar is intended for financial and operations personnel—including tax, general accounting, accounts payable, sales, tax technology, purchasing and credit—who are tasked with managing gross receipts taxes as part of their responsibilities. The course is also designed for general practitioners, with minimal to no experience.
Gross Receipts Tax: What Makes Them Special is a 30-day online rental through the popular streaming service, Vimeo.
Click play on the video player to the left to watch a trailer for the course.
To register, click Start this Course below, and you will be taken to a simple web form to complete. From there, you’ll be sent to Vimeo to complete your purchase and gain access to the course.
There can be a learning curve in understanding gross receipts taxes. Generally speaking, “gross receipts tax” is a catch-all term for a tax on all business receipts rather than on net income. However, there are several variations imposed across the states.
Gross receipts taxes in some states, such as in New Mexico and Hawaii, function similarly to sales taxes. The seller is liable for the tax and must present the tax on the invoice to pass the tax on to the customer. However, unlike a sales tax, gross receipts taxes apply to business-to-business transactions in addition to purchases by the end consumer and typically apply to most sales including services.
In other states, gross receipts blend income tax and sales tax features. The Washington Business and Occupation (B&O) Tax, the Ohio Commercial Activity Tax (CAT), the Oregon CAT, and the Texas Franchise (Margin) Tax all have distinct threshold, tax base, calculation, and exemption rules to understand. Recent activities indicate a trend of changes to higher thresholds for who is responsible for filing, including Ohio’s shift from a $500,000 threshold to $3 million effective January 1, 2024.
There has also been a recent trend for local gross receipts taxes such as the San Francisco Gross Receipts Tax, Payroll Tax and Homelessness Tax, the Portland Gross Receipts Tax, Philadelphia Gross Receipts, and a variety of local business licenses that measure the license fee on gross receipts such as Los Angeles and cities/counties in Virginia. Many Washington cities have had local B&O taxes for years.
Gross receipts taxes are hybrid, shape shifting taxes that can easily leave you confused if you don’t have the details straight. States are becoming more aggressive with gross receipts related audits. Now is the time to get expert guidance and answers to your questions at this on-demand webinar so you can handle gross receipts taxes with confidence.
In this 90-minute on-demand webinar, sales tax expert Diane Yetter of the Sales Tax Institute will teach you what you need to know about the different forms of gross receipts taxes. You’ll learn tenants of gross receipts taxes, how to determine if you have a filing obligation, recent legislative changes across the states, and much more.
And during the Q&A portion of the webinar, you can learn from the questions of previous students.
Diane L. Yetter, President & Founder, YETTER and Sales Tax Institute
Diane L. Yetter is the “Sales Tax Nerd TM” as well as a strategist, advisor, speaker and author in the field of sales and use tax. She is president and founder of YETTER Tax, a sales tax consulting and tax technology firm in business since 1996. She is also the founder of The Sales Tax Institute, which offers live and online courses to educate business professionals about sales and use tax.
More About Diane L. Yetter
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