The Freedom to Practice Sales Tax Compliance

In this episode of Tax Rant, Danny Wright, Jason Parr, and Paul Johnson celebrate America's 250th anniversary by exploring how gratitude and perspective can transform the way business owners think about sales tax compliance. You'll learn why July 1 is a critical date for new sales tax legislative changes, how to reframe multi-state compliance as a sign of business success, and why the real cost of NOT outsourcing your sales tax far outweighs the cost of doing it right.

Questions answered in this episode:

• Is sales tax compliance really just a cost of doing business?
• What happens if I fail to collect sales tax from my customers?
• Why is July 1 such an important date for sales tax changes?
• Am I at a competitive disadvantage if I charge sales tax and my competitors don't?
• How can I reframe sales tax obligations as a positive sign of business growth?
• Should I outsource sales tax compliance or handle it in-house?

Related Resources:
📖 Do I Need to Collect Sales Tax? A Complete Guide for Businesses
📖 What Is Economic Nexus?
📖 How Sales Tax Changed Forever After Wayfair
📖 Common Sales Tax Mistakes That Trigger Audits and Penalties
📖 The Power of Outsourced Sales Tax Compliance
📖 Sales Tax Management Services

🎧 Catch more episodes of The Sales Tax People Podcast
📊 See how Acima achieved compliance in 240+ jurisdictions: Acima Case Study
📊 See how Coburn's reduced a $1M+ liability to just over $100K: Coburn's Case Study

💬 Ready to stop worrying about sales tax and focus on growing your business? Book a Demo for more customized help

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Transcript

– Community service and the Beaver, Utah wildfire relief efforts

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're listening to the Sales Tax People Podcast On today's episode of the Sales Tax People Podcast, a wildfire in Beaver, Utah, a 250th anniversary for the country, and a Tony Robbins line about gratitude that somehow leads straight into sales tax. Jason, Danny, and Paul cover the Declaration of Independence, the World Cup crowds packing U.S. stadiums, and the one compliance mistake that turns a manageable tax bill into the worst financial hit a company can take. Freedom, perspective, and the tax nobody wants to think about. Lucky you.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

I went and visited my mom yesterday at the storehouse. They've been serving there for eight years, my parents. Actually, I think going on nine years. Oh wow. It's actually it's really it's really cool to hear about all the all that goes into like just our community in southern Utah and all the efforts and you know the families that are struggling. They they've you know, there's the big fire up there in um the mountains there in Beaver, Utah, burnt almost like a hundred thousand acres, and I don't know how many families lost their homes, but I think it was like north of a hundred structures that that were lost. Um I think a lot of it's kind of resort, you know, the ski resort and stuff. So some of them are like, you know, vacation homes, but still just and they shared some stories just to some of the families that were affected, and they're able to help with, of course, just groceries and stuff like that. Super cool. Speaking of service and

– What comes to mind when celebrating America's 250th birthday

SPEAKER_02 1:36

resources and cool stories coming off of uh the 4th of July, right? We're still here in July. Actually, one of the things I wanted to put you guys on the spot today and ask you what are some of the main things that come to mind when you celebrate the fourth, and of course, there's this focus on the birth of the United States of America. So that's the question of the day. What comes to mind for you?

SPEAKER_05 2:03

Um, well, let me share uh personally what comes to mind. I've been telling everybody happy 250. A lot of people say, hey, happy Independence Day, or happy Fourth of July. Um, and I just have been telling everybody happy 250. It's significant that um we've been independent for 250 years. I don't know if it was you, Danny, or somebody else that suggested that one of the ways you could celebrate 250 was just go back and reread the Declaration of Independence. I don't know how long it's been since either of you have read the Declaration of Independence, but Shout out to Joe Grover who gave us that Joe Grover gave us that idea. I did

– Freedom, capitalism, and the abundance of U.S. resources

SPEAKER_05 2:46

that, and uh I really enjoyed that experience. So when I think about um America's 250, I think about uh freedom. I like for real, um the ability we have to navigate and move around the country as we travel here and there, either uh road tripping or through airfare um or otherwise, just the ability to move around and go to different places, also the the plentiful nature of the um resources that we have and how relatively inexpensive things have gotten. I just I'm not talking about like high-end name brands, I'm just talking about regular standard clothing. Um it's incredible um what what you can buy today

– FIFA World Cup visitors and their positive experiences in America

SPEAKER_05 3:43

in comparison. So that makes my mind start to think about capitalism, and then when I start to think about capitalism and the the rise of opportunity that that's given to people across the board, and just how many people want to be here, um, it it then takes my mind to the World Cup, right? You don't necessarily think Independence Day for the United States of America and World Cup, but what you're getting on social media is this influx of people who are visiting the U.S. uh to attend FIFA games, FIFA World Cup games, and they're just out of their mind with how great uh the food is, the people are, uh the experiences, the the travel, the fact that you have to rent a car if you're gonna go places in the U.S. is just how big it really is. But just the uh positive experience so many people are having as they visit our country, specifically for the World Cup. But all of that, all of that, Danny, as you know, brings me right back to

– July 1 sales tax legislative changes: digital ads, SaaS, and more

SPEAKER_05 4:48

sales tax because sales tax is different than value-added tax in Europe. The experience that people are having when there's an extra charge on their bill, the influx of uh revenues in all of these jurisdictions that have stadiums where FIFA World Cup games are being played, and the sales tax revenue that's associated with that. Um, it brings me back to sales tax. Capitalism brings me back to sales tax and uh the revenue that states attempt to generate through imposing a sales tax in their states. And then that takes me to think about all of the states that are July one's like a big moment in sales tax legislation. January one's big, but July one's really big as well because a lot of new legislative changes are enacted typically around July 1, and we're seeing a lot of states that are beginning to tax things that we haven't seen taxed before, like um digital ads and other uh content that's being taxed. SaaS that's being taxed in new states, digital products

– Taxation with representation vs. the evolution of modern tax burdens

SPEAKER_05 5:54

that are being taxed, etc. So I hate to go to a negative aspect of Independence Day and taxation, but at least we have taxation with representation and not taxation without representation, even though the the tax levels seem outrageous compared to what we fought a war over 250 years ago.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Yeah, and that's I mean, even if you look at the negatives of tax, right? Generally speaking, tax like it's annoying. It's even to the level of like people wanna revolt and like just overthrow you know the tax systems and shut down the IRS, and you know, and then when it comes to sales tax in particular, right, like we would all love to have more uniformity, actually, uh with sales tax and as as much negativity as you can have around tax, it's something that I've reflected on a lot just in these last couple of weeks around

– Choosing gratitude over negativity when examining history

SPEAKER_02 7:00

like look, like it or not, there's cause and effect, and there's ultimately been like an evolution of everything as as it exists now with tax. And just if you look at our country generally speaking, it's you know, you you it I don't even bother imagining what things would be like without the negative aspects, right? Because we certainly don't have it all together. There's you see it time and time again of like a list of this or that, and why Denmark is better than the US and Japan's better than the US in these different categories, and it's like absolutely, right? Like, there's no doubt that there's a lot of things that a lot of countries do better than the US. And even within with those aspects considered, it's something that's fascinating to me and actually really helps me land a place of gratitude to look at those things and just understand that like that's just the way that things have been and the way things have evolved. And you know, here we are today. And like anything else in life, if you have a specific perspective or a perspective that is actually even based in gratitude, it it really can be helpful um when it comes to just you know being in a good state of mind, you could say, even right. And I that's when I think I I tend to research a lot, right? And I'm not unique in this aspect, but I'm very different than say, like some of my family members, you know, I I won't even have conversations with a lot of them because not that I can't have the conversation, but I know as soon as I start asking questions or saying, you know, bringing certain things up, like it's gonna just annoy people. And I like to annoy people sometimes, but not all the time. But you know, being being more specific, like it it's easy to, you know, I I went and saw Young Washington, the movie that's you know becoming more and more popular, which is super exciting for me because my brother-in-law is actually the brains behind it. Um, he was the actual mind. It was his idea, um, in in short, and uh was able to connect with Angel Studios and you know make it what it is today. So he's very much a part of it still today, and everything that's happening with it, and it's been super successful, which is awesome. We went and saw it in like a premiere setting, and uh it it led me to like down the rabbit hole of like really looking at the history uh as we know it or as we have it, and you can look at the founding fathers, and there's plenty of information out there that that you can look at and and pick at, you could say and say, like, look, George Washington was not that great because he still had slaves, you know, like they're just something that simple. And it's like, yes, you can do that, and you can land in a place of gratitude and just focus on the fact that he still was brave, he still was a hero, he still, you know, did so many things to lead to that point of you know, July 4th, 1776, and accord, and then you know, for obviously several years after that is when it was still very much a critical time, you know, in the Declaration of Independence and all that. I'm not a history buff, but like it's there are just so many things that you can look at and actually spiral downward as you dig into a rabbit hole. And I love you know doing the research and digging into these uh pieces of information and then looking at all of it and saying, okay, well, you know, what am I going to choose to focus on? And and it's important to look at the other aspects because that is a huge part of our freedom, too, is the fact that I can go, you know, to representatives, I can go to leaders, I can even even with sales tax, like if I

– Tony Robbins quote: trading expectations for appreciation

SPEAKER_02 10:57

really wanted to form a coalition and try to make it so Utah doesn't tax food anymore, I could do that. So, you know, that's that's freedom to me is is when I don't like something, I I still have plenty to focus on that I can be grateful for. And if it's in me and I, you know, have enough desire and passion behind making a change, like I have the freedom to even do that. Yeah, it's pretty incredible.

SPEAKER_05 11:24

It reminds me of uh uh Tony Robbins quote that I've been seeing here and there on social media, which is um if if you want to reduce suffering, or if you are suffering, then trade in your expectations for appreciation. And suffering ends dramatically quick. Um sometimes our expectations of a situation, of other people, of our circumstance, whatever the case may be, um uh things just fall short of

– Why gratitude journals actually work for shifting your perspective

SPEAKER_05 11:57

what we had hoped or what we expect, right? But if you can just appreciate uh the things around you, uh your perspective changes dramatically. Uh there's quite a shift in your perspective, even sometimes your attitude, right? People will do like uh gratitude journals to try to um get their headspace moving in a in a more positive direction. But it actually works, right? Gratitude journals actually work, and a lot of times people will be like, you know what, I tried that thing where you think of three things you're grateful for at the beginning of the day and at the end of the day, or just the end of the day. It didn't work for me. And I would say, um, if it's not working for you, just keep doing it. Actually, try to think of 10 things, try to think of 20 things. In fact, keep thinking of things you're grateful for until your attitude actually does change. Um it's it's surprisingly effective when uh you can appreciate the things around you. I've got this grandson, he's been here for almost a month, and um we he we were asking him, hey, what's something that you'd like to go like to do before uh you return home? And he kind of whined a little bit and he said, I never got to go to Hawaiian Falls. That's a local water park here. I never got to go to uh Hawaiian Falls. We're like, okay, well, it's raining, so we're we're not gonna go to Hawaiian Falls. And then that was his focus.

SPEAKER_04 13:31

I never got to go to Hawaiian Falls.

SPEAKER_05 13:33

I I wanted to go to Hawaiian Falls, and then we just tried to redirect, like, you've been here for a month. What what are some things that you've done? Like, what's the favorite thing you've done since you're here? And try to go back and think about all the things that he did, right? He's away from home, he's on vacation, he's he's in a different environment. Um, I just think we're the same way. I'm no different than that seven-year-old grandson when my focus is on the thing that I don't have or didn't get. I can spend so much time on that to the point that I actually suffer, versus actually thinking about what I did get or what I do have, uh, or what I do appreciate. And it just it's it's a game changer on perspective and attitude and suffering. Um and I just think sometimes we suffer unnecessarily, self-imposed, just based on our focus.

SPEAKER_03 14:30

That's a great hot take right there. That's incredible. From a business perspective, you

– Reframing sales tax compliance as a sign of business growth

SPEAKER_03 14:38

could focus specifically on the fact that you gotta collect sales tax, but and how painful it is and how frustrating it is, but or you could focus on the fact that you get to sell ten thousand widgets and make generate eight thousand dollars worth of revenue or whatever it may be, type of a thing. It's quite interesting how the perspective in the mindset that one would take really has an impact on the output and your quality life.

SPEAKER_05 15:06

If if if I have a responsibility to collect tax in 30 states, that's a significant burden on myself and my company, right? But if I'm required to collect sales tax in 30 states, it means that I've exceeded sales volumes in those 30 states requiring me to collect that sales tax. So to your point, I could be focused on the sales volume that's created this compliance

– Sales tax as a cost of doing business

SPEAKER_05 15:32

responsibility, or I could just focus on this responsibility that I have. But if I'm really suffering from that, I could actually call somebody like the sales tax people, and I could actually take this burden off my plate in a very cost-effective measure and not have to worry about it again and focus on exceeding those thresholds in 15 more states.

SPEAKER_02 15:54

Yeah, people the term that comes to mind is cost of doing business. It's like you have this opportunity to build your business, and like you were describing there, Paul, just the opportunity that is you know, business for a lot of people, and and frankly, a lot of the comforts and you know, pleasures and and just and entertainment and a lot of the cool things that we do experience, right? Just living here, um, tied into, of course, you know, America. But uh what is the cost of doing business, right, when it comes to sales tax? It the cost can be having an expert handle it and just paying them to do it and do it correctly, and then you have you know good, solid, and sound compliance. Or the cost for a lot of companies, unfortunately, is that they don't pay for someone to do it correctly. Um, they don't you know have that administrative cost and they

– The biggest tragedy in sales tax: paying out of pocket with penalties

SPEAKER_02 16:52

don't have you know good sound compliance, and then the cost becomes far greater than you know the administrative cost because then they get stuck in an audit or they're in due diligence getting ready to you know sell their company, and then it costs a lot more at that point.

SPEAKER_05 17:08

Yeah, painful.

SPEAKER_03 17:10

That's that's that's valid. The biggest tragedy, the biggest tragedy in sales tax. Failing to collect the tax from the customer, from a willingly paying customer, and having to pay it out of your own pocket with penalty and interest is painful.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

It's pretty rare for us to see nowadays an industry where a company that is compliant

– The post-Wayfair era: competitive disadvantage of not charging tax is gone

SPEAKER_02 17:33

is at a competitive disadvantage because they're you know compliant and you know competitors in the industry are not. I'm not saying that's not common. I'm saying the competitive disadvantage is very uncommon nowadays because it's rare that you have customers that are actually shopping around to find a provider that's not going to charge them tax. Yeah, to save money too.

SPEAKER_04 17:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:00

That used to happen a lot, you know, 10 plus years ago. Pretty dumb. Um, especially, you know, when TVs were a thousand bucks and you'd go find one online, it's like, dude, I can save 70, 80 bucks if I find someone that'll sell me that TV without charging me tax.

SPEAKER_04 18:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:16

It's just not common. And if if anyone listening to this is you know doing that and you find someone that's not charging tax, send us that lead. We'll we'll go talk to them. And although you might might not want to, because then you'll have to pay tax next time you you sell something or you buy something from them. Because we'll say, uh, you should be charging tax, and then they you know they're complying next time you go buy something from that store or that you know online retailer, they'll probably be charging you tax. Truth. Truth. But only if they have Nexus in your state. This is this is why we can talk, we can talk about sales tax for hours and hours and hours because one thing leads to another. How many, how many uh hashtag truths can we get out of par?

SPEAKER_05 19:10

I mean, you're speaking them, you know.

SPEAKER_02 19:12

Well, Paul, we need we need a Murica from you before we drop off this recording.

SPEAKER_03 19:19

America in the in in the sense of our freedom. America. We are free.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

That's what we needed. And that's America from Texas, so the best kind.

SPEAKER_01 19:44

If you want to talk about sales tax, or maybe you have an experience that goes along with something we talked about today, or maybe you just want to hear about how Paul's day is going, make sure you send us an email to podcast at sales dotks, or you can text us at nine four nine three five five five zero nine eighty. See y'all again soon.