Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Businesses Face Likely Alcohol Tax Problems
The newly enacted 9% sales tax on alcoholic beverages (SB 994/HB 1213) may present greater implementation problems for some businesses than originally thought.
A first draft of FAQ’s by the Comptroller’s Office that was shared with the Chamber suggests additional challenges for businesses that must program cash registers and calculate the tax, effective July 1. For example, various items in a bundled sale would require segregation (and if not segregated, the 9% tax would apply to the whole transaction), and certain charges including both alcoholic items and non-alcoholic items would require allocation (like gratuities, labor of caterers, etc.) We are interested in hearing reactions to their current conclusions, and thoughts on how a vendor would implement them.
The Governor is expected to sign the bill into law on May 19, and the law would take effect July 1. The Comptroller’s Office plans to post a set of FAQs as soon as the bill is signed, so your prompt review is appreciated. See the draft FAQ’s here. See the bill and bill summary.
Please convey your comments to Karen Syrylo for accumulation into a response to the Comptroller’s Office at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
