Episode 20

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Published on:

24th May 2021

The what, why, and how of Colorado’s SUTS with Ed Sealover and Laurel Witt

In this episode of the SALTovation podcast, we speak with Ed Sealover, senior reporter for Denver Business Journal (DBJ), Laurel Witt, associate counsel with Colorado Municipal League (CML), and our very own Judy Vorndran. Ed and Laurel break down the what, why and how of Colorado's Sales and Use Tax System (SUTS) , which is a destination-based tax system as a result of the Wayfair decision. They discuss some of the issues they have seen from participating businesses and jurisdictions.

 


Questions asked and answered in this Episode:


 


  • How did Ed become aware of the SUTS issues and what is he following now on behalf of the businesses?


  • Do businesses approach the Denver Business Journal as an outlet for their concerns?


  • What is the Colorado Municipal League’s role in general?


  • What does home rule mean?


  • What has CLM heard or done to address the reluctants within the jurisdictions and municipalities they represent?


  • What is Ed hearing from the business community on what they wished they knew more about?


  • Did Laurel see the increase in online buying from the pandemic incentivized governments and jurisdictions to come on board?


  • Is there a safe harbor with the SUTS that doesn’t go back on the business if a vendor messes your address up?


  • What are the top two priorities for CML in 2021?


  • What should we keep in mind or be aware of from a business perspective in relation to this sales tax shift?

 


What You Will Discover:


 


  • [01:55] How Ed became aware of the issues & what he’s following now


  • [07:33] Colorado Municipal League’s role


  • [09:57] What does home rule mean


  • [16:24] Concerns with the inability to integrate SUTS with own website


  • [22:20] What CML has done to address those reluctant


  • [30:46] The issues with business licenses


  • [36:20] What the business community wished they knew more about


  • [38:54] How the increase in online spending incentivized governments and jurisdictions


  • [42:47] A safe harbor system


  • [51:35] CML’s top two priorities in 2021


  • [53:20] What to keep in mind with the sales tax shift from a business perspective

 


Quotables:


 


  • “There’s a lot of concern that SUTS, while it’s wonderful for calculating and remitting taxes to the state, it’s not as useful unless you want to invest a decent amount of money hiring a contractor to interface SUTS with your website. It’s not as useful for interacting with your customers.” - Ed Sealover [17:17]


  • “SUTS is not a one size fits all solution, nor is it really honestly a solution if you’re a multistate vendor selling outside of the state of Colorado.” - Judy Vorndran [18:00]


  • “It is an issue that we have flagged and want to talk about again, because business licenses are something that I think are really problematic. Like there’s no way a business in Massachusetts cares about getting a business license in all the self-collecting home rules jurisdictions.” - Laurel Witt [31:57]


  • “SUTS and the pandemic all kind of happened around the same time… in March of last year, which was a little bit chaotic for all of us. But as cities start seeing money coming in through that way, they just started jumping on SUTS a lot faster.” - Laurel Witt [39:32]


  • “I think the question here is not completely how do we make sure that everyone complies. How do we make sure that compliance is not an overburdensome thing?” - Ed Sealover [54:19]

 


Relevant Links:


 


Ed Sealover on Twitter: @ESealoverDenBiz


Ed Sealover on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ed-sealover-71116416a/


Denver Business Journal: bizjournals.com/denver


Laurel Witt on Twitter: @COMuniLawyer


Laurel Witt on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/laurelwitt


Colorado Municipal League: cml.org


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Production Support

This episode was produced with support from Truth Work Media. www.truthworkmedia.com

Mentioned in this episode:

Advanced Sales and Use Tax Workshop

Take your sales tax to the next level at Advanced Sales and Use Tax Workshop, February 19-21 in Nashville. Diane Yetter and the Sales Tax Institute’s industry-leading faculty provide individualized training, valuable resources, and practical solutions. Expand your network and earn 23 CPE credits. Visit the link in the show notes and use the code SALTOV10 for 10% off. Save your spot now!" https://keap.page/xp141/saltovation-podcast.htm

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About the Podcast

SALTovation: Making Sense of State and Local Tax
Welcome to SALTovation. The SALTovation show is a podcast series featuring the leading voices in state and local tax (SALT). Here we talk about issues, strategies, and planning tools to help you make sense of SALT. Because, in SALT, there is no “one and done.” SALT is a puzzle of ever-changing pieces. Solving that puzzle is our business at SALTovation. Tens of thousands of listeners know they won't get tax talk as usual with the SALTovation team. Our team is known for straight-talk with a flair for fun, providing clarity and opinions that move businesses forward with confidence.

Attorney, CPA, speaker, and writer Judy Vorndran leads the SALTovation team as they go inside business to help deal with the daily operations and long-term strategies of making SALT less “taxing.” Judy has spent more than 25 years advocating for businesses with innovative strategies, renowned knowledge and experience. She has helped guide thousands of taxpayers across the nation and globally through the morass of SALT, freeing them to concentrate on growth. Joining Judy are the wickedly smart members of the SALTovation team, who have seen, worked with and tamed some of the most prickly issues in SALT. They enjoy sharing their stories and knowledge with listeners.

Solving the SALT puzzle doesn’t happen in a vacuum; it takes a community. So, we invite leaders in business and state and local tax to share their stories, challenges and successes on this show. Drop us a line at SALTovation.com if you'd like to join the conversation and tune into our regular series at TaxOps.com.