Amnesty program in Kentucky for non-compliant businesses
by May 26, 2022
Please note: This blog was originally published in 2021. It’s since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
If your e-commerce business had tax obligations in Kentucky from 2011 to 2021, but did not collect and remit sales and use tax to the state’s Department of Revenue, Kentucky’s amnesty program might be able to help.
Kentucky has passed HB 176, legislation that creates an amnesty program for all taxes administered by the Kentucky Department of Revenue (and certain federal obligations referred to the DOR). Our friends at the Sales Tax Institute laid out the details of this new law:
“The eligible tax periods are those ending on or after October 1, 2011, but prior to December 1, 2021. In this program, taxpayers can apply to have their penalties waived and 50% of their interest waived. The period will be active October 1, 2022, through November 29, 2022.”
Amnesty isn’t only available in Kentucky
Kentucky is just the latest state to announce an amnesty program, but the Sales Tax Institute also notes that Alabama and Tennessee also feature programs with penalty and interest waivers, which you can learn more about here.
If you have sales tax obligations in states that do not currently have amnesty programs, it may be helpful to contract the services of a State and Local Tax expert (SALT). They’re able to assist your business in managing compliance in other states where you should have been collecting and remitting sales tax. SALTs have experience helping companies with solutions that can potentially lower penalties or interest payments, like a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA) or backdating registration. We’ve outlined more information on both of these strategies in this helpful blog post.
Automation can help
If you haven’t been keeping track of where you should be collecting and remitting sales tax, the best time to start is now. Sales tax compliance doesn’t have to be a pain point for growing companies. That’s why we built TaxJar. Our sales tax platform will help you track your sales tax obligations and automatically calculate the accurate amount of sales tax for every item, in every state. Once you create an account, you’ll see all your orders from your e-commerce channels in one place, giving your team access to real-time reports and ensuring you are prepared for growth. And with TaxJar’s AutoFile, you can take manually filing sales tax returns off your plate. Our automated filing tool will prepare and file an accurate return along with your remittance. To learn more about TaxJar and get started, talk to our sales team.
