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Sales Tax

Sales tax compliance, nexus rules, filing requirements, and tax automation for businesses

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8 min read

New Zealand's GST Is Turning 40 — And Inland Revenue Just Proposed the Biggest Cleanup in Years

Inland Revenue's May 2026 "Current GST Issues" paper poses 56 questions across eight reform areas for New Zealand's 40-year-old GST Act — excluding zero-rated exports from the $60,000 registration threshold, reclassifying student accommodation as commercial dwellings, zero-rating residential solar exports, and a 5% materiality test for error correction. Here's what small businesses, freelancers, and landlords should track before draft legislation lands.

Mike Thrift

taxtax-compliancesales-tax
8 min read

Bookkeeping for Professional Puppet Makers: Pricing Commissions, Deposits, and Design Rights

Custom puppets sell for $500–$1,500 yet take 20–100 hours to build, so untracked labor quietly destroys margins. How professional puppet makers should price commissions with the materials + labor + overhead + profit formula, book 50% deposits as deferred revenue instead of income, separate design-licensing from fabrication revenue, and handle post-Wayfair sales tax on interstate theater clients.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingcreative-industriessmall-business
7 min read

Washington, D.C. Sales Tax Rises to 7% on October 1, 2026: What It Means for Digital Goods and SaaS Sellers

Washington, D.C.'s general sales tax rate rises from 6% to 7% on October 1, 2026, and the District taxes digital goods and SaaS at the full rate with no B2B exemption. This guide covers the delayed Budget Support Act increase, D.C.'s $100,000/200-transaction economic nexus thresholds, and a five-step compliance checklist for invoices that straddle the rate change.

Mike Thrift

sales-taxsaasnexus
9 min read

NCUA Preempts State Interchange-Fee Laws: What the Credit Union Rule Means for Your Business

On June 30, 2026, the NCUA issued an interim final rule declaring that federal law preempts state laws — like Illinois's Interchange Fee Prohibition Act — that bar interchange fees on the sales-tax and tip portions of card transactions for federal credit unions. Here is what the rule says, why the litigation is far from over, and how small businesses should track card-processing costs while the rules stay unsettled.

Mike Thrift

paymentsbankingsmall-business
9 min read

Renaissance Faire and Festival Operator Bookkeeping: Vendor Booth Fees, Weekend-Concentrated Revenue, and 1099 vs. W-2 Cast

How renaissance faire and festival operators should handle books when a year's revenue lands in eight weekends — booking vendor booth deposits as deferred revenue, forecasting twelve months of cash flow, classifying cast under the ABC test with the 2026 $2,000 1099-NEC threshold, and remitting event sales tax within compressed 10-30 day deadlines.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingseasonal-businesssmall-business
10 min read

Tailoring and Alterations Shop Bookkeeping: Separating Fabric COGS From Labor, Depreciating Equipment, and Knowing When You Need a Seller's Permit

Alteration labor on a new garment is often taxable while the same work on a used one is exempt — one of several rules that make tailoring shop bookkeeping tricky. How to split fabric COGS from labor revenue, depreciate sewing equipment via Section 179 or MACRS, and know when selling a single zipper triggers a seller's permit.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesssales-tax
8 min read

WordPress Plugin & Theme Bookkeeping: License Renewals, Merchant-of-Record Tax, and Reconciling Envato, Freemius, and Stripe Payouts

Envato's July 1, 2026 move to a flat 50% author revenue share replaces tiered rates that ran as high as 87.5%, and it exposes a deeper bookkeeping gap for WordPress plugin and theme businesses selling across Envato, Freemius, and direct Stripe checkout — gross revenue, marketplace fees, and license-renewal deferred revenue all need separate tracking, not one blended bank-deposit number.

Mike Thrift

pluginsrevenue-recognitionsales-tax
7 min read

Illinois Banned Swipe Fees on Sales Tax and Tips — So Why Are You Still Paying Them?

Illinois's Interchange Fee Prohibition Act was supposed to stop banks from charging swipe fees on sales tax and tips, but after two effective-date delays to July 1, 2027, an OCC preemption rule, and a June 2026 permanent injunction covering national banks and card networks, merchants are still paying. Here's where the law stands and what it means for your processing costs.

Mike Thrift

paymentssales-taxbanking
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