Archive for June, 2008
Georgia Direct Shipper Application Update
June 13th, 2008
Georgia will require wineries to have an approved direct shipper’s permit, pay excise tax, state sales and local sales tax in order to ship direct to GA consumers beginning July 1, 2008. The Georgia Department of Revenue, Alcohol and Tobacco Division is developing a New Direct Shipper Application which will include information about how to comply with the new tax and reporting requirements. The new application is expected to be available by July 1, 2008 and the Department of Revenue anticipates it taking approximately 30 days for the applications to be processed. Beginning July 1, 2008 wineries will not be permitted to send on-site or off-site wine shipments to GA consumers until they have received an approved direct shipper’s permit.
The New Application will be posted on the Wine Institute website as soon as it becomes available. Permits issued to wineries without distributors in 2008 will continue to be valid after 7/1/08. Should you have any questions please contact Wine Institute’s State Relations Department at 415-356-7530.
Annie Bones, State Relations – Wine Institute
Washington: Making Change, Streamlined Style
June 13th, 2008
On July 1st, 2008, when Substitute Senate Bill 5089 takes effect, Washington will join twenty-one other states that have conformed to the “Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement”. The bill will change the way retail sales tax is collected for some Washington businesses. Beginning July 1st, 2008, any business with nexus in Washington must pay sales tax based on the destination of the shipped order. Previously, Washington businesses that shipped orders to Washington residents could pay sales tax based on where the order was originating from, making local taxes fairly easy to calculate.
The new taxing regulation requires Washington wineries to pay local taxes to every destination to which they ship (via a single sales/use tax return). This could be a bit of a jolt for Washington wineries. With over 300 different tax rates and location codes, based on special districts that cannot be defined solely by city and county designations, filling out the periodic tax return could become significantly more difficult.
Out-of state wineries will see no changes in their tax payments. Destination-based sales tax in Washington should be nothing new for them; out-of-state wineries have had to pay destination-based sales tax since July 1st, 2006, when the Wine Shipper’s License first became available.
If you are a Washington business that ships or delivers goods, be sure to check the Washington DOR’s website for useful information about the change. On this page, you can use a number of different tax lookup tools as well as watch online tutorials.
It's Not Easy Being Green…But Electronic Filing Makes It Easier
June 9th, 2008
Image, “Office Paper, 2007″ by Chris Jordan.
June 5th was World Environment Day. And in honor of the wonderful planet on which we live, here’s a look at how some states are doing their part to make it easy for direct-to-consumer wine shippers to be eco-friendly.
Generally speaking, businesses are looking to become greener; it can be cost effective, it’s good marketing, and it is better for the environment. There are several practices wineries can utilize when making the decision to become green – recycling, conservation, green farming, renewable energy, and alternative packaging – but one thing that can’t be controlled is paper consumption for licensing and reporting. Direct wine shipping is undoubtedly paper-filled; there are permit applications, licenses, monthly reports, and tax returns – just to name a few – that must be printed and mailed. There’s no doubt that the paper used in the filing of these forms contributes to the enormous rate of paper consumption in the United States. In 2007, 96.7 million tons of paper and paperboard were consumed in the United States and 54.3 million tons were recovered through recycling*. However, despite the fact that over half of the consumed paper was recovered, recovery is not the be all and end all of environmental protection. Prevention is the best and most efficient way to protect the environment from paper waste**. Electronic filing is an effective means of said prevention for wineries who can be required to submit over 500 forms per year, with an average of four pages a form. That’s 2000 sheets of paper just for reporting wine shipments!
Currently, about half the states offer some sort of electronic filing, the bulk of which consists of sales and use tax returns. Excise tax reports and copies of invoices are rarely available for electronic submission. However, North Dakota is on the forefront, offering an electronic filing option for their Direct Shipper’s Liquor Tax Report. Also, Hawaii allows direct shippers to submit copies of invoices via email. States should follow North Dakota and Hawaii’s lead, transitioning from a paper-based system to one that makes additional forms available for e-filing. Ultimately, the goal would be mandatory electronic filing for all forms in all states, if they made it easy. Such a transformation in the process will significantly reduce the amount of paper consumed and help decrease the country’s overall consumption rate, which, coupled with a continuing increase in recovery/recycling rates, will result in a near elimination of all paper waste in the not-so-distant future. Apart from environmental concerns, electronic filing could also increase administrative efficiency, reducing labor and material costs for both the state alcohol commission and for the those submitting the forms. Electronic filing is not only green, but convenient!
World Environment Day may have come and gone, but everyday should be an “Earth Day”.
It’s Not Easy Being Green…But Electronic Filing Makes It Easier
June 9th, 2008
Image, “Office Paper, 2007″ by Chris Jordan.
June 5th was World Environment Day. And in honor of the wonderful planet on which we live, here’s a look at how some states are doing their part to make it easy for direct-to-consumer wine shippers to be eco-friendly.
Generally speaking, businesses are looking to become greener; it can be cost effective, it’s good marketing, and it is better for the environment. There are several practices wineries can utilize when making the decision to become green – recycling, conservation, green farming, renewable energy, and alternative packaging – but one thing that can’t be controlled is paper consumption for licensing and reporting. Direct wine shipping is undoubtedly paper-filled; there are permit applications, licenses, monthly reports, and tax returns – just to name a few – that must be printed and mailed. There’s no doubt that the paper used in the filing of these forms contributes to the enormous rate of paper consumption in the United States. In 2007, 96.7 million tons of paper and paperboard were consumed in the United States and 54.3 million tons were recovered through recycling*. However, despite the fact that over half of the consumed paper was recovered, recovery is not the be all and end all of environmental protection. Prevention is the best and most efficient way to protect the environment from paper waste**. Electronic filing is an effective means of said prevention for wineries who can be required to submit over 500 forms per year, with an average of four pages a form. That’s 2000 sheets of paper just for reporting wine shipments!
Currently, about half the states offer some sort of electronic filing, the bulk of which consists of sales and use tax returns. Excise tax reports and copies of invoices are rarely available for electronic submission. However, North Dakota is on the forefront, offering an electronic filing option for their Direct Shipper’s Liquor Tax Report. Also, Hawaii allows direct shippers to submit copies of invoices via email. States should follow North Dakota and Hawaii’s lead, transitioning from a paper-based system to one that makes additional forms available for e-filing. Ultimately, the goal would be mandatory electronic filing for all forms in all states, if they made it easy. Such a transformation in the process will significantly reduce the amount of paper consumed and help decrease the country’s overall consumption rate, which, coupled with a continuing increase in recovery/recycling rates, will result in a near elimination of all paper waste in the not-so-distant future. Apart from environmental concerns, electronic filing could also increase administrative efficiency, reducing labor and material costs for both the state alcohol commission and for the those submitting the forms. Electronic filing is not only green, but convenient!
World Environment Day may have come and gone, but everyday should be an “Earth Day”.
Arizona Clarifies On-Site Shipping Law
June 4th, 2008
Following our May 6th submission, Wine Institute received further clarification from the Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses & Control regarding their continuing interpretation of the on-site sales law. Wineries may ship up to 2 cases of wine per Arizona consumer per calendar year as long as the consumer purchases the wine while physically visiting the winery. The wine paid-for by the consumer may then be shipped at anytime during the year to a residential or business address. The purchased wine may be broken down into multiple shipments during the year. No off-site orders are permitted at any time except by wineries holding a direct-to-consumer permit*. If Arizona consumers wish to have additional wine shipped to themselves in subsequent calendar years, they will need to physically visit the winery each and every year. There continues to be no reporting, tax or permit requirements under the “on-site shipping law.”
*The rules and requirements for wineries producing up to 20,000 gallons of wine in a calendar year with an approved direct-to-consumer permit/self-distribution license are different. Please visit the Wine Institute website for additional information about shipping to Arizona or contact Annie Bones, State Relations Coordinator, Wine Institute at 415-356-7530 or abones@wineinsittute.org.
Annie Bones, State Relations – Wine Institute
