SALES TAX TUESDAY 2019: UTAH

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I could probably focus on Utah as the home of the 2019 Scaling New Heights Conference and not cover much more than just Salt Lake City, the various attractions therein, and the surrounding area, but I am not going to do that because Utah is a big place. It's one of those special places in the United States packed with the wonders of National Parks, National Monuments and States Parks that were at one time protected lands turned over from the federal government to the state.

As I told you back in our 2015 edition of Sales Tax Tuesday, 'Utah' means "people of the mountains," and Utah's mountain peaks are the tallest in the country, on average. Many of the Parks and Monuments feature mountains or unique mountainous structures that have earned them their 'monumental' and 'protected' stature as we will see. But Utah isn't all mountains, in fact it's known for it's natural diversity ranging from arid deserts with sand dunes to thriving pine forests in mountain valleys.

So let's take in some of the beauty that are the natural wonders found in Utah before we turn our attention to 'sales taxes,' beginning with Arches National Park which lies north of Moab and bordered by the Colorado River in the southeast. This park is known for more than 2,000 natural sandstone arches, such as the massive, red-hued Delicate Arch, and Landscape Arch in Devils Garden. Other geological formations found here include Balanced Rock, towering over the desert landscape in the middle of the park.

By the way, I must mention if you read this and immediately start thinking about visiting some of these places, think again. During the federal government shutdown some national parks may be accessible to visitors; however, some visitors services may not be available. In fact, for most parks there will be no National Park Service provided visitors services available such as restrooms, trash services, camping facilities, road maintenance or even emergency services.

Bryce Canyon National Park is a sprawling reserve in southern Utah known for crimson-colored hoodoos (irregular columns of rock) which exist on every continent, but Bryce has the largest concentration found anywhere on Earth. Situated along a high plateau at the top of the Grand Staircase, the park's high elevations include numerous life communities, fantastic dark skies, and geological wonders that defy description.

Capitol Reef National Park is one of Utah's desert parks with layers of golden sandstone, canyons and striking rock formations including the Hickman Bridge arch and Capitol Reef, as well as the towering monoliths of Cathedral Valley.

Well, I guess this is as good a spot as any to find a roadside stop to pull over so I can break away from the sightseeing and remind you that this Sales Tax Tuesday 2019 feature is one in a series that Insightful Accountant, in cooperation with Avalara, the ‘sales tax people,’ is bringing you about sales tax in each and every state tax jurisdiction in the United States.

This series actually started last year (2018), but we got so busy with breaking sales tax news about Nexus and all the various changes to sales tax practices and policies, including two different sets of changes right here in Utah, that we couldn't get all the states covered during 2018. As a result, we are still traveling around in our Sales Tax RV visiting states that we haven't yet fully covered. It really is too bad that I didn't plan this trip a little better, I might have managed to be in Utah during the Scaling New Heights conference in June.

Returning to our scenic tour of Utah's natural wonders, we find another one of Utah's Desert parks, Canyonlands National Park in southeastern Utah whose landscape was carved by the Colorado River. Island in the Sky is a huge, flat-topped mesa with panoramic overlooks. Other notable areas include the Needles, the Maze canyons and the Native American rock paintings in Horseshoe Canyon. Cataract Canyon is know for its whitewater rapids.

Dinosaur National Monument is a United States National Monument located on the southeast flank of the Uinta Mountains at the confluence of the Green and Yampa Rivers near Jensen, Utah. Dinosaurs once roamed here. Their fantastic remains are still visible embedded in the rocks. Today, the mountains, desert and untamed rivers flowing in deep canyons, support an array of life. Petroglyphs hint at earlier cultures. Later outlaws like Butch Cassidy found refuge in this area. Dinosaur National Monument offers much to explore whether you like science, adventure, history or just the scenery of this beautiful area.

Cedar Breaks National Monument is a U.S. National Monument and one of America's most special parks, it's located near Cedar City. Cedar Breaks sits at over 10,000 feet above sea level and looks down into a geologic amphitheater that stretches across 3 miles with a depth of over 2,000 feet. It offers timeless bristlecone pines, lush meadows of wildflowers, crystal-clear night skies and subalpine forests.

Dead Horse Point is actually a Utah State Park, which originated out of federal lands deeded back to the state. This park which covered more than 5,300 acres of high desert at nearly 6-thousand foot in elevation features a dramatic overlook of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park.

With nearly 2-million acres stretching across 170 miles southern Utah, Dixie National Forest, headquartered in Cedar City, is the largest U.S. National Forest in Utah. It straddles the divide between the Great Basin and the Colorado River.

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a United States national monument encompassing protected lands in southern Utah and contains the Grand Staircase, Kaiparowits, and Escalante Canyon. From its spectacular Grand Staircase of cliffs and terraces, across the rugged Kaiparowits Plateau, to the wonders of the Escalante River Canyons, the Monument is a diverse geologic treasure speckled with monoliths, slot canyons, natural bridges and arches. 

Of course, we can not forget that we are in Utah, home of the Great Salt Lake, the Western Hemisphere's largest saltwater lake and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. As you might expect, the lake is located in the northern part of the state near Salt Lake City. This is definitely one of the sights you must take in when you are traveling to Scaling New Heights in June, you can easily spend a 1/2-day just seeing the portions of the lake that are closest to the city, even though it is just a short drive to the lake. You certainly don't want to miss this 'wonder of the world.'

While not one of the 'natural wonders' of Utah, it is clearly one of the major attractions of the state, and certainly Salt Lake City. Temple Square is a 10-acre complex, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the center of Salt Lake City. In recent years, the usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities that are immediately adjacent to Temple Square.

So now we are in Salt Lake City with a combined sales tax of 7.6% (as of the time this article was written), that means that we are more likely to pay sales tax here than anywhere else within the state despite the fact that almost everywhere we stopped we will be paying sales tax in Utah. Let's consider some of Utah's sales tax facts:

  • The Utah (UT) state sales tax rate is 4.7%.
  • Depending on local jurisdictions, the total tax rate can be as high as 8.7%. Local-level tax rates may include a local option (up to 1% allowed by law), mass transit, rural hospital, arts and zoo, highway, county option (up to .25%), county option transportation, town option (generally unused at present by most townships) and resort taxes. There are 17 types of possible tax jurisdictions that may be levied in Utah.
  • The Utah State Tax Commission is responsible for the administration of sales tax within Utah.
  • Sales tax is collected on the retail sale of taxable tangible personal property and certain services, such as charges for labor to repair tangible personal property.
  • Many charges for services are taxable including charges for labor to repair, renovate or clean tangible personal property.
  • Utah is a origin sourcing state, sales tax is based on the location of the seller, not the buyer.
  • Unlike most states, the Utah State Tax Commission has laws that basically leave the decision of whether or not charge sales tax on shipping and delivery charges up to sellers.
  • As of January 1 (2019) the provisions of Utah's changes to enact 'economic Nexus' in accordance with the Supreme Court 'South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.' decision went into effect impacting remote sellers to collect and pay Utah sales tax if they have gross revenues exceeding $100,000 or more than 200 separate transactions.
  • Utah is a full member of the Streamlined Sales Tax (SST). Utah allows online filing and electronic payments. As a Streamlined Sales Tax state, Utah encourages out-of-state businesses without a sales tax obligation to register with the state and collect.
  • Online applications are available to register for Sales Tax Collection/Payment through the Utah OneStop Business Registration System. Paper forms may be downloaded and mailed to the Utah State Tax Commission.
  • You may find that Avalara's Utah Sales Tax Guide provides valuable information concerning Nexus, registration, collection, due dates and penalties.

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But just calculating your tax isn't all there is to sales tax. Avalara offers more like a filing service so seamless, you'll barely lift a finger as they tally what you owe in the jurisdictions you designate, prepare and file your returns, and remit payments for you.  And the extra services don't stop there...you need certificate management if you are going to make certain you are in complete compliance with the 'sales tax man,' that's why Avalara also offers CertCapature to manage tax documents in the cloud for tidy, audit-ready records, best of all these records sync with your tax software to automatically apply exemptions at checkout.

So, as we wrap-up this Sales Tax Tuesday trip of Utah, let's make one last stop at Zion National Park, a southwest Utah nature preserve distinguished by Zion Canyon’s steep red cliffs leading to forest trails along the Virgin River. The river flows to the Emerald Pools, which have waterfalls and hanging gardens along the river's deeper chasms of Zion Narrows. In this view a rainbow hearkens us on in the pursuit of life's next great adventure.