I had the pleasure of attending an educational seminar last night [December 14th,2010] hosted by Silicon Halton [www.siliconhalton.com] at Sheridan College.    The focus of the meeting was on Doing Business In The US.    The main speaker was Mary C. St. Mary, Trade Commissioner at Canadian Consulate General of Buffalo.  She spent time telling us about the resources available to Canadian companies who wanted to do business in the US.  There was also a panel of individuals from companies who are members of Silicon Halton who conduct business currently across borders who shared their insights and experiences with the group.
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eCommerce eCommerce, ecommerce taxes, tax

Taxes. What can I say about taxes that we don’t already know, other than not paying them can land you in jail; just ask Al Capone.

Just because you have an E-Commerce business and not a bricks-and-mortar store doesn’t mean you’re exempt from collecting and remitting state and county taxes. Bricks-and-mortar retailers claim an unfair advantage of internet retailers and state and county governments are losing billions of dollars in lost tax dollars.

In 1992, North Dakota sued Quill Office Products for use taxes on products purchased by North Dakota residents.  

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Webstore Integration e-commerce, eCommerce, ecommerce taxes, Mike C, tax, taxation

We just received the following notice from Costco regarding changes to their EDI codes for tax qualifiers. Despite the August 24th implementation date, we have  already updated the maps on ePortal to comply with the changes. This means that all ePortal users doing business with Costco will be able to continue business as usual during the changes.

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EDI Integration, EDI Tips and Tricks, Support changes, Compliance, Costco, edi, ePortal, HST, tax, updates

If you are a business owner in Canada, you are likely aware that HST (Harmonized Sales Tax) is soon making its way to Ontario and British Columbia. On July 1, 2010, PST and GST will be combined to form one 13% tax in these provinces. This will have a direct impact on certain services that would normally only be subject to GST, raising prices for the end customers.

Regardless of whether your industry will be affected largely or not by this change, you must ensure you are prepared for it. BizAssist recently published the following checklist in their February newsletter to help businesses prepare for the looming taxation shakeup:

Pricing Impacts: Do you do business in an industry or retail category that is expected to be hit by the new HST?  For example, health memberships and other subscription-based businesses will now have to apply the harmonized tax to customer fees. Plan to start communicating with customers early so they can be prepared for fee increases well in advance.

Competitive Impacts: If you’re in the manufacturing business and count on export revenues for business, start thinking about how you can take advantage of some positive HST tax reductions. In a recovering economy, reducing your pricing model will have a positive impact on volume sales and you’ll be better equipped to compete on a global basis.

Training & Operations: Are your front lines ready to handle the operational impacts of the HST? Do you know how to go about collecting and submitting it? Is your staff trained on new tax collection procedures and are they equipped to handle your customers’ HST inquiries? Now is the time to put the operational structure in place to ensure your business isn’t disrupted come July 1st.

In addition to the concerns outlined in that checklist, it is also important to consider the impact it may have on your accounting software and/or data integration. For current eBridge customers, there may be service required to ensure a smooth transition to HST. If you require service or want to determine if it will be required, contact us through one of the following outlets:

Email: sales@ebridgesoft.com

Phone: 1.800.755.6921

Kevin Martin
Assistant Marketing Professional

EDI Tips and Tricks, Education, Integration edi, Integration, tax, update