PRLA Winter 2019

22  • PENNSYLVANIA RESTAURANT & LODGING matters • Winter 2019 LEGAL DOCKET The Attorney ask Keith A. Clark, Esquire SHUMAKER WILLIAMS, P.C. General Counsel, Pennsylvania Restaurant & Lodging Association Keith A. Clark, Esquire Maintenance of Pennsylvania Sales and Use Tax Records A recent “Counsel Call” from a PRLA member indicated that they have been audited since June 2018 by the Department of Revenue, and it is now the end of November. The member and his accountant have provided all the information that the auditor has requested to date. Now, the auditor is requesting receipts (from customer meals eaten) back to 2015. The member does not have this information because he relies on his POS system for such information; however, it only holds data for 800 days. Unfortunately, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Regulations and Sales & Use Tax Statute require that taxpayers who collect sales & use tax must hold their back-up financial records, including receipts, for a period of at least three years from the end of the calendar year to which the records relate . For example, for the calendar year 2018, any sales records generated during that calendar year must be maintained until at least December 31, 2021. If your POS system is limited on how long it holds data, and you have no back-up system to maintain that data for at least 1,460 days on a rolling basis (i.e., 4 years X 365 days—taking into consideration that January 1, 2018, sales records must be maintained until at least December 31, 2021); you should address this issue immediately with your POS provider or develop a method to store this information in some other system for the required period of time. The Continuing ADA Website Saga in Less Than 500 Words We have discussed with PRLA members and the board on several occasions during the last year about the increasing incidents of demand letters to and complaints filed against restaurants and hotels alleging that their website fails to comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some of you may have participated in the PRLA webinar on November 28, titled “ADA Compliance in the Digital Age” by Steve Barshob with DigiPro Media, which is affiliated with a PRLA preferred partner, UnitedHealthcare. These suits filed by class action plaintiff attorneys started a number of years ago against some large retail targets and financial institutions. We have worked with financial institutions and a trade association regarding these issues which resulted in a national industry settlement of the claims for a segment of the banking industry. Both the demand letters and complaints sent outline specific instances where a website allegedly fails to meet the WCAG 2.0 standards. While the Department of Justice (DOJ) has not adopted any regulation using WCAG 2.0, the DOJ has used them as the standard for compliance in consent orders, and some federal courts have adopted these standards. A problem is that these claims frequently are brought by one CURRENT ISSUES PA Sales Tax Audits and Update on ADA Compliant Websites