CNGA LooseLeaf February March 2019

colorad o nga.org LooseLeaf  February/March 2019 4 CNGA— HERE FOR THE MEMBERS By Allison Gault, MBA, CAE CNGA Executive Director Preparing Members for Sales Tax Changes It’s hard to believe that we’re already a month into 2019, and ProGreen EXPO starts in a few short days. As the busy season approaches, I want to update you on significant sales tax changes and remind you about the impending deadline. On Friday, November 30, 2018, the Colorado Department of Revenue (DoR) made a change to the sales tax rules. Prior to the change, businesses charged sales tax based on the location where the sale was made (i.e. the nursery, greenhouse or garden center). As of May 31, 2019, sales tax will need to be charged at the point of delivery (house, landscape business, commercial property, etc.). This change means that member businesses will need to track or utilize software to track the city, county and special district sales tax rates for each point of delivery. Not only will tax need to be collected, but businesses will need to obtain sales tax licenses in the cities and counties where they will now be remitting taxes. Businesses located outside of Colorado and shipping into the state will also need to collect and pay taxes at the point of delivery (i.e. state, city, county and special districts). Businesses selling on a wholesale-only basis will not have to comply with the changes. With more than 600 possible tax combinations, complying with these changes will be very difficult, and software to calculate the appropriate taxes will be a necessity. The DoR website has a list of preferred service providers that businesses can hire to collect and process taxes. Prior to the rule being changed, CNGA submitted a letter to the DoR citing the impact this change will have on our industry and member businesses. In addition, several CNGA members provided letters to the DoR. We will continue to monitor this change and have included the issue as a top legislative priority in 2019. We will work with our lobbyists, Hicks & Associates, on what can be done to overturn this change. If you have specific questions, the Department of Revenue website has webinars that walk through the changes. You can view them at colorado.gov/pacific/tax. In addition, we will hold a session at ProGreen EXPO on Friday, February 8 from 9 to 10:30 a.m., when a DoR representative will provide an overview and answer questions. We encourage you to attend and begin to work on implementing these changes now.