Restaurant Sales Tax Obligations: Managing Audit Risks, Multistate Compliance, and State Specific Exemptions

This webinar will take an in-depth look at how states tax restaurant sales. Our sales tax experts will detail the critical differences in how types of sales are taxed among states and state-specific exemptions. The panel will offer advice for accumulating, calculating, and remitting sales tax paid by food establishments operating in multiple states.

More so than other businesses, restaurants have thorny sales tax issues. In addition to nexus, registration, compliance, and remittance concerns, restaurant sales taxation varies not only by the category of the charge (delivery, services fees, gratuities, etc.) but also based on the nature of the product sold (food, beverages, alcohol, etc.). Every state and jurisdiction has different rules for taxing food establishments, further complicating compliance.

Audits in California revealed that close to 20 percent of food service establishments used tax-zapper programs to reduce sales tax remittances. On the other end, many restaurants are not taking advantage of specific exemptions available to lower tax remittances. Food operations are cash intense, making these businesses prime targets for sales tax audits. Tax practitioners working with restaurants must comprehend multistate sales tax rules to ease these businesses' compliance burdens and ensure their records will withstand an audit.

Listen as our panel of hospitality industry tax experts explains sales tax considerations for restaurants, including common exemptions and steps to facilitate compliance.