Thousands of businesses to start E-filing sales taxes

Iowa businesses will be able to electronically submit to the state the sales taxes they collect, beginning July 1st. Iowa Department of Revenue director Michael Ralston says business owners have been asking for the ability to “e-file” their sales tax receipts. Ralston says he often remembers the comments of a woman who owns a clothing store in Clinton who is able to pay the power company, check her bank balance and pay vendors on-line, but cannot submit the sales taxes she collects electronically. Starting July 1st, about 140,000 businesses in Iowa that sell goods or services on which the state sales tax is charged will be able to send that money to the state via computer. Ralston says state officials have taken all sorts of safety precautions. “There have been all kinds of safeguards built into the system, including the use of multiple identification numbers and those sorts of things that frankly probably make it a little less convenient for taxpayers but provide a great deal more security,” Ralston says. By the end of January, state officials plan to let Iowans and Iowa businesses pay all taxes collected owed to the state on-line. “Taxpayers will be able to fully interact with the department on-line. They’ll be able to pay all their taxes on-line. They’ll be able to file all returns on-line. They’ll be able to check their accounts on-line. They’ll be able to go back to previous returns,” Ralston says. “They’ll have full electronic management of all their tax applications and that’s what taxpayers tell us they want.” Sixty percent of Iowans filed their personal income taxes to the state on-line, the highest e-filing percentage of any state. Ralston says, though, the electronic filing will not be manditory, but will be an option he believes more and more Iowans will choose. Ralston says it’s better for taxpayers because their returns are processed more quickly and more accurately, and if they’re due a refund, “they get their money quicker.”