States are getting desperate for revenue, a fact I know firsthand. They hunt down out-of-state businesses like mine and slap them with massive tax assessments.
My company, Fastsigns, is a 27-year-old graphics and visual communications franchisor based in Carrollton. It’s a small business with 109 employees. So when a state unexpectedly sends us a tax bill for thousands of dollars — a state in which we don’t have any employees, offices or even a stick of inventory — it’s a very big deal and an expensive problem. Read more…
Washington State tax shakedownAs president of a national food company, I thought I had seen it all. Until, that is, the state of Washington decided to send me a $180,000 tax bill for simply visiting the the state. I understand that states are starved for revenue these days, but Washington has gone too far. Based on one visit over a seven-year period, it decided that my company, Sage V Foods, should be required to pay business and occupation taxes. Washington made that determination even though Sage V Foods has no employees, no property, no sales offices and no inventory in the state – nothing. Read more…