Wednesday, January 25th, 2012
12:00pm - 2:00pm Taxing Vermont's SaaS CompaniesThe State of Vermont's Department of Taxes (DOT) has been auditing software companies in Vermont and demanding that they pay back sales and use taxes for software delivered as a service ("SaaS"). They are calculating the interest and penalties for unpaid taxes as far back as 2006.
The DOT's position appears to be based on a controversial interpretation of tax laws in Vermont. The levy of this tax has surprised many software companies and there is a position that the DOT tried to extend its taxing authority beyond Legislative intent aimed more narrowly at recovering lost sales tax on software purchased and delivered over the internet, rather than taxing a new service.
Our January Lunch & Learn on the road at @ Dinse, Knapp and McAndrew will be focused on getting our companies organized around this issue. If you've been approached by the DOT, or if you work with cloud computing or software as a service, then we strongly recommend that one or more people from your company participate in next Wednesday's event.
On the bright side, the Governor's office and the folks at the Economic Development Office have been very responsive and supportive. Unfortunately, the folks at the DOT have yet to back down.
The discussion will be lead by attorneys representing a number of vtSDA members in this dispute.