Tax Article - Amnesty Available in States Which Are Members of SSUTA

Amnesty is available in all states participating as full members or associate members of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. Full and associate member states will provide amnesty for uncollected or unpaid sales or use taxes to a seller who registers to pay or collect and remit applicable sales or use taxes on sales made to purchasers in the state. 

The amnesty will preclude assessment for uncollected or unpaid sales or use taxes together with interest or penalty for sales made during the period the seller was not registered in the state, provided registration occurs within 12 months of the effective date of the state's participation in the Agreement. The amnesty will be granted regardless of "nexus" of the seller if all other requirements are met. 

Amnesty is not available for sales and use taxes already paid or remitted to a state or to taxes collected by a seller. Amnesty is applicable only to sales or use taxes due from a seller in its capacity as a seller and not to sales or use taxes due from a seller in its capacity as a purchaser. No amnesty is available under the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement for taxes other than sales or use taxes. 

A member state may allow amnesty on terms and conditions more favorable to a seller than is required by the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement. 

To obtain amnesty, the seller must agree to register in all full member states of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement if not currently registered. This includes registration in full member states joining the Agreement after the seller's registration. The seller may elect to register in associate member states. The seller is not eligible for amnesty in a member state if the seller: 

•  Was registered in the member state for the 12 month period preceding the effective date of the state's participation in the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement; or
• Has received notice of an audit by the member state and the audit is not yet fully resolved, including any related administrative and judicial processes. 

To obtain amnesty, the seller must use the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Central Registration System. 
A seller who is not currently registered to collect sales and use taxes in a member state and who agrees to collect or pay sales or use taxes for all taxable sales into all full member states (including states that join the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement after the seller's registration) is eligible for amnesty. 

Amnesty is fully effective, absent the seller's fraud or misrepresentation of a material fact, as long as the seller continues registration and continues payment or collection and remittance of applicable sales or use taxes for a period of at least 36 months. Each member state will toll its statute of limitations applicable to asserting a tax liability during this 36-month period. 

A full member state is a state that is in compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement through its laws, rules, regulations, and policies. As of October 1, 2005 , the full member states offering amnesty through September 30, 2006 are: Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, West Virginia. 

An associate member state is either (a) a state that is in compliance with the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement except that its laws, rules, regulations and policies to bring the state into compliance are not in effect but are scheduled to take effect on or before January 1, 2008, or (b) a state that has achieved substantial compliance with the terms of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement taken as a whole, but not necessarily each provision, and there is an expectation that the state will achieve compliance by January 1, 2008. Associate member states offering amnesty until 12 months after the date they become full members are: Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, and Wyoming.

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