HUNTSVILLE, Alabama ? Hundreds of Huntsville business owners who write the city a monthly sales tax check will soon be required to pay electronically.
An amendment to the city tax code mandates e-filing of all sales, rental, lodging and use taxes through a secure Alabama Department of Revenue website.
The City Council approved the change on a 4-0 vote at its meeting Thursday night. Huntsville Finance Director Randy Taylor said the e-filing requirement will probably go into effect around Sept. 1.
?We?ll be able to devote our activities (in the finance department) to other things,? said Taylor, ?and not just processing paper.?
?It?s a much more efficient way to file.?
The state revenue department began requiring businesses to electronically remit the Alabama portion of their sales, rental, lodging and use taxes in 2003. The city has offered an e-file option since April 2004, and about 60 percent of businesses are already signed up.
But Taylor said more than 2,000 local businesses pay the state electronically, then turn around and send the city a paper tax return and check. The finance department processed about 2,700 paper returns in April alone, he said.
It takes two municipal employees about 10 days to manually enter that data into the city?s computers.
With e-filing, ?the information comes directly into the city?s system and we?re done,? said Taylor.
E-filing city taxes through the state revenue department website is a free service.
Businesses with less than $750 in monthly tax receipts will still be allowed to pay by check, and Taylor said the city will also make exceptions for any business that does not have a computer.
City Councilman Richard Showers said he generally supports the change but wants to make sure it doesn?t hurt small business owners.
?I don?t want technology to put anybody out of business,? Showers said Friday.
Taylor said he believes businesses that now remit city taxes through the mail will find e-filing faster and easier.
?Now, the owners can spend less time on administrative activities,? he said, ?and more time on other things in their business.?
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Article source: http://blog.al.com/breaking/2012/05/huntsville_businesses_will_hav.html
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