Why Wisconsin e-businesses should prepare to collect taxes

As state deficits grow larger, the debate to collect taxes from online sales is getting louder, prompting Wisconsin and 35 other states to create the same tax rules for all Internet merchants to make it easier to comply with pending legislation.

Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) and Diane Hardt, tax administrator for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and co-chair of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, will discuss Internet taxation and more at a half-day workshop on e-business legal issues sponsored by the UW Consortium for Global eCommerce (CGEC). Scheduled for 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, at the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, the event costs $95 for non-UW CGEC members and is approved for continuing legal education credits.

Hardt predicted in a New York Times article that the next step in e-business taxation will come this summer, when industry groups such as the National Retail Federation and state organizations such as the National Governors Association “will go to Congress to ask that those states that enacted tax simplification legislation be allowed to mandate tax collection from retailers that don’t have a physical presence in their state.”

Attorneys Rob Petershack of Michael Best & Friedrich and Matt Stippich of von Briesen & Roper will also discuss ways for Wisconsin companies to protect online intellectual property, practical tips for solid information technology service agreements and updates related to online privacy issues.

The UW CGEC is a leading university-industry partnership that helps industry stay competitive through e-business and e-commerce. Members include American TV, Brady Corporation, Harley-Davidson, Kohler, Lands’ End, Rockwell Automation and The Swiss Colony.

For more information and online event registration, visit http://www.cgec.org/events/2003_03_20/