• Large companies: An appliance retailer with 350 stores that delivers products nationwide must comply with the laws of each jurisdiction into which it delivers goods. It files some 550 returns each month.
• Regional companies: A franchise that owns the right to 25 stores — 10 in Tennessee, 8 in Louisiana and 7 in Texas — files 26 returns each month. Tennessee and Texas make the franchisee file for each separate location, but in Louisiana it must file for the state and each parish in which it does business.
• Single locations/small businesses: A plumber in Louisiana contracts to do business with customers in various parishes around his location. Each parish imposes various tax rates based on the town in the parish. Thus, the plumber must register and file returns with each parish in which he works. He may even have to file returns in months when he has not done any business.

Q5: What’s driving the demand for Trustfile’s products and services?
State revenue agencies are under legislative and taxpayer pressure to improve customer service and use technology to increase the efficiency of tax collection. A number of states accept voluntary electronic filing (“e-filing”) of business taxes.

However, Congress has required that 80 percent of Federal business tax returns be filed electronically by 2007. Following this lead, state revenue agencies recently have begun mandating businesses to file their returns electronically. The number of states with e-filing mandates is increasing each year, requiring more and more businesses to file tax returns electronically.

In those states with mandates, the state typically offers a ‘free’ Web-based filing option as well as the option to file by telephone. While these options are adequate for many small businesses, a large segment of the business population needs a more powerful, feature-rich filing alternative such as Trustfile.

Q6: Where are e-filing mandates in place right now?
Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

Q7: Why would companies use Trustfile products and service?
Collecting, filing and paying sales, use and unemployment-compensation taxes to government revenue agencies is time consuming, expensive and prone to error. In addition, individual state revenue agencies' filing sites are configured in a wide variety of ways. Businesses that file electronically in a number of states must learn, use and trust as many agency systems.

Businesses operating in states that have voluntary e-filing have resisted e-filing because of the multiplicity of systems and processes. Trustfile’s research and feedback from existing customers shows that business-tax filers welcome a single, economical, streamlined clearinghouse for all revenue agencies in the U.S. versus multiple, diverse agency systems.

Tax laws change annually, and it’s quite difficult, if sometimes impossible, for taxpayers to keep up. Trustfile continuously updates its software and tax-processing system with current tax laws and regulations.

Q8: What products and services does Trustfile offer?
Software for filing Connecticut sales/use tax; software for filing Florida sales/use tax, unemployment compensation tax and solid waste tax; software for filing Georgia sales tax and property tax; software for filing Illinois sales/use tax; software for filing Louisiana sales/use tax; software for filing Maryland sales/use tax; software for filing New Jersey sales/use tax; software for filing Pennsylvania sales/use tax; software for filing South Carolina sales tax; software for filing Tennessee sales/use tax; and software for filing Wisconsin sales/use tax.

Q9: How do Trustfile's services work?
Trustfile offers a simple, secure, fast, cost-effective, and more accurate alternative to filing an electronic or paper return to individual states. Incorporating “smart” electronic forms software and including all necessary tax rates and current revenue agency requirements, Trustfile employs software technology and electronic transmission capabilities to provide low-cost, secure, fast movement of business-tax filing and payment data between business and government.

Q10: Why should businesses pay for filing software when they can just use free state tax-filing websites?

• State e-filing sites typically do not offer the ability to import data. Trustfile enables businesses to quickly and easily import their tax data.
• Multi-state filers must learn to use multiple sites with different features, structures, navigation and more, for each state in which they file. Trustfile offers a single point of entry for filers in multiple states.
• Businesses generally must manage separate log-in information for each location in which they file. For multi-state filers, using Trustfile eliminates the need to manage multiple log-ins.
• State e-filing websites do not offer simple access to businesses’ filing history. Trustfile provides easy access to filing history, useful if companies need to look up past filings for reference or to comply with an audit.
• Trustfile ensures users’ data is securely stored on their own systems.
• Trustfile has been facilitating business-tax filing for nearly 20 years and was the first company in the U.S. certified for e-filing by a state department of revenue. Trustfile uses that expertise to track and meet state and local revenue-agency requirements to ensure filer compliance.

Q11: Who are potential Trustfile customers?
Trustfile’s market is businesses with a requirement to file business taxes in states where Trustfile provides service. Currently, our customer base numbers some 16,000 businesses in those states. Some of these businesses are mandated filers. Many are businesses that simply want the convenience of filing electronically.

Q12: How does Trustfile ensure its software and transmission work with revenue agencies’ filing sites?
Trustfile maintains an extensive network of contacts with government revenue departments. We keep up with all new tax laws and make sure our software is up to date, and businesses are filing and paying with the correct numbers and percentages that states need. Users need only click Trustfile software’s update button to update their software and ensure the latest compliance.

States certify Trustfile software before it is released. In most cases, states certify Trustfile software by testing it to ensure that data requirements, calculations, etc., are accurate. In other states, certification means that the state has determined that Trustfile software sends the correct data to the state computers.

Q13: What else on the horizon could affect business-tax filers?
More states--Illinois and Wisconsin among them--have e-filing mandates on their future legislative agendas, with other states sure to follow suit.

In addition, current law does not require online and direct mail companies to collect and pay sales taxes on transactions that occur in jurisdictions where they do not have a physical presence. Many states, however, are considering legislation to require sales tax collection by these companies. This will add another wrinkle to businesses’ already complicated business-tax requirements.