How to Collect and Remit Sales Tax
1. Go to www.mass.gov/dor and click on the file and pay taxes for business.
2. Enroll as a business in MA that needs to remit taxes electronically. (this would also apply for corporate excise and any other trustee tax such as employee payroll withholdings.)
3. Create a log in. Be sure to check off all tax types for which you will be liable.
4. Be sure to print your temporary Sales Tax Certificate.
5. Review the state sales tax rules to see when you need to charge sales tax and what items are exempt from sales tax such as clothing, fertilizer and flags.
6. Within 2 weeks you should receive a green and white card that is your official sales tax exempt certificate.
7. Complete ST-4 Forms and forward to your goods suppliers with a copy of your sales tax certificate. You should no longer be paying sales tax on the purchase of goods you intend to resell.
8. When selling goods to other non-exempt people and businesses you should be collecting 6.25% sales tax. If goods are shipped out of state via mail order etc. collection of sales tax is not needed. Your bookkeeping should keep a verifiable record of the collection and payment of this tax.
9. Monthly, Quarterly or Annually depending upon your assignment by the state sales tax should be remitted no later than the 15th of the month after the close of the period. For example if you are a monthly filer then you should remit the July sales tax no later than August 15th. Remember that you are doing this electronically and malfunctions and website issues can occur so it is truly best not to wait to the last minute.
10. To remit the tax go back to the www.mass.gov/dor website and log in with the user name that you created when applying for online filing.
11. Go to the file and remit taxes
12. Select sales tax.
13. Enter your total gross taxable sales
14. Hit calculate
15. The number that is generated should match what you need to remit.
16. Print the filing page.
17. Continue on to remit the payment
18. Confirm the account to be drawn from and amount and print the acceptance page as well.
19. Retain the printed confirmations as tax records.