RESTAURANT INDUSTRY SALES TAX AUDIT PROFESSIONALS
ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA
St. Louis, Missouri
April 27 - 30, 2014
AGENDA
Sunday, April 27 – The Westin St. Louis – 9th @ Spruce Ballroom
4:30 PM – 5:00 PM Registration and hotel voucher provided
4:30 PM - 5:00 PM Early reception for First Time RISTAP Meeting Attendees and the Board
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Reception and Special Issue Breakout Roundtables-- Attendees may move between topic tables
during this two hour session. Non-alcoholic beverages will be provided. At the end of each 30
minute period, everyone will be asked to move to another table to allow members to visit four tables
during this session. Two RISTAP members will serve as discussion leaders at each topic table—one
for the first hour and another for the second hour.
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Food & Beverage Taxes— Ivette Guzman, Bloomin Brands and Mary Haskin, Dominos
Staff Training/Education Methods & Opportunities and Networking— Donna McMurry,
Arby’s Restaurant Group and Angela Marks, The Wendy’s Company
Hotel and Lodging Industry Issues— (This table will only be available the first hour) –
Lori Powers, Hilton Worldwide
Accounting for Sales Taxes, Reserves, FAS/IFRS— Chris Smith, Denny’s and Dan Holt,
HMS Host Corporation
Tax Technology— Kristy Calhoun, Chick-fil-A and Sarah Nichols, Panera, LLC
Mandatory Gratuities and Liquor Taxes— Andrea Cotton, Texas Roadhouse, Inc. and
Lisa Carroll, Brinker International
Foodservice Company Issues— (This table will only be available the second hour) –
Juli Hruska, Sysco and Joy Crosswhite-Pinkham, McLane Foodservice
What is RISTAP/Orientation—(This table will only be available the first hour) – Teri
Ashworth, Sonic
Dinner on your own
Monday, April 28
8:00 AM
Westin St. Louis – Cupples Ballroom
Coffee and Beverages— Breakfast on your own – hotel voucher provided
8:00 AM – 8:10 AM Welcome—Teri Ashworth, Sonic, RISTAP Chairperson and Welcome to
St. Louis – Stace Faulders, Director of Taxes, Panera Bread
8:10 AM – 10:00 AM and 10:20-11:10 AM—Break from 10:00-10:20 AM
Roundtable Discussion—Miscellaneous Restaurant Audit Issues – Al Leistner
Bring your audit issues to discuss with the group. Other issues submitted in advance will also be
presented for discussion.
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Methods for charging audit assessments to corporate/restaurants, etc.
Exemption certificates obtained after the transaction/Proof of payment
Florida Real Estate Rent Issues
Common Area Maintenance Charges
Utility exemptions
TV/media advertising
Purchases that are sent to headquarters and/or third party then sent to restaurants
Florida Communications Services Tax
Food trucks
Requests from states for Franchisee Information
Franchisee incentives
Convenience store issues/fuel taxes
Resale Certificate changes in Puerto Rico
Repairs and services that are now taxable in Puerto Rico
Quebec – language barrier and communication in general (POA’s, audits, SRM’s)
Sourcing fees/co-op fees – taxability of the sourcing fee on a taxable product
Other issues submitted in advance or raised at the meeting
NOTE: The remaining sessions on Monday and Tuesday will be subject matter discussions. It
is anticipated that each discussion leader will make a short presentation about the subject
and their experiences. The balance of the allotted time will be available for Q&A and
discussion from the group. It is important that all participants come prepared to discuss
specific issues they may have related to these subjects.
11:10 AM – 12:00 PM
Presentation and Discussion—Compliance Issues and Outsourcing – Mary Haskin, Dominos
Pizza, LLC and Ryan Meas, Starbucks
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Return preparation – Onesource vs. CorpSales vs. ADP vs. Outsourcing
POS/Register systems
o PIF, CIF, F&B
o Bracket Tables
o Combo Meals
o Comp/Free Meals
o Ontario set-up of meals under $4
o OH carry-out
Delivery Charges/Catering
Premium/grocery sales
Claiming credits on returns vs. filing refund claims
Outsource providers
Advantages/disadvantages to outsourcing
How outsourcing works from start to end
12:00 PM — 1:20 PM
Lunch on your own
1:20 PM — 2:10PM
Presentation and Discussion—Taxation of Royalties, Franchisor Services, Business Licenses,
Gross Receipts, and Local Taxes — Lori Powers, Hilton and Chris Smith, Denny’s
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Royalties and Other Fees
o Taxes on Royalties
o Advertising Contributions and Co-Ops
o Bundled Transactions (Trademarks/Training/Manuals)
o Licensing retail products
Franchisor Services
o Software and Hardware
 Sales
 Maintenance
o Help Desk
o Nexus Issues (Affiliated / Economic / Click Thru)
o Define “Gross Sales”
 Marketplace Fairness Act
o Free vs Fee
Business Licenses
o Business Licenses
o Gross Receipts based License Taxes
Gross Receipts Taxes
o Washington B&O, Hawaii Excise Issues
o Who is tax on and is Purchaser required to remit use tax?
 AZ, CA, HI, NM, SC
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o Pass Through vs Non Pass Through
 Texas Mixed Beverage
Local Taxes
o Sales and Use
o Food and Beverage / Meals Taxes
 RISTAP List
Other Issues
o Tax language in contracts
o Intercompany Transactions
o Remote Seller Reporting
 CO, KS, OK, KY
 What is the tax base?
2:10 PM — 3:00 PM
Presentation and Discussion— Presentation— Taxation in the Digital World – Teresa Wiley and
Juli Hruska, Sysco
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Taxation of digital goods / software – impacts to your business
o Nice to knows
o Pitfalls
Cloud computing
SAAS
Hosting
IT Services
Telecommunications Tax
o Applicability to Restaurant Companies and taxability
3:00 PM – 5:00 PM – Networking
Monday Night— Dinner on your own
Tuesday, April 29—The Westin St. Louis – Cupples Ballroom
7:45 AM
Coffee and Beverages— Breakfast on your own – hotel voucher provided
8:00 AM — 8:50 AM
Presentation and Discussion—Identifying and Implementing Cost Savings and Value Added
Responsibilities – “Breaking out of the Tax Silo” — Teresa Wiley, Sysco and Sarah Nichols,
Panera, LLC
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Procurement Companies
Tax Incentives
Overpayment reviews
Tax language in contracts
Utility Studies
Marketing the Tax Department
Partner and establish relationships internally
Internal processes used to become aware of issues and opportunities-involvement in corporate
decisions
Internal training methods for other departments
Communicating issues and successes to management – establish metrics/KPI’s
8:50 AM — 9:40 AM
Presentation and Group Discussion—Sales Tax Audit Management, Administrative Processes
and State Trends— Donna McMurry and Rita Dunne, Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc.
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Pre-audit conferences and information document requests
Managed Audits and Compliance Agreement Programs
New audit program in OH for restaurant companies
Reconciliation to state income tax returns
Combined audits-sales, property and income tax
Self-audits
Amnesty and VDA’s (US and Canada)
Contract/third party audits-recent developments
When to use consultants for audit reviews and recoverable studies (Canada/VAT)
9:40 AM —9:55 AM Break
9:55 AM —10:45 AM
Presentation and Discussion—Tax Automation Update – Patrick McWilliams, Wal-Mart and Craig
Schwalm, Buffalo Wild Wings
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Software – Vertex, Onesource Indirect Tax (Sabrix), TTR, CCH Tax Portal, Tax Integration for
Retail, etc.
o Maintenance of tax rates
o Integration with POS system
o Integration with purchasing/Accounts Payable
o Integration with Accounts Receivable
Software utilized by construction/engineering departments and integration with Financial systems
Update on Compliance Software and current environment – Changes, Content, Functionality, etc
Automation/Documentation of exemption/resale certificates
10:45 AM —11:35 AM
Presentation and Discussion—Construction Contractors, Installations, General Repairs and
Maintenance— Tim Howe, Chick-fil-A and Stuart Bray, Wal-Mart
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What does all this mean – definitions and terms / application
Real Property vs. Tangible Personal Property (TPP)
Combined States (NC)
Non-resident contractors (MA)
Dual classification states (MO)
Colorado Local (Commerce City) – contractor pays estimated tax on contract when getting permit
Where do I start with my discussion with vendors?
What about other departments in my business?
Contract Management
11:35 AM —1:00 PM—Lunch on your own
1:00 PM—1:30 PM
Presentation and Discussion—Groupon, Coupons/Discounts, Gift Cards, Mobile Apps and
Loyalty/Reward Programs — Paula Borhauer and Cassie Van Pay, Starbucks
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Gift Card tax issues
o Is the plastic taxable and where
o Taxability of “Extra Bucks” offered with purchase of gift cards
o Prepaid cards/reloads
o Arizona third party sales of gift cards
Groupon
o How does the program work
o What are the issues
o States’ positions
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Coupons and Discounts
o Allocation between taxable and non-taxable items
o Presentation on receipts
o BOGO “Coupons” taxable?—Wisconsin, other states
o Peel off tabs
Loyalty/Rewards Programs
o Overview of the types of programs
o Membership fees
Mobile Apps/Ordering
1:30 PM—2:00 PM
Presentation and Discussion— Legislative Developments and Recent Rulings - Al Leistner
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Colorado retailer reporting requirements
San Francisco Gross Receipts Tax
Hawaii H.B. 2135 SST Conformity
Kentucky tax legislation proposal—sales tax on select services and “clarification” of sales tax
on prewritten software
New York Echo Star Decision
Illinois sourcing rules
Telecommunication tax developments
Missouri Supreme Court decision – Schnuck’s
2:00 PM—2:30 PM
Presentation and Discussion— Nexus Developments – Patrick McWilliams and Stuart Bray,
Wal-Mart
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Overview of recent developments - Amazon
Impact to companies
Concerns
2:30 PM —2:45 PM Break
2:45 PM—3:15 PM
Presentation and Discussion—Streamlined Sales Tax Updates– Paula Borhauer, Starbucks
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Current hot topics
Food taxation overview
Additional tax impacts and tools for restaurants
3:15 PM—3:45 PM
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Presentation and Discussion— Case Study – No Situs is Bad Situs! – Chris Smith, Denny’s
3:45 PM — 4:00 PM
Presentation— RISTAP Business Meeting—Teri Ashworth- RISTAP Chairperson
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Introduction of the Current Board
Review of Financial Statement/Discussion of Meeting Format, Cost, etc.
Next Year’s Meeting Site and Date
Presentation of Nominations for 2014-2015 Term
CPE’s, National Registry & Ethics Credits
4:00 PM — 4:30 PM
Presentation— RISTAP Informational Update— Tim Howe, Chick-fil-A
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Website information
o Overview
o How to use the site
o Survey
4:30 PM – 5:20 PM (Optional Session for those Needing Ethics CPE Credits)
Presentation and Discussion—Ethical Considerations for Sales Tax Administrators— Al
Leistner, Donna McMurry, Arby’s Restaurant Group, Inc. and Mary Haskin, Dominos Pizza,
LLC
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Ethical dilemmas facing sales tax administrators
How ethics tie into an audit
o Known issues missed by an auditor
o Stalling
o Steering the sample
Issues to be considered
Resources/guidelines
Situations/cases
5:20 PM -6:15 PM Networking Reception—Informal/Optional-Cash Bar
Tuesday Night - Dinner on Your Own
Wednesday, April 30—The Westin St. Louis – Cupples Ballroom
8:00 AM —12:30 PM (Coffee Only)—Break from 9:40-10:20 for checkout
Sales Tax Department Best Practices Networking Session — Panel Discussion with Group
Participation, Al Leistner, Tim Howe, Chick-fil-A, Teri Ashworth, Sonic, Paula Borhauer,
Starbucks, Sylvia Gaspar, Krispy Kreme Doughnut Corporation
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Open Discussion on Best Practices in the Sales Tax Function—Participation of the group will
be critical in this session. The following general areas will be discussed but questions from
members will be prioritized:
o Organizational structure-Sales tax compliance and/or audits
 In the tax department
 In the accounting department or shared services department
 Outsourcing audits-can this work?
 Sales Tax Manager involvement in detail work
 Sales Tax Manager’s additional responsibilities for property tax and/or business
license compliance
 Involvement in VAT/Canadian Taxes
 Benchmarking
o Compliance process and Use Tax Determinations
 Outside software applications for reporting
 Outside software applications for use tax determinations/error rates
 In-house developed use tax solutions
 Reviews by sales tax department personnel
 Reviews by other departments-property accounting, etc.
 The costs-implementation and ongoing maintenance
 Use tax overpayment reviews-considerations
 Records retention
 Purchases/p-cards
 Sales records
 Estimating and explaining the benefits of proposed improvements
 Measuring and explaining the benefits resulting from improvements
 SST and Federal legislation update
o Accounting Methods/issues
 Audit reserve methodologies
 Reserving for potential exposures-missing exemption certificates, etc.
 FAS 5
 IFRS effects-more likely than not vs. probable
 Communications with management
o Staff hiring, training and management
 Sales Tax Manager as a leader and mentor
 How to find good sales tax people
 From outside the company
 From other departments inside the company
 Internal & external training opportunities/methods
 The benefits of an income tax background-how to get this training for sales tax
team members
 How to keep good people in sales tax--promotions and incentives/recognition,
etc.
 Career planning for the staff
 Succession planning
o “Help your neighbor”
 Time to talk with other people to go over issues/compare notes with similar
businesses and colleagues