Sales Tax Preparation

Calculating what you owe, filing returns on time, and keeping the documentation the state expects. We track your taxable sales and handle submissions to the Utah State Tax Commission.

The Obligation

Sales tax is money you collect on behalf of the state. It was never yours. You are holding it in trust until the filing deadline when you send it to the Utah State Tax Commission. That makes it different from income tax. You cannot defer it. You cannot negotiate it. You just owe it.

The work involves tracking taxable sales throughout the month, applying the correct combined rate for your jurisdiction, and filing the return before the deadline. For most businesses along the Wasatch Front, that means accounting for state tax plus local option taxes that vary by city and county.

The Calculation

We track your taxable transactions and apply the correct rates based on where the sale occurred. Utah has a base state rate plus local taxes that differ across Salt Lake County, Utah County, and other areas. We make sure the math is right before anything gets filed.

The Filing

We prepare and submit your returns to the Utah State Tax Commission. Whether you file monthly, quarterly, or annually depends on your volume. We handle the submission and remit payment on your behalf so you never miss a deadline.

The Complexity

For contractors and tradespeople, sales tax gets complicated fast. When you buy materials from a supplier, you typically pay sales tax at the counter. But if you purchase something tax-free with a resale certificate and then use it yourself instead of reselling it, you owe use tax. The state expects you to self-report that.

There are also exemptions that apply to certain types of work. Real property improvements are treated differently than retail sales. Some labor is taxable. Some is not. If you are running jobs across multiple cities, the rates change depending on location. Getting this wrong creates liability that compounds over time.

Contractor Confusion

The line between taxable and exempt is not always obvious in construction. Materials are usually taxable. Labor on real property often is not. But fabrication work might be. If you are guessing, you are either overpaying or underpaying, and underpaying catches up with you eventually.

Audit Exposure

The Utah State Tax Commission audits businesses. When they do, they want documentation. They want to see how you calculated what you owed and why you treated certain transactions as exempt. If your records are a mess, even honest mistakes turn into assessments with penalties and interest attached.

The Resolution

You stop thinking about sales tax. The tracking happens in the background as part of your regular bookkeeping. When the deadline approaches, the return is already prepared. The payment goes out. The confirmation gets filed. You find out it happened when you see the summary in your inbox.

If an auditor ever shows up, you have clean records. Every taxable sale is documented. Every exemption is supported. The paper trail exists because we built it as we went, not because you scrambled to reconstruct it years later.

Deadlines Handled

You do not have to remember when filings are due. You do not have to log into the Tax Commission portal. You do not have to figure out the combined rate for a job site in Lehi versus one in West Jordan. That is our job.

Liability Contained

Sales tax problems grow quietly. A small error repeated over 24 months becomes a large assessment. We catch issues early, apply the rules correctly, and keep you from accumulating debt you did not know you were creating.

Utah's Construction Bookkeeping Specialists