Sales Tax Software: Bigger Than A Rate (TaxWire Origins) with Andrew Rea

In this episode of the SALTovation Podcast, Aprio's Meredith Smith and Judy Vorndran talk with Andrew Rea, co-founder and CEO of Taxwire. Andrew tells the story of how he got into the tax business, which stemmed from a hard-to-answer question regarding state sales tax compliance in an RFP. After a journey into just how complex taxes are and realizing taxes are much bigger than just rates, Andrew decided to create a new firm, Taxwire, to help businesses address these issues. Key Takeaways: ● Sales tax exposure can accumulate quietly inside a fast-growing business. Charging tax without remitting it, often the result of a hard-coded rate, may require historical cleanup, penalty waiver requests, and out-of-pocket cost. ● Product taxability is rarely simple. Prepared food can be taxed differently depending on how an item is added to a cart or how it is delivered, which makes categorization one of the harder problems to get right. ● Determination is only half the work. Getting transaction data into the return correctly may be the harder half, especially when billing addresses are incomplete or missing entirely. ● Businesses that run separate systems for B2B and B2C billing can end up filing incomplete returns, since exempt sales still belong in gross receipts. ● "You may feel like you're not going to get audited now," Andrew notes, but as companies scale, audits can become a natural part of doing business, and today's shortcuts can become tomorrow's regrets. ● Proactive SALT advice is available. If companies cannot justify a full-time in-house specialist, outside SALT advisors can help companies mitigate risk. Timestamps 00:00 - Intro and Welcome 01:17 - From K-12 Food Delivery to Tax Engine: Andrew Rea's Path Into Sales Tax 07:37 - Why the Domain Resists Easy Answers: "Isn't It Just Some Tax Rates in a Database?" 10:41 - Transaction Data Gaps: Zip Codes, Missing Addresses, and Disconnected Billing Systems 13:46 - Audit Exposure in Scaling Companies: Wayfair, VDAs, and the Compliance Gap 16:18 - Serving the Mid-Market: Where Set-It-and-Forget-It Tools Can Fall Short 18:46 - Reconciliation and Return Accuracy: B2B, B2C, and Gross Receipts 21:32 - Onboarding, Service, and Connectors: Why Automation Fails When Setup Fails 25:34 - Aggregating Data Across Systems: Why Platforms Struggle to Build Tax In-House Connect: ● Website: https://www.aprio.com/business-tax/st... ● Meredith Smith on LinkedIn:   / meredith-smith-047aa13   ● Judy Vorndran on LinkedIn:   / judyvorndran   Connect with Andrew ● Andrew Rea on LinkedIn:   / andrewrea1996   ● Website: https://www.taxwire.com/ ● Taxwire LinkedIn:   / taxwire   ● Subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on the SALTovation podcast, including that of all participants, are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of Aprio or any of its affiliates. The material and information presented on the podcast is for general information purposes only. The Aprio name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific product or service. #Aprio #SALT #SalesTaxAutomation #MeredithAndStacey #AccountforAnything #TaxPodcast #SALTovation #StateTax #TaxPolicy #TaxCompliance #TaxEngine #IndirectTax #Wayfair #NetSuite #TaxTech State and local taxes—simplified. As your single-source provider for SALT solutions, Aprio can help streamline all your state and local tax compliance needs: Contact Us: https://www.aprio.com/business-tax/st... Disclaimer: The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed on the SALTovation podcast, including that of all participants, are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of Aprio or any of its affiliates. The material and information presented on the podcast is for general information purposes only. The “Aprio” name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific product or service.