Types

• Sale tax training is offered at learning institutes, professional associations, community colleges or universities. Students can opt to take beginners' courses for professionals with little to no experience in taxation, or advanced-level courses for tax experts seeking continuing education. Some courses are taught in a physical setting or in-classroom format. Others can be accessed online via webcast or a self-paced Internet tutorial. Organizations also offer trainees the ability to customize sales tax training based on their needs and objectives for the course.
  
  

Curriculum

• Beginners' sales tax training courses cover basic terminology and taxation concepts. For instance, students review government tax laws, current industry trends and issues, administration challenges around sales tax, income tax return filing, and the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system. The EDI is a computer software program that allows taxpayers and tax professionals to file their tax information electronically. Additional course topics include business ethics, tax research tools and methodology, and drop shipments. Advanced courses for experienced professionals may include an overview on use tax, statistical sampling, tax collection issues around retail sales and sales tax system implementations.
  
  

Requirements

• Sales tax training prerequisites may require students to have a basic knowledge in concepts and terms related to sales tax liabilities. Previous coursework in algebraic math and financial accounting also are helpful. Additional course requirements also include experience working with accounting and bookkeeping computer software. This is especially true for courses that focus on using accounting software to track inventory and set up sales tax for retail purposes. Sales tax training courses offered at professional associations may have no prerequisite or advance preparation requirements. However, these training institutes help guide participant registration at varying levels based on credentials such as work experience and overall sales tax knowledge.
  
  

Skills

• Students build skills in areas ranging from computer technology, to math and accounting. In addition to teaching best practices around using bookkeeping and accounting software, sales tax training teaches participants how to apply sales tax to a transaction, compute a business' sales tax liability, and set up systems that track, collect and pay sales tax. Sales tax training also enables professionals to work with use tax, prepare sales tax reports, and work with sales invoices and purchase orders. Other skills that are taught in sales tax training courses include developing audit processes and planning effective systems for tracking sales tax within organizations.