State Sales Tax Ruling Spurs IBM i Integration

IBM i integration via APIs has been central to many of our development projects, especially those involving web/mobile applications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, and cross-platform data sharing.

Lately we’ve been helping customers prepare for new state sales tax rules on internet sales by integrating APIs with their IBM i systems.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last June that companies selling online could be required to collect and remit state and local sales tax in states where the company has no physical presence. To comply, some companies must update their software to calculate, collect, and remit taxes for up to 12,000 state and local jurisdictions in the US.

Many IT departments turn to cloud-based providers such as Avalara, Wolters Kluwer, and Vertex for core taxation functionality. These solutions calculate state and local taxes using up-to-date rules, rates, and exceptions. Most also offer automated tax reporting and preparation and filing of state tax returns.

IT departments that run custom IBM i code can access commercial tax solutions using APIs, which work for organizations of all sizes and can be integrated with quoting, sales and invoicing processes. These solutions also offer hooks for popular e-commerce, accounting, ERP, and CRM systems.

Seiden Group knows the major sales tax solutions and key IBM i techologies such as RPG and open source (PHP, Python, Node.js, for example). IT departments who don’t have spare personnel to quickly comply with new sales tax requirements can count on us to sweat the details. We can help you select a solution and modify your IBM i applications to work with the appropriate APIs.

If you are facing any kind of IBM i integration project, including compliance with state and local tax laws, contact us. We will set you up with a reliable, fully documented solution so you can focus on more exciting development projects.