The income tax deadline in the United States may have recently passed, but taxes are an everyday part of life for small business owners around the world. Whether it’s sales tax, property tax, or service taxes, part of running a retail business is keeping up with the tax laws and staying compliant.

GST Compliance

Take Malaysia, for example. Recent law changes require small businesses to be GST (goods and services tax) compliant. That means that items that receive a standard rate of tax and items that are zero-rated are distinct at check out. It also means that a receipt prints out delineating how much of the total cost is a tax. In a country where hand-written receipts and no receipts were commonplace, this change is big for retailers. Can you imagine writing a receipt by hand when some items were taxable and some weren’t? What a nightmare!

A POS that Keeps Track of Taxes

Enter the point of sale system. Once the tax guidelines are in the system, the retailer doesn’t have to think about them again. In addition, with the Bindo iPad POS, the total amount of tax moneys gathered throughout the course of a year is automatically tallied, making retailers’ accountants especially happy.

Tax Deductions for POS

In Malaysia, there are also tax deductions available for retailers having to purchase new hardware to be GST compliant. What a great opportunity to upgrade to an iPad POS at a lower out-of-pocket cost to retailers!

Taxes and Ecommerce

For retailers who rely on ecommerce, taxes can be especially tricky. In the United States, the tax rate is dependent upon where the purchase is actually acquired. In other words, if I order something online from a company based in New York but I have the product shipped to Texas, I pay the tax rate for Texas. In other instances, there is not tax for interstate commerce. It’s a lot to keep track of. When you use a point of sale system with software that updates when the tax laws do, you don’t have to worry about it. If that system is synched across all of your retail channels (online, in store, mobile, etc.), all the better.

The Hassle of Taxes at Checkout

Manually entering tax information at checkout makes lines longer and customers impatient. The ideal retail experience for customers is one in which they see none of the underbelly of business. Instead, they find a product they like and they exchange money for ownership of that product. They don’t particularly care about how the product reached your shelves or how much paperwork you had to complete for it to be imported. They just want to be able to use it as soon as possible. The tax laws are your problem.

With a fully integrated, cloud-based, multi-channel, iPad POS, the tax laws aren’t your problem either. And if the government of Malaysia wants to offer a tax deduction for a system that’s so beneficial to your retail business, then by all means let them do so.