The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance recently said it will extend its call center hours in order to assist businesses and tax professionals as they file sales tax returns using a new online sales tax system.
The enhanced, more user-friendly system was launched in September, but for nearly 250,000 users, December will be their first time using the new system to file returns. The filing deadline is Dec 20.
The call center hours are as follows:
Weekdays - 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturdays - 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The call center's phone number is 518-485-2889.
"The new, online sales tax system provides a one-stop, seamless experience for businesses," said Commissioner Thomas H. Mattox. "The system and the extension of our call center hours are part of our continuous efforts to provide a higher level of service to the business community."
The new technology allows businesses to perform all sales tax filing and reporting tasks online and reflects requests and input from thousands of users from New York's business and tax professional communities. The enhancements help businesses comply with their sales tax responsibilities while enabling the Department to make more accurate distributions of sales tax revenue to local governments.
The department's website offers online demonstrations http://www.tax.ny. gov/e-services/otc/demos/de mo.htm of the new system. Users also can sign up for free webinars to better understand how to use the new services. Upcoming webinars include: Friday at 10 a.m. and Tuesday at 1 p.m.
Businesses can register for the webinars online www.tax.ny.gov/bus/st/stmp.htm. The department plans to offer additional webinars in the new year.
To learn more visit www.tax.ny.gov or follow the tax department on Twitter and YouTube.