Chicago Pen Show 2019

[Roger W.]

I'd like not to surprise everybody for the Chicago Show so we'll try to get the word out. The State of Illinois, Department of Revenue is looking to collect sales tax from the vendors at the show. I will give all of the vendors a one page form on which you list your sales of which 10% gets remitted to the Department of Revenue. For my part I have to give the Department of Revenue a complete list of vendors that are at the show with name, address, email and phone number. So if I don't have that I will be asking for it. Thank you for understanding that Illinois is broke.

 

Roger W.

[gweimer1]

LOL. Illinois isn't just broke....it's broken. I grew up not far from where the show is. I've been listening to my old friends that still live there talk about it all.

 

Still...it is homecoming for me, and I'm looking forward to it. And I won't jack my prices up to cover....

[JotterAddict62]

That is one more thing I will have to do. Thanks to Roger W. for fitting me in. I will be a first time vendor at the show.

I will have to bring my A game to the show. All that Parker Pen inventory that I collected these past 10 years.

With only one table I will be rotating items every 1/2 hour.

 

Don't you just love it, buy an item brand new and get taxed [ for buying ], then sell it used and get taxed again [ for selling ].

 

Ken

[inkstainedruth]

Could be worse. Could be Indiana....

We did a one-off event with the bakery a few summers ago and my husband found that trying to get information about sales taxes from the IN state website was like pulling teeth with a string and a door. Only worse... (their website was that borked...). And I think then that it took something like 8 or 10 months of repeated phone calls and emails to convince them that we were NEVER doing business in Indiana ever again....

He claims we broke even on that event. I have my doubts....

At the show we do down in MS, the merchant liaison for the event gets us the tax paperwork (it goes in under one group filing) and then sends her minions around in a golf cart to collect it. Easy peasy, other than actually doing the math. I think that one of the reasons she (the liaison) loves us so much is that we don't give her any grief. And for us, sales taxes are just a business expense, like renting the tent the booth runs out of, and getting propane delivered at the beginning of the week.

A show we will not ever be able to get into (for various reasons) instituted a policy a number of years ago that all vendors had to have liability insurance. Even the people for who being a vendor was just an occasional thing (I think the site was worried about being included in a lawsuit -- because in the US of A, if there's such a suit filed, everyone and their cousin get named.... ). And on the regional mailing list for the organization people were going boohoo about it and wringing their hands and rending their garments. I got on and said "WE run a food booth. For us, it would be STUPID to NOT have liability insurance!" (I think at the time we were paying something like $300 a year for our policy because we got tipped off by another vendor as to what company to go with). And I said "And it's just another business expense.... Get over it...."

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[pctechies]

How did this come up with the Department of Revenue? Did they contact the show organizers or did the show reach out to them for clarification?

[Roger W.]

The IDR called me and asked that we pass out the tax vouchers to vendors. Being government friendly and not wanting to cause undo distress to the State workers we agreed to comply with their request. Since we will never know how this arose we will go forward and adjust to the change.

 

Roger W.