The year 2006 represented a number of milestones for the streamlined effort. October 2006 marked the first anniversary of the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board (SSTGB), established to administer the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement (SSUTA). During the year, the Governing Board states completed testing and certification of compliance solutions of third party providers and the year also brought compliance from two additional states, bringing the total number of states on board to 21. This webinar will focus on these developments and provide insight on what to expect during 2007.

During its first year, the SSTGB addressed many administrative issues to provide for the administration and operation of the board. In addition, SSTGB and the state and local advisory council and business advisory council addressed a number of tax compliance matters. This webinar will provide details on these changes, including bundling and the disposition of the Multiple Points of Use concept.

The states of Rhode Island and Vermont enacted legislation during 2006 to comply with Agreement provisions and became full members of the SSTGB as of January 1, 2007. This webinar will review some of the changes in these states to attain compliance.

In June 2006, the testing of Taxware Enterprise and TaxSolver was completed and the solution was approved for certification by the Governing Board. Today, ADP Taxware has contracts with the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board representing 21 states to provide its solutions in the Certified Service Provider (CSP) hosted model and in the Certified Automated System (CAS) licensed model. Certification of compliance solutions is a key component of the streamlined effort and the liability relief provided to businesses that use these systems is very important to the customers of ADP Taxware. This webinar reviews these deployments now in operation and outlines the benefits including liability relief.

Now that certified compliance solutions are in use, the Governing Board has appointed a committee to begin working on policy and procedures to guide auditors and businesses using certified technology. The webinar will also review the work of this committee and how audits may differ in the future.

Charles Collins - Vice President of Government Affairs, ADP Taxware

Charles manages ADP Taxware's relationships with taxing authorities and legislative bodies. He is a frequent speaker on state and local tax issues and on compliance and tax technology initiatives. Prior to joining ADP Taxware in 2002, he was employed for over thirty two years by the North Carolina Department of Revenue. He served the last ten years as Director of the Sales and Use Tax Division and held numerous other positions, including Assistant Director of the Department's Audit and Collections Division. He has worked on efforts to simplify the administration of sales and use tax and on various compliance initiatives. He was Co-Chair of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP) for two and a half years and coordinated the SSTP Pilot Project. He was also a delegate to the SST Implementing States. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from North Carolina State University and a master's degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He also graduated from the North Carolina Public Manager Program.

Matthew S. Walsh - Director of Tax Research, ADP Taxware

Matt is responsible for overseeing all domestic and international tax law content within ADP Taxware?s products. In addition, he provides advice on tax issues to ADP Taxware clients and internal tax matters. He has been with ADP Taxware since April of 2000, and prior to joining ADP Taxware, worked at John Hancock Financial Services and for the Attorney General for the state of Vermont. Matt is a graduate of the New England School of Law in Boston and is licensed to practice law in Massachusetts, Vermont, and the United States Federal District Court in Massachusetts.

Diane L. Hardt - Chair, SST State and Local Advisory Council

Diane was appointed administrator in May 1993 by the Secretary of Revenue. The IS&E Division is responsible for tax policy and administration of all income, franchise, sales and use and excise taxes, including audit, collections, and technical services. Prior to her appointment, Diane held positions as an Auditor, Audit Supervisor, Director of the Tax Processing Bureau, and Director of the Audit Bureau. Since March 2000, she has been Co-Chair of the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, a multistate effort to simplify and improve sales tax administration. Diane was named Public Official of the Year 2003 by Governing magazine for her work on the project. Diane co-authored the publication ?A Lawmaker?s Guide to the Streamlined Sales Tax Project? in May 2002 and ?A Lawmaker's Guide to the Streamlined Sales Tax Project ? 2003, The Year of Decision? in February 2003. She is a graduate of UW-Madison, and earned an executive master?s of business administration degree at UW-Madison in May 2001. Diane is also a Certified Public Accountant.

ADP Taxware webinars feature ten full minutes of Q&A towards the end of the program. So you'll have ample time to submit your questions to this expert panel. As always, any questions that we don't get to answer "on the air" will be answered via email in the days following the webinar.