Liz Armbruester, Avalara’s SVP of global compliance, noted the tool’s release come at a time when the coronavirus has caused many states to waive sales tax payment, interest or both.

“The taxing authorities have thrown a few more rules at them [busiesses] for their benefit,” she said. However, at some point, businesses will have to make payments and Avalara advises them to continue payments on the regular schedule. And she notes, that not all states that waive payment deadlines have waived interest on payments

“It’s just more complexity these businesses have to manage,” Armbruester says.

What the assessment tool offers is a simple way to assess risk. Businesses answer three questions about sales and where they remit tax, or they can upload transactions with a via a  template. The tool will alert them about states in which their sales transactions may have triggered a tax collection obligation.

Users receive a PDF report on that subject and a color-coded map to show tax risk. The assessment tool enables them to “discover states where their sales activity has likely triggered sales tax obligations and determine which states should be closely monitored,” Avalara said.