When most people think of sales tax underreporting, the common misconception is that it is a victimless crime. The Texas Comptroller will tell you differently. When a customer makes a purchase from your store and pays you $5 in sales tax, that sales tax is supposed to be kept in escrow until the end of the month when you file your sales tax return.
At the point where there is sales tax unremitted by the store owner to the state, that becomes theft. Many professional services companies will not be able to tell you and discuss your repurcussions. Obviously, paying the unremitted portion of your sales tax that was collected on goods needs to be reported and paid. Conversely, there are instances where store owners do not charge tax at all. One might believe that this is an even lesser violation since the tax was never taken in the first place. However, that is not the case. The Comptroller will levy sales tax on the principal amount of the transaction and the store owner will be liable for that amount. In some cases, services are also taxable.
