Recording a Sales Tax Penalty

Hi there, @tkatke.

Thanks for providing a clear information about your concern. I can help you record the sales tax penalty in QuickBooks.

You will have to create an expense transaction to record the penalty. I'll walk you through the process:

1. Click Banking.
2. Choose Write Checks.
3. Enter the information needed.
4. Make sure to choose the Expenses tab.
5. Click Save & Close.

For in-depth information, please refer to this article: Create, modify, and print checks. I also advise consulting your accountant if you need further assistance in recording the sales tax penalty.

Keep me posted if you have other questions about QuickBooks. Have a good one!

It's an expense to the company not an accrued liability. Expense it.

I had a similar situation with the late sales tax payment penalty.  I paid sales tax with the penalty and applied for penalty forgiveness.   Recently, I received a check from the Department of Revenue. They returned my penalty back. So, I wonder how to enter this money?

Hi there, @Starik. 

Thank you for reaching out to the Community. 

I'm happy to know that you were able to receive the refund for the sales tax payment. Let me walk you through the steps on how to record it in QuickBooks:

1. From the Banking menu, select Make Deposits.
2. Make sure the right bank account is entered in the Deposit To drop-down menu.
3. Select the right Date.
4. Enter the details in the following fields:
   - Received From: Select the name of the agency where you received a refund from.
   - From Account: Enter the appropriate account.
   - Amount: Enter the total amount of the refund.
5. Click Save & Close. 

Though, I'd recommend consulting with your accountant for you to be guided properly in applying the sales tax adjustments to your Chart of Accounts.  

I'm also including this helpful article for more information about handling sales tax in QuickBooks: Process sales tax adjustment. 

You can always get back to me if you have other questions and I'll do my best to help you out. Have a great day and Take care! 

But Recording it this way creates two separate checks?  I’m trying to keep it all in one check so it reconciles easier. 

So when you make the adjustment, how do you locate it in your liabilities in order to attach it to the tax payment?  My tax payment won’t allow me to add expenses like a typical check. 

Thanks for joining this thread, @LC711.

I'd like to make sure that we're on the same page, so I give you the right amount of information. Can you share more details about your concern and how you set up the adjustment? Any extra details about this concern would be greatly appreciated.

I'll be keeping an eye on your response on this thread and we'll take it from there. Have a good one, @LC711.

Were you ever able to find a solution for this?

Hello there, Jamie. 

To ensure we're on the same page, could you tell me additional details regarding your sales tax concern? This way I can be able to provide an accurate and timely solution to resolve your issue.

I'll be waiting for your response. Have a good day ahead and stay safe always.