Hi again Don, as a follow up to my voicemail, once again, no issues with the story overall, except for the first sentence. So, I want to point out that the Department is not launching a public relations campaign regarding the payment voucher.
In November, the Department did inform Arizonans of the new voucher, which is part of our approach in trying to keep customers updated on ADOR programs and services, but, there are no plans for any formal paid advertising or media campaign.
The intent of the use tax payment voucher is to improve customer service for Arizonans that provides more clarity and assistance in filing use tax payments. And, I can report that Arizona consumers are using the new voucher for submitting use tax payments.
As your piece indicates, the Arizona Use Tax was instituted to protect Arizona sellers who otherwise would be at a competitive disadvantage when out-of-state businesses make sales of goods to Arizona customers without charging tax, for example. The Arizona Use Tax is intended to level the playing field between out-of-state and Arizona-based businesses.
I would appreciate it if you could update your story as it pertains to the “…concocting a public relations campaign…” part. Again, the rest of the story is fair.
Ed Greenberg
Arizona Department of Revenue
