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Philadelphia City, the nation's largest city with a soda tax, has the right to charge its 1.5-cents-per-ounce levy on sweetened beverages, the state Supreme Court ruled in a defeat for retailers and distributors.

The Philadelphia version of the tax was designed to help fund pre-kindergarten programs, parks and other services. It raised $79 million last year, but the impact on the cost of soda was large. The tax adds about $1 to the cost of a soda 2-liter bottle. A 12-pack of sodas went up $2.16.

Cigarette, other tobacco products taxpayers and master settlement agreement filers must file and pay electronically.

Kentucky is testing the new XML system and will soon have electronic filing available through the KY Business One Stop Portal. The website revenue.ky.gov has information to assist you in creating the XML file layout necessary in creating your tax return.

The Department of Revenue has implemented an electronic tax filing system that all Kentucky Cigarette and Tobacco licensees will use to file and pay your tax returns. This will also provide a means for the Manufacturer and Suppliers to submit an electronic sales and shipping report as well as PACT Report data.

The ASCii File format will no longer be accepted after July 20, 2018. If you currently use the ASCii File format, we recommend you consider using the Excel spreadsheet, which is a similar format to the ASCii File format. While the XML format is available to all licensees to use, it could require more extensive programming than the Excel Spreadsheet. The new tobacco tax filing system will offer three online methods.

• Web filing - Manual entry of your return directly in the online portal.

Beginning October 1, 2018, Wisconsin will require out-of-state sellers with no physical presence in Wisconsin (remote sellers) to collect and remit sales or use tax on sales of taxable products and services into Wisconsin consistent with the United States Supreme Court's decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc.

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On May 30, 2018, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 2417, an extensive state tax reform bill to improve the tax structure in Iowa. This legislation contains changes to Iowa income, corporate, sales and use, local option sales, hotel and motel, and vehicle rental excise taxes. This law modernizes and expands the types of businesses required to collect Iowa sales tax. Specifically, marketplaces and remote sellers that exceed certain sales or transaction thresholds must charge sales tax the same as Iowa main street businesses.

On June 21, the United States Supreme Court overturned Quill Corp v. North Dakota in South Dakota v. Wayfair. This means that states can require certain retailers with no physical presence, such as online sellers, to collect and remit the applicable sales or use tax on sales delivered to locations within their state.

The Nebraska motor fuels tax rate for July 1 through December 31, 2018, will be 28.0 cents per gallon, down from 28.4 cents per gallon. The components of the future and current rates include wholesale tax 9.7 cents per gallon, variable 3.5 cents per gallon, and fixed tax 14.8 cents per gallon. The wholesale tax rate is set depending on the wholesale price of fuel. The variable rate is adjusted to comply with legislative appropriations for Transportation. The fixed rate will increase annually through FY 2019 as a result of LB 610.