Retail Accountability Program

The purpose of the Retail Accountability Program is to ensure sales tax collected by retailers is submitted to the state of Tennessee to finance the services provided to Tennesseans. The articles here answer questions about that program.

• What is the Retail Accountability Program?
• I received an assessment from the Retail Accountability Program. Why do I owe money?
• How are assessments calculated for the Retail Accountability Program?
• How does the Tennessee Department of Revenue know what I purchased through the Retail Accountability Program?
• There are items other than beer and tobacco included in my Retail Accountability (RAP) purchase data. Are non-beer and non-tobacco purchases used in the RAP calculation? If not, why are they showing up in my data?
• My Notice of Assessment says that I can access the wholesaler data used to make this assessment online, but I am having difficulty. How can I get the data?
• For the Retail Accountability Program, what username do I use to download the wholesaler data or recover my password?
• What if the wholesaler data is incorrect?
• What can I do differently to avoid an assessment from the Retail Accountability Program?
• I received a Retail Accountability assessment. Should I amend my sales tax returns?
• I will amend my monthly sales and use tax returns to move figures from food sales (5% state tax rate prior to July 1, 2017; 4% state rate effective July 1, 2017) to fully taxable sales (7% state tax rate).  Will this reduce or eliminate my assessment?
• Can I get credit for cigarette buydowns?
• How do I know if I participate in a cigarette buydown program?
• What can I submit as documentation/proof of cigarette buydowns for the Retail Accountability Program?
• Are manufacturer coupons and manufacturer buydowns for tobacco treated the same?
• What if I make a payment now, then later I discover an error or locate additional buydowns?
• What if I can't pay my Retail Accountability assessment right now, and I need to pay in installments?
• Can I transfer product between multiple locations that I own?
• I sold cigarettes to other retailers, and those sales are not reported on line 7 of the monthly sales and use tax return. How do I get credit for those sales to reduce my assessment?
• What should I do if I sell my business?
• I sold my store but I still received a Retail Accountability Program assessment. How do I get the assessment resolved?
• What if I change my business structure, and the Tennessee Department of Revenue sent me a new sales and use tax certificate?
• I have monthly or quarterly inventories that show I have more product at the end of the quarter than I had at the beginning of the quarter. Will this change the RAP assessment?
• What if I do not agree with the Retail Accountability assessment?
• Can I have my accountant or bookkeeper contact the Department of Revenue about my Retail Accountability assessment?
• Does the Retail Accountability assessment close the period, or can I still be selected for a full audit?
• What if I have read all of these questions, and I still have questions about my Retail Accountability assessment?