Rhode Island recently announced a Rhode Island Tax Amnesty Program that can help businesses reduce unremitted sales tax liabilities from periods ending on or before December 31, 2025.
In effect from December 3, 2026, through February 15, 2027, you have a 75-day window to get 100% of your penalties waived and a 25% reduction on accrued interest.
Depending on the size of the liability and the period, you can compare this program against a traditional Voluntary Disclosure Agreement (VDA).
|
Feature |
2026–2027 Amnesty Program |
Traditional Rhode Island VDA |
|
Lookback Period |
Anything prior to Dec 31, 2025 |
Strict 3-year standard limit |
|
Penalty Waiver |
100% of penalties abated |
100% of penalties abated |
|
Interest Relief |
25% reduction in interest |
No interest reduction (paid in full) |
|
Anonymity |
Public filing required up front |
Disclosed anonymously |
If you’re going to handle this in-house, then your team needs to start by pulling transactional sales data for Rhode Island through December 31, 2025, so that you have a clear idea of your total uncollected sales tax liability and the timeframe.
Once you know that, it’s time to weigh your options. Choosing between the amnesty program and a VDA or any other avenue depends on factors like public filing comfort, total interest savings, and past state contact.
If you are looking for the best way to handle past exposure in Rhode Island (or any state), TaxValet can step in to handle the entire operational and strategic burden.
In terms of the Rhode Island Amnesty Programs, our team will first connect to your sales channels to pull and review data up to December 31, 2025.
Once we have a clear picture, we will evaluate whether your business benefits more from the 75-day Rhode Island Amnesty window or other routes and discuss the options with you.
Based on your choice forward, we then execute the steps. For example, with the amnesty program, we handle the registration with the Rhode Island Division of Taxation, fill out the official amnesty tax returns, and submit the filings.
We stand behind our work with a 360° Audit-Protection guarantee. If our work faces state scrutiny or if we make an operational error, we represent your business directly and cover any resulting penalties.
To get started, book a call.