Merchant Procedures

Before the Convention

The deadline for Merchants to submit their information to us is approximately 1 month before the beginning of the convention. The submission deadline is the same for all merchants (Artists, Vendors, Guests, etc.).

After the submission deadline has passed we have approximately 1 week to finalize our merchant list to turn in to the city.

PER CITY POLICIES merchants may not sell OR ADVERTISE (like handing out business cards or fliers) without being on that list. We need all con merchants on that list regardless of whether or not they need a Reno business license.

All merchant lists are due to the convention accounting department within 1 week of the advertised merchant closing deadline.

The accounting department will assign each merchant to a responsible party and publish the list on the con dropbox (and possibly by email). Artist Alley will handle artists, swap meet, and club/org tables. Vendor head will handle people in the vendor room. Guests will be assigned to llama or a relevant responsible party. Gaming vendors will be assigned to Abe or a relevant responsible party.

The accounting department will turn this list into both the city and the state department of taxation NO LATER than 15 days before the start of the convention (“day zero” is the start of the convention).

After the list has been turned in, ABSOLUTELY NO MORE merchants may be added to the list. Therefore any late merchants will be turned away.

Within a week of the list being turned in, the accounting department will receive an email from the Nevada Department of Taxation with the vendor tax forms. The accounting department will distribute these forms to all responsible parties.

The forms we receive are:

• The tax return to be given to the merchant (sample)
• The Vendor Instruction sheet to be given to the merchant (sample)
• A tax calculation sheet to be given to the merchant (sample)
• Promoter instructions which are NOT to be given to the merchant and might not be forwarded to the responsible parties (sample)

Upon receipt, the responsible parties are to forward these forms to their assigned merchants with any additional relevant instructions such as check in times and procedures. It is up to the responsible party to write that email because different locations have different procedures.

Basic At-Con Procedures

The individual responsible for merchants may set their own check in time, location etc. Individual procedures MUST fall in line with the following procedures:

• Fill out the forms at check in. At check in the merchant is to fill out the tax form in triplicate and in its entirety except for the sales tax fields. You must ensure that they fill out their name, address, phone number, and (most importantly!) their SSN/EIN before they are allowed to set up their table/booth.

• Secure your forms. We keep these forms. It is recommended that you secure the forms in the filing box in Con Ops. The filing box has limited access and will be guarded by staff for the duration of the convention. You may keep the forms yourself provided you are able to secure them. Please keep in mind that the completed forms do contain sensitive information and unless you are 100% certain that you have secured the forms you really should keep them in the filing box until Sunday checkout.

• Finalize forms on Sunday. At checkout you need to have the merchant finalize their form by filling out their net sales and sales tax due. You MUST recalculate their sales tax based on their net sales. Do not trust them to math correctly. The accounting department will hold the responsible party liable for any mistakes on the forms!

• Receive sales tax monies. If you do not have a money bag, borrow one from registration. Merchants must pay either via a check made out to the Nevada Department of Taxation, or cash. We prefer checks, but cash is okay. Double-count any cash! Some vendors pay over rather than dealing with change. Overpaying is okay as long as the merchant is aware that they are overpaying.

• Turn in forms and funds. Once you have received all your forms and funds, turn everything in to the accounting department (located in registration).

After Con

The accounting department will enter all form information on to the vendor spreadsheet for validation. Taxes will be recalculated for verification. Responsible parties will be contacted if there is any issue with their assigned merchants.

The company will write one check to the Nevada Department of Taxation for all cash received.

All forms, received checks, and the one check from the company will be delivered to the Nevada Department of Taxation within 7 days of the end of the convention.