💼 Impact on Accounting and Tax Firms: A Simplified Tax Future

🏛️ SEAL SD Explores the Changes Ahead

At SealSD.com, we’re diving into how the Core GRT Plan—part of the Maximum Liberty Plan (Plan 2)—will reshape industries across South Dakota, including accounting firms and tax revenue specialists. This plan replaces all state taxes with a single 5% Gross Receipts Tax (GRT), generating $3.6 billion and saving you $3,000–$5,000 annually by eliminating property taxes. By simplifying the tax system and removing deductions, the Core GRT Plan reduces the need for traditional tax services while opening new opportunities for these firms. This page examines the impact on accounting and tax revenue firms, highlighting the challenges and opportunities in a streamlined tax landscape, so you can see how this reform affects South Dakota’s financial professionals.

---

📉 Reduced Demand: A Simpler Tax System

The Core GRT Plan eliminates deductions and consolidates all state taxes—sales taxes ($2.097 billion), property taxes ($1.6 billion), and other fees ($628.2 million)—into a single 5% GRT on business revenue ($72 billion base), generating $3.6 billion. This simplification significantly reduces the need for traditional tax preparation and planning services:

• No Deductions, No Complexity: Unlike the current system, where firms help navigate deductions like business expenses or tax credits, the GRT taxes gross revenue without adjustments. A business with $500,000 in revenue pays a straightforward $25,000, no deductions needed (Page 28: Taxes: Mechanics and Impact of the Core GRT Plan).
• Simplified Filing: Businesses file GRT payments quarterly through an online portal, a process far less complex than multi-tax filings, reducing the need for extensive tax assistance (Page 28: Taxes: Mechanics and Impact of the Core GRT Plan).
• Impact on Firms: Accounting firms might see a 30–50% drop in tax-related revenue, as businesses handle GRT filings with minimal support. Smaller firms focused on tax preparation could be hit hardest, while larger firms like Eide Bailly in Rapid City may see less impact due to broader services.

Analogy for Clarity: It’s like switching from a picnic menu with lots of picnic snacks to track—each with different picnic prices and discounts—to just one $5 picnic cake fee for everything. Picnic chefs (accountants) don’t need to count every picnic snack or find picnic discounts anymore, so they’re needed less for picnic planning!

---

📈 New Opportunities: Shifting to Growth and Compliance

While the simplified GRT reduces demand for traditional tax services, it opens new opportunities for accounting firms and tax revenue firms to adapt, leveraging South Dakota’s economic growth under the Core GRT Plan:

• Business Consulting: The plan frees up $1.6 billion in disposable income, boosting local spending and industries like tourism ($4.96 billion) and agriculture ($10 billion) (Page 19: SB 216 vs. Core GRT Plan). Firms can offer consulting services to help businesses reinvest their $5,000–$50,000 property tax savings, such as a Rapid City retailer expanding with their $7,500 savings.
• GRT Compliance Support: Businesses may need help calculating pass-through costs (20–50%) and ensuring compliance with quarterly filings. For example, a business with $500,000 in revenue might seek advice on passing $12,500 (2.5%) to consumers competitively (Page 13: Deep Dive: Will Prices Go Up?).
• Auditing and SD-DOGE Support: The South Dakota Department of Government Efficiency (SD-DOGE) will conduct annual audits and enforce Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB), increasing demand for auditing services to prepare businesses and local governments for SD-DOGE reviews (Page 29: Deep Dive: How SD-DOGE Will Function).

Analogy for Clarity: With the picnic simpler, picnic chefs (accountants) start helping picnic stands grow—suggesting new picnic games, figuring out how to share the $5 picnic cake fee with picnic friends, and getting ready for the picnic referee’s (SD-DOGE) picnic check, finding new ways to help the picnic thrive!

---

💡 A Mixed Future: Challenges and Adaptations

The Core GRT Plan’s simplified tax system brings a mixed future for accounting and tax revenue firms, balancing challenges with new opportunities:

• Job Shifts: Firms focused on tax preparation might reduce staff by 20–30% due to lower demand, but those offering consulting or auditing could see growth. A firm with 10 tax preparers might need only 7 but could hire consultants to support business expansion.
• Firm Adaptations: Small tax revenue firms may face closures or mergers if they don’t adapt, while larger firms like Ketel Thorstenson could thrive by diversifying services, such as supporting SD-DOGE compliance (Page 31: Deep Dive: SD-DOGE Membership and Governance).
• Economic Ripple Effect: The $1.6 billion in disposable income increases demand for financial planning, as residents and businesses have more capital to manage, benefiting firms that adapt (Page 25: Why Invest in South Dakota).

Analogy for Clarity: Some picnic chefs might not be needed to count picnic snacks anymore, so a few leave the picnic kitchen—but others start baking new picnic treats, helping picnic stands grow, and a big picnic kitchen might take in smaller ones, while the picnic gets richer for everyone!

---

💡 Why It Matters: A New Role for Financial Professionals

The Core GRT Plan’s simplified tax system—no deductions, just a 5% GRT—reduces the traditional workload for accounting firms and tax revenue firms in South Dakota, potentially cutting demand for tax preparation services by 30–50%. However, it opens new opportunities for firms to pivot toward consulting, GRT compliance, auditing, and SD-DOGE support, especially as the plan frees up $1.6 billion in disposable income, boosting economic activity. While some firms may face challenges, those that adapt will find a thriving role in South Dakota’s simplified, liberty-focused future, ensuring that your $3,000–$5,000 in annual savings translates into broader financial opportunities for all.

Analogy for Clarity: The picnic chefs don’t need to count as many picnic snacks, but the picnic gets bigger and better, so they start helping with picnic growth ideas and picnic checks, making the picnic simpler and better for everyone, thanks to the picnic friends watching over it!

📂 Learn More

• 🌄 Our Vision for South Dakota
  The future we’re building — bold, free, and family-first.
• 📊 End Property Tax: GRT Plan
  How the 5% Gross Receipts Tax will replace property taxes — and why it works.
• 📈 Revenue Verification
  Ensuring every dollar is accounted for — transparency you can trust.
• 🛡️ Safeguards to Protect Homes
  No tricks, no traps — just locked-in protections you can count on.
• 🕵️ SD-DOGE: Our Government Watchdog
  Efficiency, oversight, and a watchdog that works for the people.
• 👉 Get the Facts
  Will Prices Go Up?: Debunk myths about price increases under the GRT.
• 🚜 Family Farms & Ranches
  How the GRT protects and empowers South Dakota’s agricultural backbone.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 For Our Kids’ Future
  Building a legacy of freedom and opportunity for the next generation.
• 🏛️ South Dakota First
  Prioritizing our people, our values, and our future — always.
• 🆕 What’s New?
  Stay updated on the latest developments and announcements.