As I sit down to write this, I honestly can say it is hard to put down into words all that has happened this last year to our customers, employees, vendors, friends, family and communities near and far.

Our support department has been fielding questions about the new alcohol tax being implemented in the Municipality of Anchorage - so we decided to ask the experts!  And, we had a very useful and informative follow-up meeting with representatives from the Treasury Division at the Municipality of Anchorage in December.  We really appreciate the time they spent with us.

What does it mean to share credit card fees with customers?  We have had several inquiries lately, so thought we would pass along a little bit of information.

If you are a business that accepts credit cards, you know that there are fees involved.  And historically, a customer that pays in cash pays the same price as a customer that pays with a credit card.  Many just accept this as the cost of doing business. However, with card acceptance at 80% or higher, businesses are starting to take a second look at the fees and ways they can share these fees with customers that want the convenience of using their card. 

Start saving some of those fees to put back into your business.

Now, more than ever, restaurants MUST offer online ordering for their customers - many restaurants are closed to inside dining and customers are also demanding the ease of online ordering.  So we wanted to share these online ordering tips with you again.

Food Service Tamper Proof Labels

With all the shut downs and restrictions during December, many of our customers are turning to takeout, online ordering and delivery solutions.

Keep food for delivery, catering or takeout secure from prep to pickup with Tamper Proof Seal Labels These permanent adhesive, die cut labels securely seal sandwich wraps, pizza boxes, kraft bags, plastic containers and much more. With a best-in-class tamper evident design, these labels are ideal for QSRs, drive-thrus, app-orders, carryout or delivery services, assuring your customers that their order has not been opened in transit.  You can also order custom print on any Seal Label with your logo and other branding to help boost your business.  Lead times may vary.

We know that you have a million things on your minds right now, so we want to help you and your business with this process.  February will be here before you know it - so we want to help you prepare now.  

We have been in communication with the folks in the Tax Department at the Municipality of Anchorage and are meeting with them again today to get clarification on some of the details.  In the meantime, we wanted to share with you some of the resources from their website.  You can read more on MOA's website or download their informative presentation from this link.

After our meeting, we will be sharing more details on collecting, reporting, and auditing requirements.  We will also be providing specific instructions for our customers that are affected by this new tax.

Here are some of the highlights from their presentation:

Important Dates:

• December 1, 2020: Online registration opens
• February 1, 2021: Begin collecting alcohol tax
• March 15, 2021: Last day to register for certificate without incurring late registration penalty of $250
• March 31, 2021:  Last day for filing first monthly tax return reporting taxable sales
and tax due;  Last day for remitting tax due for the reporting month of February

During the pandemic, one lesson quickly learned by many businesses is that they needed an online presence - for restaurants, grocery stores and retail.  Consumers are demanding the online shopping experience and convenience.  For restaurants, in many ways, the task is fairly simple - as menus are limited and easy to quickly put online.

First of all, I wanted to preface this story to say how sorry we were to hear about the theft of the ATM at Tastee Freez last week.  I am sure many of you have seen the video by now.  We are saddened and also mad that this happened to our good friends.