Key takeaways
- The monthly return covers the previous month and is due on the 20th, but the 2026 DFA calendar shows June 22, September 21 and December 21.
- Accounts with average net sales of $200,000.00 or more per month must prepay by EFT on the 12th and 24th, or once on the 24th.
- The failure-to-file penalty in the rule text is 5% of the tax for each month or fraction of a month, capped at 35%.
- Local tax follows the delivery address for shipped goods, so a single state total is not enough to file.
File through ATAP and get the right form
DFA directs new users to atap.arkansas.gov, where a registered user can file and amend returns, make payments and view account information. The return itself is Form ET-1, the Arkansas Excise Tax Return. DFA's forms page says it does not mail blank ET-1 forms, so a client who calls for a paper copy is told to use ATAP.
Local sales and use tax is reported with the Supplemental Local Sales and Use Tax Schedule, Schedule L, which is a separate item on DFA's forms page. Form ST-391 on the same page is the exemption certificate, not a return.
Set up your own ATAP access for the client's account at onboarding and keep the account ID in the client file. Otherwise you find out on the 19th that the owner is traveling.
Confirm the filing frequency in writing
Rule GR-77 starts every account on monthly filing. The Director may allow quarterly filing when average tax does not exceed $100.00 per month and annual filing when it does not exceed $25.00 per month, measured on the July 1 to June 30 fiscal year. The taxpayer stays on monthly filing until it receives notice of a change.
That last sentence is the failure mode. A client with a slow season, say $60 a month in tax, assumes it can file quarterly and skips two monthly returns. Nothing in the rule moves the account without a notice, so ask for the DFA letter or screenshot the filing frequency in ATAP before you calendar anything.
Quarterly filers file on or before July 20, October 20, January 20 and April 20. Annual filers file on or before January 20 for the preceding twelve months. For tax periods in 2026, the next dates are January 20, 2027 for the October through December quarter and for annual accounts.
Use the 2026 due dates, including the weekend shifts
The DFA calendar lists the monthly report for the previous month on the 20th in January, February, March, April, May, July, August, October and November 2026. It shows June 22, September 21 and December 21. In each of those months the 20th falls on a weekend, which is why the dates move, although the page I read does not state a weekend rule in words.
In practice: October 2026 sales are due November 20, 2026, a Friday. November 2026 sales are due December 21, 2026, because December 20 is a Sunday. For quarterly and annual accounts, the rule text says January 20 and gives no weekend adjustment; January 20, 2027 is a Wednesday, so it does not come up this year.
Put the DFA date, not the 20th, in the client's task template. A bookkeeper who set every task for the 20th had the task land on a Sunday, when the real due date was Monday, September 21, so the date in the task template and the DFA date did not match.
Handle prepayments for the larger accounts
Under Rule GR-77, a taxpayer with average net sales of $200,000.00 or more per month for one year must prepay by electronic funds transfer. The rule offers two options. Option one is two EFT prepayments, each 40% of the prior year's monthly average tax, on or before the 12th and 24th. Option two is one prepayment of at least 80% of the current month's expected tax, on or before the 24th.
Worked example for November 2026. If 40% of the client's prior-year monthly average tax comes to $5,200 per payment, pay $5,200 by the 12th and another $5,200 by the 24th. The 2026 calendar shows the first prepayment on November 12 and the second on November 24. The remaining 20% settles with the return, which for November sales is due December 21.
Separately, any taxpayer whose monthly liability exceeds $20,000.00 must pay by EFT, and the transfer must be made by 3:00 p.m. C.S.T. one business day before the due date. Pay the day before in your calendar, not on the date, or the payment arrives after the cutoff.
The prepayment calendar also shifts. The first prepayment is the 13th in April, July and October and the 14th in September and December. The second is the 26th in January, May and October and the 28th in December.
Know the penalties and the discount you can lose
Rule GR-85 sets the failure-to-file penalty at 5% of the tax due for each month or fraction of a month the tax remains unreported, not to exceed 35%. A return due November 20 and filed five days into December is past the first of the following month, so one month applies. On $5,200 of tax that is $260.
Failure to pay is also 5% per month in that rule, with the same 35% cap, and the rule says both penalties cannot be assessed for the same situation. No penalty applies where lateness is due to reasonable cause. Confirm the current cap before quoting 35% to a client, since I read the rule text and not a 2026 DFA notice.
An EFT payer that misses its date owes 5% of the tax due and, under GR-77, loses the prompt-payment discount and the prepayment timely-remittance discount. A missed prepayment carries 5% of the prepayment due. GR-85 gives a safe harbor: pay 80% of the month's liability by the 24th and the penalty does not apply if you can prove that over 20% of that liability came from sales after the 24th.
I could not confirm the discount percentage or the dollar cap on a primary page I could open, so I am not quoting one. Check the discount line on the ATAP return before you promise a client a figure.
Treat local tax as its own number
DFA's FAQ says a seller with no deliveries collects local tax based on its store location, and for merchandise that is delivered, shipped or mailed the local tax follows the delivery address. A client who ships to customers across the state needs sales by destination, not a single total from the point-of-sale report.
The state use tax rate is the same as the sales tax rate, 6.500%. Local rates sit on top and come from DFA's lookup tool and rate listings.
Some single transactions have local caps. DFA says the caps apply only to certain items, such as motor vehicles licensed for highway use, aircraft, watercraft and manufactured housing, and watercraft is capped at $2,500.00 for local city and county tax. A business can rebate local tax paid on purchases over $2,500.00 with Form ET-179A, and claims generally must be filed within one year of the purchase or payment date, whichever is later.
Collect the same records every period
Ask for gross sales, exempt sales and local-tax detail by city and county, due two business days before the filing date. A request that works: "Please upload the October sales report by city and county, the list of exempt sales with a signed ST-391 for each, and any purchases where you did not pay Arkansas tax, by November 16." Change the month and date each period.
Decision rules. If the client sells to resellers or tax-exempt buyers, ask for the ST-391 on file for each customer. If the client ships out of its home county, ask for the delivery address column in the export. If the client buys equipment or supplies from out-of-state vendors without Arkansas tax, ask for the invoices so you can report use tax. If the client had no sales, still file the period.
On a recurring schedule, Usual can send the same request each month with a due date and send reminders until the files come in, so the sales report arrives before the filing date instead of the day of.