State and Local Tax
| Has your company overpaid sales and use taxes? |
| Published Wednesday, September 24, 2008 |
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Could you be due a refund? |
Your company has diligently paid sales and use taxes. But you may have overpaid them. The good news: You may be eligible to receive a refund (and the state won't tell you if you are).
There are several situations that may cause overpayments of sales and use taxes. For example, in many states, field auditors have become more aggressive about assessing taxes, penalties and interest - which, in turn, has caused retailers and suppliers to be aggressive about charging sales tax to avoid audit deficiencies.In some cases, sales tax may be charged even when a sale is exempt. Or the tax may have been inappropriately charged because no exemption claim was made or an invalid exemption certificate was submitted. Either way, the purchaser ends up paying tax that was not legally due.
To make matters worse, many organizations operate across state lines, which multiplies their tax compliance responsibilities. Your company may have internal compliance controls, but they may not be able to keep up with the changing landscape due to employee turnover, expansion, or other factors.
To remedy these shortcomings, your company could benefit from a "reverse sales and use tax audit." Don't confuse this with the audits performed by state revenue auditors looking to see if sales or use taxes were underpaid. In a "reverse audit," a tax professional looks to identify and recover tax overpayments.
Contact us for information about conducting a "reverse audit." We can take a comprehensive look at your company's activities and transactions. We look for refund opportunities, identify weaknesses in your sales and use tax compliance system, and offer recommendations on how to improve it.
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Get compliant with state & local tax laws |
Alternatively, you may not be sure that your company is in compliance. State and local tax compliance, particularly in the areas of income/franchise and sales/use taxation (including internet commerce), is being enforced with renewed vigor. The state of Florida, along with many other states, has expanded its audit campaign in an attempt to capture this revenue. This aggressive crusade may put your company in financial jeopardy if you are not compliant with existing laws.
Our State and Local Tax (SALT) team provides consultative services, as well as assistance in managing the state and local tax consequences of operating or expanding into multiple jurisdictions. Whether you are an individual, own a start-up business or have an established company, we help ensure that you are in compliance with the myriad of state tax laws. We work with you to maximize your profit and available tax credits while minimizing your state and local tax burden. Our SALT practice handles all types of state tax audits, from sales tax to income tax to telecommunications excise taxes and property taxes. We are currently working with clients on sales tax audits in California and Florida and audits involving income and sales/use tax in New York and New Jersey.
If you are currently under audit, we can help with possible reduction of audit assessments and potential penalties resulting from the audit assessments. In our experience, people who attempt to handle an audit on their own without the benefit of an expert often open Pandora's Box by providing too much information (potentially enabling the auditor to open new issues), or by ignoring the auditor's requests, which can lead to larger-scale "jeopardy type" assessments.
Not sure if your company is compliant with sales and use taxes? Take our Nexus Questionnaire
to identify whether you may need a SALT review or strategic planning.For more information about our SALT practice, please click here
or contact our Firm at 561.367.1040.We can help.
Faith L. Gorman, JD is the Director of Daszkal Bolton's State and Local Tax practice. She is a nationally-recognized expert in state and local taxation, with a primary focus on income/franchise and sales and use taxation. She provides consultations for the purpose of limiting the state tax impact of corporate decisions and activities. Faith concentrates on state and local tax issues for middle-market multi-state corporations, including nexus/jurisdiction for tax, affiliate nexus, discriminatory taxation, unitary business principal, gross receipts definition, and apportionment issues. She also represents individuals and corporations in state and local audit defense. Faith has been qualified as an expert witness in state and local tax matters and provides testimony at depositions and trials in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach County. Contact her via email by clicking the "Email Daszkal Bolton" link below or call her at (954) 691-4521.
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