It is easy for a business to err with regard to sales tax compliance. And, regrettably, when that happens, the repercussions are possibly the harshest of any tax. Let our attorneys investigate the specifics of your case and develop a tax action plan that will protect your business.
SALES TAX AUDIT HELP FOR BUSINESSES
When you get a letter of a pending audit, our attorneys can protect your rights throughout the investigation process. We also help ensure you observe all sales tax laws, thus avoiding audits and penalties in the future.
If you want to dispute the state auditor's findings, we can challenge and protest the assessment on your behalf.
If you want to file a lawsuit against the State taxing agency, our attorneys can litigate your case and help attain the best possible settlement even without a final court verdict.
Dealing with the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) can be frustrating, expensive, and disruptive to your business, especially if you attempt to handle the sales tax audit on your own. Unfortunately, the CDTFA auditor's job is to hunt for additional tax revenue for the State. They have multiple tricks up their sleeves to collect as much revenue from your business as possible.
Sometimes, they even rely on statistical sampling and other methods to determine your amount of liability. Yes, California auditors can assess you a liability based on nothing more than guesswork.
The fundamental problem in a California sales tax audit is that the sales of a business over the standard three-year audit period are often too many transactions for one person to reasonably verify.
But worry not, with an experienced sales tax audit attorney on your side, you can safeguard your business and your rightfully earned assets.
There is no straightforward answer to this question. But, several factors can raise your risk of a CDTFA sales tax audit.
When the audit concludes that your business has not been paying the required sales taxes, you might be subject to significant penalties and interests, as outlined by state policy. You may even face criminal charges.
As you can see, the stakes are very high, and you cannot afford to fail a CDTFA audit. You need a tax team that understands the ins and outs of how sales tax audits work in order to maximize your success and minimize your risk during the process. Our experienced attorneys at Brotman Law will work with you to advise you through the sales tax audit process, interact professionally with the auditors, and negotiate a favorable outcome on your behalf.
Don't be intimidated into paying more than you should. We can help:
Our attorneys have a thorough understanding of sales tax law and CDTFA procedures. They understand the many nuances of the law and are able to decipher complex sales tax information with a clear eye.
Our attorneys are always and without exception on your side. They will negotiate for you in board appearances and meetings, help towards a settlement, and represent you in court, if needed.
Unlike discussions with your accountant, everything you discuss with us is protected by attorney/client privilege. Thus, you can be frank in our meetings, allowing us to advise you better.
Your first step in the process is to meet with our concierge team. They will collect some basic information that our senior legal team will use to sketch the four corners of your tax action plan. This initial meeting is completely complimentary. It is our job to analyze your situation and determine whether you are a good candidate to take the next step in our process.
After your initial diagnostic, our team will make an initial recommendation and connect you with our senior legal team or another resource to assist you.
Let's get down to brass tacks. We usually begin our meeting by going through the basics: who you are, what you have been doing, and, based on this, what your risk exposure is in a sales tax audit.
As we listen to your answers, we are stress-testing your business to see where the weak spots would be in an audit. If you have submitted any documents to us, we will review them before the meeting and provide feedback based on what we see. However, providing financial documents (tax returns, sales summaries) is unnecessary at this point.
We are happy to answer any questions that you may have about the sales tax audit process or your individual risk. By the end of the meeting, we will outline a comprehensive plan for your sales tax audit defense and share our recommendations.
After you sit down with Sam or our senior legal team, we will work to finalize your plan in writing and deliver it to you. There is no further obligation to us at this point, and your action plan comes with a full 100% money-back guarantee. If we do not deliver value for you, you do not pay for your plan: plain and simple.
Remember that our plan comes before we have an opportunity to do more than an initial examination of any supporting documentation. However, while not a substitute for full legal representation, we have designed the plan as its own stand-alone component.
We help you define the rules of engagement and set the tone for the audit. Often, even with a base familiarity with the client's data, we can steer the direction of the audit early to our client's benefit. By having a plan, even without full representation, you will see a significant impact at the start of the audit, which will be critical in determining the outcome and maximizing your defense.
Here's where the rubber meets the road. With your approval, we can execute and begin implementing your customized plan by the end of your first meeting. In reality, by the end of having us deliver their plan, most clients will elect to retain us for some measure of services going forward toward implementation.
We like to say in the firm that we are not in the habit of making decisions for people, but rather, we strive to provide enough information for organizations and business owners/officers to make their own decisions. That is not to say that we leave you to do the heavy lifting (quite the contrary, our recommendations are usually precise and candid), but the control over the matter should always rest with the client. We strive to keep you in the loop and break things down step-by-step.
Set up a quick call with our firm's concierge to see if we'll be able to help you. The whole process will take 10 minutes or less. If your matter is urgent we will also help to expedite a meeting with Sam.
Tax law can be complex, confusing, frustrating, and even scary. We're here to help!
IRS Circular 230 Disclosure: To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, I must inform you that any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this website is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter contained in this website.
