When owning a small business, one of the many types of taxes you have to remember to pay is Sales Tax. Sales tax reporting is an important step in your businesses’ financials and not reporting or paying the taxes could get you into serious trouble with your state’s revenue agency. Most states require remittance of sales tax and if you fail to file your reports, they may make an estimate of how much you owe. If you don’t pay your required sales tax, you will likely find yourself in front of state revenue auditors. A sales tax audit can be a daunting experience for anyone, especially if you aren’t up to date on the latest tax laws.
Theoretically, sales tax is only charged once for goods bought and sold in the United States. However, sales tax is not charged uniformly across the United States like it is in Australia or the European Union. American sales tax is calculated at a local and state level, and each state has the ability to charge its own rate of sales tax. Forty-five states across America collect statewide sales tax, and 38 also collect local sales tax. Throughout the United States, there are thousands of separate taxing jurisdictions.
Businesses can also be charged use tax due to commercial connection, or “nexus.” If your business has nexus in a state, you’re liable for registering and collecting taxes within that state. While physical presence used to be a prerequisite for nexus, many states now include digital sales in their nexus.
One positive aspect of business nexuses is how they prevent small businesses from being overtaxed with tax registration threshold laws. You must make at least $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions annually before you will be required to pay tax in particular state.
When you are facing a large sales tax determination, you aren’t going to want to face it alone. That’s why it is important not only to have a trusted tax attorney to help guide you and defend you through the process, it’s also important to have tax accountants that will make sure you are compliant with all sales tax reporting and paying. In these instances, our accountants work hard for each of our clients to ensure that an accurate evaluation is reached. Our team can review the state’s findings to make sure they are accurate and there aren’t any mistakes on their end. We can also help look for years you may have overpaid your sales tax. Our office will handle all communication with your auditor and develop a plan for you and your business once we are able to analyze the state’s findings and crosscheck them with your company’s financials.
Many companies find themselves in a tax audit for sales tax through no fault of their own. The IRS frequently audits businesses with abnormally high income or those who may have nexus in a state. The best way to combat fear regarding your audit is to ensure you’re fully protected by a sales tax representative who can help you prepare.
At Polston Tax, we can help you get your books and receipts in order, as well as calculate, determine and report your estimated sales tax. We’ll help you sort through your documents and reconstruct missing records, so you won’t have to worry about falling behind. The knowledgeable professionals at Polston Tax actively step in and protect you whenever your auditor asks for information you’re not obligated to provide, ensuring you only answer required inquiries.
Polston Tax has extensive experience negotiating with auditors, which enables us to save you as much money as possible. IRS Revenue Officers are interested in solving audits quickly and finding a solution that allows your business to pay the most reasonable and actionable amount possible, so working with them carefully will make them more likely to compromise with your business. Polston Tax carefully follows up with your auditors to ensure that your case is progressing quickly and the investigators have all the information they need.
At Polston Tax, our experts take charge of your case and oversee your entire tax process from beginning to end. We start our process by analyzing the unique challenges and circumstances associated with your tax case before contacting the IRS on your behalf and determining exactly how much money you owe. By working directly with the IRS, Polston Tax creates a reasonable compromise and timeline for a payment plan and finds a solution no matter your budget.
Polston Tax has more than 20 years of experience in the tax assistance industry and has the experience necessary to find you the best solution possible.
At Polston Tax, we believe you should never communicate with the IRS without the backup of an experienced tax office. Working with Polston Tax will both decrease the amount you can expect to pay in your payment plan and take some of the stress of the audit off your shoulders. From assisting with liens to reaching a reasonable installment agreement, Polston Tax can put your business back on track.
Tax law may be complicated, but Polston Tax has the experience to take on every aspect of your complicated tax situation. Our departments can tackle every step in the process, so you can get back to handling the more important aspects of your business. No matter what state you’re in, we can get a handle on your tax situation to help you relax.
Our sales tax representation services give you the power of a whole team of tax professionals beside you. Our knowledgeable staff can offer new insight into your case and approach your challenge from multiple angles. You’ll never feel alone when you trust us to provide sales tax assistance.
Unlike more general firms, Polston Tax deals intimately with the IRS on an everyday basis and understands how to get them to strike a deal. We’re confident that our team can help you arrive at a well-crafted compromise with the IRS and enter a fair and reasonable payment plan.
Polston Tax has the experience and the knowledge to help you make sure you’re withholding enough sales taxes and that if you get audited, we can represent you. We’ve helped clients out of this situation many times before, and can help you as well! Here’s an example of one client we recently helped:
Our clients owned a small car business in Kansas and found out they were being audited by the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) for several years due to their sales tax withholding. Our clients didn’t have any software to calculate tax and they didn’t use a computer-based accounting system. We met with the state auditor at our clients’ business and reviewed their findings. After the auditor made his tax assessment, we went through our client’s financial documents and were able to provide substantiation to lower the amount of taxes our clients owed. The auditor agreed with our lower assessment and we were able to save our clients over $32,000!
We’re ready to assist your company in compiling the necessary information for the preparation of sales tax returns. If you are facing a sales tax audit or need help filing your returns, we can help! Our team is here to help you and your business stay compliant with your state’s revenue agency. Give us a call at 844-841-9857 or click Contact Us below and fill out the form so we can reach out!
