State & Local Tax (SALT) Services

Your Challenge

The labyrinth of sales and use taxes required by state and local governments can be extremely challenging for businesses to comply with. Paying too much could be negatively impacting your company’s cash flow. Paying too little puts you at risk for an audit and painful penalties. Neither situation is optimum. And in today’s environment, governments are having to be extra vigilant with regard to tax collections. It’s best to be prepared.

Overpaying or Underpaying – Which Are You?

Chances are your business is either underpaying its sales and use taxes or overpaying because of the difficulty in knowing all the rules, particularly in industries where you handle a lot of tangible personal property.

Get On the Right Path – Voluntary Disclosure or Tax Refunds?

HoganTaylor’s SALT Team can lead you out of the SALT maze. We’re not only the largest SALT practice in Oklahoma and Arkansas, we’re also one of the region’s most experienced – our team of 12 includes two seasoned former tax auditors for the State of Texas and an attorney who specialized in SALT issues. We know the ropes and can get you on the right path. By doing so, you may just have a nice refund coming your way.

Here are some examples of other businesses our team has helped with their SALT challenges:

• We represent one of the largest acute care hospital groups in America.
• We usually have refund claims in the millions waited to be reviewed and paid for our clients.
• We represent some of the fastest growing energy companies in this region as well as the largest.
• We have consistently worked with manufacturing companies in this region of the country helping them prepare for audits and find refunds.

How We Help You – Reverse Audits

Because we’ve been state auditors, we know what the rules are. We know their process inside and out. And we use that expertise to audit you. What we find helps us create a plan to get you on the right path.

We utilize a three-prong approach in our process:

Analyze

The Analysis Stage determines if refunds exist and estimates the amount. During this stage HoganTaylor will:

• Lead meetings with the proper staff about business activities and current procedures for handling sales tax accrual and reporting
• Perform a limited invoice review to determine possible refund
• Ascertain probably amount of available refunds

Review

The Review Stage identifies tax overpayments. During this stage, we will:

• Collect documentation and review taxability decisions based on our thorough research
• Coordinate the documentation in preparation for filing refund claims for review and approval
• Coordinate with the taxing authorities and vendors, if applicable, to process the refund
• Represent you at meetings and/or hearings at the CPA level

Report

The Report Stage assists and advises management to avoid future overpayments

Fees

The fees for the Reverse Audit service is based on the actual tax savings received as a result of the findings of the state or local taxing authority so there is no out of pocket costs to you.

Specialized SALT Services

During the Review Stage, HoganTaylor may identify additional client needs, such as training for the accounting department, etc. Should these situations arise, we are well equipped to help you in all circumstances that might become evident, such as:

• Sales and Use Tax Evaluation and Consulting – single or multi-state
• Audit Defense
• Voluntary Disclosure Agreements
• Sales and Use Tax Reverse Audit
• Refunds and Claims Analysis
• Tax Credit Evaluations
• Sales and Use Tax Compliance Outsourcing
• Property Tax Evaluation
• Sales and Use Tax Training
• Sales and Use Tax Return Preparation

For additional information about HoganTaylor’s SALT services, please contact Tom Smith, the practice leader, at tsmith@HoganTaylor.com.

HoganTaylor. Big Enough To Know. Small Enough To Care.®