Tips on a Sales Tax Audit That You Do Not Want to Miss
If you are an entrepreneur, payment of taxes is an inevitable duty. The government will check regularly and evaluate if you have paid the correct amount of taxes. This is the reason that a tax auditor might visit you for a sales tax audit. If you have not kept your records well, you may have difficulty in presenting pertinent papers to prove you have paid the appropriate amount of taxes. Here are some useful tips to help get you through this.
Prepare Your Data Properly You may have paid more to the tax collector and the auditor will evaluate the validity and accuracy of the amount. The auditor will require you to show him your sales tax returns, corporate book, charts of accounts, federal income, sales invoices and all important records related to your business. You will have to document closely your transactions during the year so that when audit time comes, you will not have a hard time producing the documents.
Allot Plenty of Time for the Audit
A sales tax audit can be tedious and timeconsuming. Sometimes the auditor will conduct a second audit for a more detailed examination of your sales records. You should get ready for it to avoid wasting your time and that of the auditor. Do not forget to have your cash register tapes ready and your exemption certificates for the second audit. You may want to have several Xerox copies of the original document in case you need extra copies.
Sales Tax Consulting You may need to consult the services of professionals who have lots of experience and knowledge in computing sales tax rates and organizing paperwork for tax audits. They could organize all your necessary documents to facilitate your sales tax audit and have it done quickly and efficiently. You will also have proper guidance about any problem concerning your audit.
Audit Appeal You may want to appeal your case when you find that the tax auditor's findings are not appropriate. You have to be ready with your documents to defend your appeal. When filing for this motion you have to be prepared to go to court, in case it does not resolve positively as you expect. Your sales tax forms will be scrutinized more closely and carefully in this phase, so be ready for a long drawnout battle.
Select the Correct Appeal
Not knowing what specific dispute resolution to select can make or break your appeal. Sales tax audit appeals are also tedious and you have to be ready for a lengthy process. If you want to be represented properly and feel secure in your appeal, reliable tax consultants can help you out effectively.
Sources used for this presentation: http://www.salestaxstrategies.com/sales-tax-audit-defense.html http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Essential-Tips-on-a-Sales-TaxAudit-That-You-Do-Not-Want-to-Miss&id=5048374