Is it Possible to Settle With the Auditor?

Unfortunately playing let’s make a deal with the Auditor is not really possible. It’s not possible to just throw out a number, let’s say $25,000, to make the auditor go away. However in the context of any sales tax audit, there’s a certain amount of horse trading that happens in order to get to a result from the CDTFA’s perspective. CDTFA would rather close the audit as agreed than have an audit going into appeals. The more cases they close out at the audit level,

Read more

What Happens After the Audit? What Happens If I Disagree With the Result?

There are a couple possible outcomes. Number one is that the auditor’s report is sufficient and that you agree with it. If you agree with it, there will be a short exit conference between you, the auditor and the manager so the auditor can explain what they did in the report. If you don’t agree with the audit then this conference happens anyway but at least that will give you the opportunity to express your disagreements in front of the manager and have the auditor potentially make changes. Now the problem with this is is the auditor at this point has usually already run the audit report by the manager and anticipated any disagreements that you might have with it so the manager is less likely to stand up for you than you would think but there are opportunities there to present any additional documentation or any other fact-finding before the close of the audit. If you’re not successful with resolving things with the manager, then the auditor will issue you a bill. They will turn in the audit and a bill will be generated about two to three months later and then when you receive that bill, you can file a petition for redetermination. Upon filing your petition for redetermination, you will proceed to a 10-day conference. We will have the opportunity to speak with the head of the audit unit for that particular.

Read more

What Does the CDTFA Appeals Process Look Like?

After you get a bill from the Auditor based on a disagreement, you file a petition for redetermination. Unfortunately CDTFA is often backed up with Appeals so petitions for redetermination can take a while to go through the system before you actually get to an appeals conference. Prior to the Appeals conference you have the option of going to CDTFA settlement. CDTFA settlement is a group of settlement officers that are designed to resolve cases before they reach CDTFA appeals. If there’s an opportunity for settlement it’s suggested that you go to see CDTFA settlement to try and resolve the case. CDTFA settlement process is much less time-consuming, much less expensive and particularly if you’re not looking for them to resolve

Read more

What If I Owe Money at the End of a CDTFA Sales Tax Audit?

If you owe money at the end of the CDTFA sales tax audit process, you have a decision to make. Can you pay the liability in full, do you want to pay the liability in full, do you want to go into collections or is it better to file petition and pay the liability over time? This is a strategic decision that we make depending on the taxpayer’s facts, circumstances and how much they owe. However if you don’t appeal the liability, you will proceed into CDTFA collections and then collections will start to negotiate with you. In our experience for taxpayers that don’t have immediate flexibility to pay

Read more

What Is Brotman Law’s Strategy in a Sales Tax Audit?

Sales tax audits are notoriously tricky they consume a lot of resources both in time and energy, and money so the goal with us and with our clients is to get out of the process as quickly as possible for the least amount of damage. When we look at a CDTFA audit, we’re looking at the cost-benefit of the situation. What’s the cost to the client, what’s the benefit of a certain action and how best can we get out of the audit with minimizing our expenditure and being as efficient as possible with our resources? One of the best ways that we do this is prior to creating the audit plan will try and pre-audit.

Read more

Brotman Law Featured in Inc. Magazine - Fastest Growing Law Firm in California