Sales Taxes

What Problems Arise with Sales Taxes?

Sales tax problems are created whenever you collect sales taxes and spend the money, instead of paying it to Texas. Sales tax problems are also created when you do not tax a certain type of sale, when you should have. And sales tax problems are created when you fail to keep good records. I handle these types of sales tax problems at audit, at administrative hearings, and in court.

On audits, I am usually asked to advise and represent when some issue has arisen that means a lot of money, and my client wants to resolve the problem before there is an assessment of tax. However, usually a tax assessment has been made, and I am asked to take over the case, and appeal it. On occasion, an appeal has been completed, and my client wants me to sue in district court.

Personal Liability

You may be personally liable for your company’s sales tax liability, if you collected the taxes but did not pay them to the Comptroller of Public Accounts. By statute, the sales taxes collected are a trust fund, for the government. If your company cannot easily and quickly pay the taxes, the Attorney General’s office will collect them from you personally. I help you fight this, and handle it as effectively as possible.

If no one can pay the tax, neither you nor your company, I negotiate a payment plan, if it comes to that. All of my efforts will be, however, to beat the tax in the very beginning, so that we do not face this.

Inadequate Records

Usually the sales tax controversy is over a matter of law. However, too often the case is about the facts. How many sales were there? What was the normal mark-up on the goods that you purchased and sold? The Comptroller uses estimates based upon relationships established over many audits. The task is to prove that the normal mark-up is wrong in your case. As a CPA, I am well-equipped to handle this type of case for you, as I have done for others in the past.

Litigation

When we have the misfortune to lose at the administrative hearing, we can sue in state district court. I have been effective at this level, as I have been in the others. And, you get to know the attorneys, including supervisors, who handle these cases at the Attorney General’s office. My insight into how they work is important to you, and goes beyond being a CPA, working on the audit level, or handling a hearing. This is true litigation. We have to be careful, as we must at every stage, to be sure that your expenditures are justified by the size of the reward, and the chances of winning.

Austin Tax Attorney, John McDuff

I am John McDuff, and I have years of experience and success handling each and all of these types of tax problems and tax procedures. Call me at 512.457.1177 to schedule an appointment. Based in Austin, I represent clients throughout Central Texas, as well as in other states.