Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Did an Auditor Find Something?

I had someone from one of my seminars just send me a list of about 10 things that an auditor had busted them on. They wanted me to review the list and identify the taxability of each item. Here are the problems with asking me to do this:

1. The list was long. At some point in time, free questions turn into consulting engagements. And as I've said before, you need a local person for that.

2. The issues were edited down to a couple of words. Asking me to rule on them, when the auditor may have seen more that me is not a good thing. And I don't want to get into a contest with an auditor unless I see everything they see.

3. Why should I (or you) do the work? If an auditor says something is taxable, and you're not convinced, ask them to show you the law, bulletin, statute, regulation, opinion letter, or some other citation. Don't be confrontational, just tell them that, before you pay any money, management is gonna want to see where it says it's taxable - in black and white.

4. Shouldn't your CPA have been involved by now? Granted they may not know more than you do, but how do you expect them to learn if you don't get them involved? And they can do the research for you (and therefore learn).

Sales Tax Guy