Pennsylvania County Sales Tax Rates in 2020

A:You inadvertently waived a red flag or your company landed in the small percentage selected for a random sales tax audit. These red flags include: Cash-based businesses, prior audits that resulted in owed sales tax, your sales reported to the state didn’t match what you reported to the IRS, a high volume of exempt sales, filing a refund claim, or a high number of credits. There’s also a possibility that your business happens to be in an industry that your state suspects rampant under-reporting. Often times, they will target industries effected by complex sales tax laws.

A:1. RESPOND to the notice; 2. Get organized; 3. Identify/hire your audit manager; 4. Notify your auditor of who they will be corresponding with; 5. Compare your sales tax returns against the federal tax return; 6. Test at least 1 month of exempt sales; 7. Reconcile your sales tax payable account versus your sales tax payments; 8. Review your fixed assets purchased — did you pay sales tax on them?; 9. Review your purchases on your key expense accounts to ensure tax was paid on your purchases.

A:Audit duration can vary dramatically from state to state and from business to business. Waiver issues aside, an audit generally takes 3-7 months to complete. Surprisingly, some audits can drag on for a few years. Time factors usually swing on the size of the company, the ability to produce reliable and organized documentation, and the level of sophistication of the business.

A:We all enjoy the occasional DIY project, especially when it saves us money. Before opting to go that route, consider the risk vs. rewards involved. Avalara recently conducted a study and found that the average sales tax audit costs around $115,000. When facing a sales tax audit, it is beneficial to have someone with knowledge of the financial implications on your side. That is where sales tax professionals, such as those at Sales Tax Helper LLC, can save you a lot of heartache and money by avoiding a few missteps. 

A:TaxJar, Vertex O Series, Avalara, Vertex Cloud, Quickbooks, Proconnect Tax Online, Canopy, ONESOURCE, Sovo Intelligent Compliance Cloud, Intuit Lacerte, CCH SureTax, SS&C Advent Axys, Vertex Payroll Tax Q Series, Bloomberg Tax Advantage, VATBox, CSC Corptax Compliant, Oracle Tax Reporting Cloud, TaxCloud, Fast Enterprises, GenTax, Fast Enterprises FastUI, SAP Tax Compliance, Taxify, and ESKORT Compliance Solution.