Defense of Failure to Pay Sales Tax
Paying, collecting and remitting sales taxes are part of doing business for every company that buys and sells products or services. Unfortunately, many business owners make the mistake of using sales tax to operate their business of make an error in determining what services or products are subject to tax. If your business has been accused of failure to remit sales taxes, you need experienced legal help. Contact The Law Offices of Hugh Janow, LLC, in Pearl River, New York, for effective representation and advice.
With more than 40 years of experience, our tax lawyers have the knowledge and skill to resolve any sales tax liability issue. Most sales tax liability cases involve one of two things:
- Confusion over which items are subject to sales tax: Items used in the manufacturing process are not subject to sales tax. But where does the manufacturing process begin and end? A minor difference in interpretation can result in a major sales tax liability.
- Failure to maintain proper records of sales: The majority of businesses with significant sales tax liabilities simply failed to keep proper records of their sales. Sales tax agents may do an observational audit or your sales for a day or request invoices from your suppliers, mark up the amounts, and project your sales tax obligation based on that.
We represented a client who did not have proper records of sales from his deli. A tax auditor recorded sales for 12 hours, then extrapolated the sales and the annual sales tax obligation from that single 12-hour period.
We successfully argued that the observational audit did not account for the fact that there was a school near the deli. For the three months that school is not in session, sales are significantly reduced. Nor did it account for the fact that the deli was closed on holidays, that it was not regularly open for 12 hours a day or that a road project diminished sales for several months.
Minimizing Your Sales Tax Liability
In every case, our law firm will work to minimize the amount of sales subject to tax. We also represent client in cases in which the sales reported on income tax returns call into question the sales reported for the purposes of sales tax. We will work to account for the discrepancy. We may show that non-taxable sales accounted for the difference.
Contact The Law Offices of Hugh Janow, LLC, Today
Because of our decades of experience in tax law, our law firm is often able to negotiate a positive resolution to sales tax liability claims. To learn how our attorneys can be of assistance to you, please contact our office to arrange an appointment. Call 845-367-7106.
