October 2021

There once was a man who owned a business. The man worked day and night to learn everything anybody could ever know about his business until there was just one thing left to learn: he had to figure out whether his sales were subject to sales tax.

The man called the State, but the phone just rang and rang. The man tried calling every day until one day the call was picked up. The man was so excited he hastily asked his question but there was silence on the other side of the phone. After a while, the man panicked and asked his question again but there was no response. Eventually, the voice on the other side whispered, “Wrong department, I’ll transfer you.” Before the man could say anything, he was on hold again. He waited and waited but nobody picked up and the call was abruptly ended at 4:00PM.

The man continued calling the State until one day he spoke to a woman named Jane, who was as kind and helpful as possible and answered every question the man could think of. “Oh my gosh, thank you so much for your help!” the man cried after being told his sales were not subject to sales tax.

Three years later, the man received the scariest letter imaginable in the mail. At the top it said, “We selected your sales and use tax records for an audit.” However, the man was brave in this moment knowing his sales were not subject to sales tax.

The man eventually met with the auditor and told the auditor about his conversation with Jane and how she assured him that his sales were not subject to sales tax. His excitement turned into terror though as the auditor replied, “I don’t know who Jane is, but you should have been charging tax. There’s turnover at the State like everywhere else. Regardless, you’re still responsible for making your own sales tax determination.” The man frantically tried calling the State to speak with Jane again but on the rare occasion he spoke with someone, they didn’t know who Jane was, it seems that Jane disappeared.

A few months later, the man received a tax bill for money that he could never hope to pay. He tried going to the State website to do his own research, but the State hadn’t even bothered to update their website in over a year and a half.

It was as if the State’s representatives and online taxpayer assistance weren’t a reliable or helpful source for taxpayers. And all the man’s hard work, the man’s business and the man’s money all disappeared into the night to never be seen again.

If you need a reliable source of sales tax information, call Sales Tax Defense LLC! And we will always give you an answer in writing, and we will never ghost you.

Success Story

Sales Tax Liability Settled for 25%!

A Taxpayer came to Sales Tax Defense with a sales tax liability of approximately $160,000. However, they did not have the funds to pay it due to their business not surviving the shutdown during the pandemic. Tax Defense met with the taxpayer and went through all their financial information to determine what the Tax Department would say the taxpayer was able to pay.

After meeting with the Taxpayer, it was determined that the best approach to settle the liability was filing for an Offer-In-Compromise. We put together the required forms and presented the financial information in the most advantageous way for the Taxpayer.

After many negotiations back and forth with the Department, we finally reached a settled of $40,000 to be paid over 60 months!