If you received a Form DR-840 Notice of Intent to Audit Books and Records, you have been selected for audit by the Florida Department of Revenue, and it would be best if you were represented in the audit. Too often, taxpayers come to us amid a tax audit already out of control or at its conclusion when they thought they could adequately represent themselves and save a few bucks. At this point, they have already turned everything over to the auditor and let him/her have free reign with the audit and/or they have just received the audit report asserting a huge liability they cannot pay. Don’t be that taxpayer.

Even for taxpayers who believe they have been properly charging, filing, and remitting sales tax to the Department, the outcome can have dire consequences if they are unprepared for the audit and its twists and turns. Even taxpayers with good recordkeeping face unexpected challenges, resulting in significant tax liability. The Department trains its auditors to view every transaction as taxable unless proven otherwise. Additionally, what could start as a sales tax audit could quickly expand into a reemployment tax audit, a use tax audit, an audit of the taxability of commercial rent paid by the taxpayer, and even a corporate income tax audit. Taxpayers need an experienced tax attorney who will immediately take control of the audit. One that is intimate with a taxpayer’s rights, knows the boundaries an auditor must maintain, takes control of the examination, and acts as an advocate to ensure the auditor’s demands and tactics remain in check.

We don’t just act as a liaison between the taxpayer and the auditor. We act proactively, analyze the taxpayer’s areas of exposure, employ audit defense procedures to mitigate against any hazards the taxpayer may be exposed to, and navigate the audit process accordingly. We know the tactics FDOR tax auditors use to elicit damaging statements from taxpayers.

Are you at the point where the auditor is requesting that he/she visit your place of business to view your records and “obtain an understanding of your business operations”? If we’re hired, that sales tax auditor will not be interviewing you or your employees or visiting your physical place of business. We conduct the audit in our offices, where we are in better control of the examination and its scope.

If there’s one thing to know when you’ve been selected for an audit, know that the auditor is not your friend, despite how friendly he/she may appear. The auditor’s sole objective is to find unreported sales and unremitted tax, not to ensure you properly report your tax liabilities. Despite the Florida Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights statement that the Department auditors are not being evaluated based on the additional tax assessments they make, you can rest assured their results are measured by their performance – audit adjustments.

Let our experienced tax professionals take control of your audit and act as a check on the Department’s examination authority.