One of the scariest things that a Florida business faces when owing tax to the Florida Department of Revenue is the revocation or suspension of its sales and use tax business registration certificate. That’s because you cannot conduct business in Florida unless you have an active registration certificate. To do so is a criminal offense. Thus, the revocation effectively represents a death sentence for any business.

If you owe the Department and receive a notice in the mail that your business’s Certificate of Registration is being revoked, don’t fret, there’s still an opportunity to prevent the Department from doing so.

Before the Department can finalize the revocation, it must first schedule an informal conference with the taxpayer and allow it to either present evidence in support of the taxpayer’s opposition to the intended revocation or enter into a compliance agreement with the Department. The Department must notify the taxpayer in writing of the time, place, and date of the scheduled conference. If the Department fails to do so, the taxpayer can invalidate the revocation based on a violation of its due process rights.

When attending the conference, if the tax is rightfully due and owing, the taxpayer should make every attempt to enter into a compliance agreement, otherwise, the Department will move forward with the revocation. If the taxpayer fails to enter into the compliance agreement or attend the scheduled conference altogether, the Department will issue an administrative complaint to the taxpayer. The complaint will advise the taxpayer that it has twenty-one days to request an administrative hearing and challenge the threatened revocation. If the taxpayer does not challenge the revocation or still refuses to enter into a compliance agreement, the Department will enter a Final Order revoking the Certificate of Registration which will put a quick end to the taxpayer’s business.

The good news is that even though the Final Order is a final agency action, final agency actions can be appealed to the appropriate District Court of Appeal. That’s because all final agency actions are entitled to judicial review. A notice of appeal must be filed in the District Court of Appeal where the taxpayer resides within 30 days of the Final Order. Oftentimes, by filing the appeal, the goal is to buy additional time to enter into a compliance agreement and prevent the Department from finalizing the business’s death sentence.

Reach out to us today if you’re facing revocation of your sales tax registration certificate. You’ve worked too hard to build your business to allow it to be taken away from you.