Florida Tax Audit Lawyer
Assisting Clients Through Florida Sales Tax Audits with Knowledge and Dedication
Has the Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) contacted your company about a pending Florida Sales and Use Tax Audit? Have you already received the Florida Form DR-840 - Notice of Intent to Audit Books and Records? Commonly, individuals or businesses that the DOR suspects have avoided full tax payment will be targeted, but any business with significant business activity can expect to be audited eventually. Lately, we've seen the DOR target entire industries such as retailers of Alcohol, construction subcontractors, used vehicle dealerships, or manufacturers.
Call the Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton, & Donnini, P.A. today at (888) 444-9568 or contact us online to schedule a meeting with our tax audit attorney in Florida!
Challenges During a Florida Sales Tax Audit
An Florida DOR auditor is trained to come into your business with a smile on their face and pretend that they are just there to help you make sure you are complying with the law. The auditor will ask for all sorts of records that they are not necessarily entitled to have, such as an electronic copy of your whole accounting records (e.g. Quickbooks).
The auditor will also ask the taxpayer to sign all sorts of documents waiving certain rights that the taxpayer does not have to sign, such as agreeing to the state's sample periods. How are you supposed to know to what you can object? Do you know how to manage the audit to make sure the auditor is not on a wild goose chase over transactions that should never be subject to tax? Most business owners shy of the Fortune 1,000, will not have the ability to handle an Florida Sales and Use Tax Audit. Even companies that technically have done everything right can end up with serious complications on a Florida Sales and Use Tax audit because the auditors job is to find tax liabilities - and they often are overzealous in their job. That is where we can help.
Comprehensive Representation for Florida Taxpayers Facing Revenue Challenges
The Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton, & Donnini, P.A. offers a unique service to Florida taxpayers in that we almost exclusively represent Florida taxpayers against the Florida Department of Revenue. This is simply what we do. For 30 plus years, our lawyers have focused almost exclusively on Florida tax controversy, with a heavy focus on Florida Sales Tax Audits. A committed Florida sales tax attorney from our firm gets involved when serious tax problems arise or when you are concerned that a Florida tax situation could take a turn for the worse. Starting with the receipt of your Form DR-840, letting you know that the Florida Department of Revenue has their sites on your business, we work with business taxpayers directly or with the clients of other attorneys or CPAs to pursue a favorable resolution to Florida tax difficulties.
Managing the Audit Process
Important to many taxpayers, we can usually make the FL DOR agent conduct the audit in our offices eliminating the possibility of employees accidently saying something wrong or the auditor sniffing around your business for other potentially taxable activities. From our offices, we manage each stage of the audit and stay evolved to ensure the auditor stays on track. You don't want the auditor ending the audit with significant unanswered questions. Even the most trivial question left unanswered can multiply into a large assessment that must be battled in Tallahassee. Please use the phone number or email link at the top of this web page to speak with an experienced attorney from the Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton, & Donnini, P.A. today for your FREE INITIAL CONSULTATION to find out how we can help with your Florida Sales and Use Tax Audit.
Protesting Assessments and Appeals
The end result of a Florida tax audit is a Notice of Proposed Assessment (NOPA), which states the amount of taxes the Florida Department of Revenue believes an individual or business owes. The NOPA becomes final 60 days after issued. During this 60 day period, the taxpayer has the right to protest the Audit. If the auditor cannot be made to see reason during the audit (or his/her supervisors give orders to not let a certain issue go), then we are well trained in the art of protesting an assessment. If you have already been through a Florida Tax Audit and need to challanging a pending or issued Assessment, then CLICK HERE to learn more about challenging a Florid Tax Assessment.
What are the Consequences of Unresolved Audits?
If the assessed taxes are not paid in full within the time allowed or no agreement is made with the DOR for a payment plan, a Florida tax warrant will be issued. The issuance of a Florida tax warrant can lead to many things you do not want your business to have to endure, from garnished wages, frozen back accounts, seized assets being sold, and even criminal charges being filed against the business owners and/or employees in charge of the Florida tax collecting and remitting process.
NOTICE: As of March 1, 2012 - The Florida Department of Revenue began using a PREDICTIVE BEHAVIORAL MODEL called COLLECTION ANALYTICS to much more quickly track down and seize funds of taxpayers who are delinquent in filing or paying taxes. To read more about the Collection Analytics process and how it might affect you, read our firm article on the topic CLICK HERE.
Information on a Florida Sales and Use Tax Audit
Commonly, the DOR asks for state and federal tax returns, property records, purchase and sales documents, cash receipt and disbursement journals, sales tax exemption or resale certificates, depreciation schedules plus additional documentation, or even an electronic copy of all your accounting records so that amounts given on your Florida tax returns can be verified. Normally, an audit can extend back for a 3 year period. Often the Florida Department of Revenue will ask for information to which THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE IS NOT ENTITLED. Similarly, the DOR will ask the taxpayer to sign documents limiting the taxpayer's rights, which the taxpayer DOES NOT HAVE TO SIGN. If the DOR's demands are not met, then they may threaten to immediately file and Notice of Proposed Assessment against your company. How do you know what to give or what to sign without an experienced Florida Tax Professional on your side?
Contact Our Florida Tax Audit Attorney Today
The attorneys with the Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton, & Donnini, P.A. work aggressively through all stages of the audit process, administrative appeal, including tax controversy, if this is needed to protect your rights and achieve the best possible outcome for you.
Contact the Law Offices of Moffa, Sutton, & Donnini, P.A. today to schedule a meeting with our tt adult lawyer in Florida!
