Based on various statutes establishing whether an out-of-state company qualifies as a retailer engaged in business in California, your company may have a legal obligation to collect and pay California sales or use tax even though you may not believe you are doing business inside California. This obligation may exist even though you have not collected any taxes from your customers. Considering the California State Board of Equalization's aggressive approach to seeking out these companies and forcing them to pay taxes on all past sales made into California potentially going back up to eight years (they have an entire unit dedicated to this process alone), your company may be in need of our help in insuring your rights, and money, are protected in this area.
If you are located outside California and are making sales into California you are already at risk for a potential tax liability in this area. In addition to using various other sources of information, California auditors routinely obtain information on companies outside California while conducting audits of California businesses. If you have made sales to California companies, auditors may already have information on your operations. Since no company is completely immune from detection every company should be concerned with protecting themselves from California's aggressive actions. This is where our experience, knowledge, and dedication for our clients will benefit your company.
At STSI we specialize in evaluating the operations of companies outside California doing business in California. There are very specific legal requirements that California must adhere to prior to holding an out-of-state company responsible for the collection of California sales and use tax. We have found that some companies have been subjected to this tax collection and payment requirement when no actual legal basis existed.
For those companies already struggling through the process to meet the demands of California, or those companies who have been contacted by California but have not started the work necessary to insure that taxes are not overpaid, we can provide the experienced representation that will help secure the protection of the company's rights and insuring that the minimal amount of taxes legally due are paid. By putting our 18 years of experience to work for you we can help determine the correct amount of any actual liability of the company, diligently working to legally minimize the tax obligation by making sure that no deductions are overlooked, that tax is not paid twice, and that the amount of tax is calculated correctly on taxable transactions. We can take on the burdensome task of surveying your customers in a professional manner in order to determine whether taxes are due and in those cases where the goal is to seek reimbursement of the California use tax from customers, we can also offer effective help in recovering these taxes. In those unfortunate cases where tax is found to be due, we can offer advice and guidance in helping to minimize the hardship and offer help in avoiding the often aggressive tax collection efforts by the State Board of Equalization.
For those companies who have not yet been contacted by the State Board of Equalization, STSI can also assist these companies with voluntary registration for California if they have a legal registration requirement. This activity involves seeking registration and settlement of past liabilities (often with much shorter periods of past period tax and interest assessments) in a manner best protecting your company’s interests. In most cases this can be accomplished on an anonymous basis until we have reached agreements with the state, offering your company even more protection from the state's often aggressive investigative and registration programs. Call us today at 877-777-5470 to see how we can help.