Apricus Business Consulting can assist with each of these situations by working directly with state and local tax agencies on behalf of the Company. Having an experienced state and local tax professional who “speaks the language” on your side greatly enhances the ability of a business to efficiently resolve audits, assessments, notices, and disputes and achieve more favorable outcomes for the Company. We have vast experience in assisting with each of these matters.

1. State Tax Audits – We manage the state tax audit on behalf of the company. We recommend actions, such a filing an appeal or protest, depending on the tax type(s), the size of the tax assessment, and the facts and circumstances contained in each audit. Our primary goals are to provide guidance to Company management throughout the audit or appeal process and to achieve a favorable outcome to the Company.

2. Jeopardy Assessments – Jeopardy assessments are issued by many states in certain situations. These are valid tax assessments where the amounts can made up entirely or are estimated based on the best available information. Jeopardy assessments are commonly issued to business when the business is not filing returns and should be (an “attention getter”), the statute of limitations is closing for an unresolved tax year (the tax agency is protecting its interests), or the taxpayer refuses to cooperate with the taxing agency.

3. Penalty and Interest Assessments – State tax department often generate unwarranted or incorrect penalty and interest assessments. We can work with the tax agency to understand the assessment and request recalculations, waivers, or administrative relief, as appropriate, to resolve the issue in a favorable manner to the Company.

4. Nexus Questionnaires – Every state tax agency has a nexus department. One of the functions of the nexus department is to contact businesses that may have a tax return filing responsibility in the state, based on information the state has received. Many states will mail nexus questionnaires to the business who complete and return the questionnaires. Having a state tax professional either complete the questionnaire or review it may help avoid undesirable or unnecessary outcomes.

5. Other Notices – Some notices received from state tax agencies do not make sense. For example, the business filed a tax return on time and now is receiving a non-filing notice from the tax agency. We can assist with resolving these and other types of notices.