Gainesville Sports Center, Sales Tax Audit Informal Protest (Florida Dept. of Revenue)
Jun 10, 2015OUTCOME: Settled with DOR for $9,200, down from $127,800.
In 2013, a large scale sports center was subject to a sales tax audit by the Florida Dept. of Revenue (DOR). This client didn't contact our firm until after the initial field audit was complete. When ... they walked into our office, this client brought with them a Notice of Proposed Assessment from the state of Florida for $127,800 in tax, penalties, and interest stemming from this sales tax audit. I was able to reach a settlement with the DOR for about $9,200 by successfully arguing through the Informal Protest process that what the DOR was calling taxable "admissions" was actually either professional services (non taxable) or fell into an obscure sales tax exception we found buried in the Florida Administrative Code.
