Coburns
See how Coburn's Supply Company, a Gulf Coast building supplier, partnered with The Sales Tax People to reduce their $1M+ tax liability to just over $100K during a state audit.
Coburn’s Supply Company helps homeowners and professionals create stunning spaces with the latest technology and designs for kitchens, bathrooms, HVAC systems, and more. In the last 90 years, they have established over 60 locations across the Gulf Coast. Despite that massive growth, they’ve maintained the same level of quality customer service that you expect from local businesses. From supplying professionals with the best equipment to dazzling homeowners in their sparkling showrooms, Coburn’s is the place to go for new builds and remodeling projects.
If you’re a company the size of Coburn’s, you’ll end up on the shortlist for state tax auditors at some point. It was a matter of when, not if, Coburn’s would be audited. They were facing over $1,000,000 in sales tax liabilities in Louisiana. According to the state, Coburn’s underreported their sales tax or did not collect the right rate of sales tax. They reached out to the Peisner Johnson team to help them navigate this audit.
The team at Peisner Johnson analyzed the available data to determine exactly where sales tax might have been misreported or miscalculated. We found many tax reconciliation errors. The state looks at gross sales when determining taxable revenue. Multiple sales that were not Louisiana sales contributed to the total gross sales for Louisiana. Beyond that, there was a huge opportunity to identify sales and certificates that would increase the number of sales that should have been tax-exempt.
Peisner Johnson really comes in clutch during projects like this because it’s extremely tedious and time-consuming. While the team at Coburn’s had already started making headway on this audit, they didn’t have the time or resources to review the transactions and find the documentation needed the way our team could. We could get it off their plate and get them real results.
By leveraging exemptions, finding documentation, and utilizing our thorough understanding of the state’s tax laws, we were able to lower Coburn’s tax liability to just over $100,000.
Even with a strong internal finance team like Coburn’s, the idiosyncrasies of sales and use tax law can cause issues that result in huge tax liabilities. Partnering with the sales tax pros at Peisner Johnson alleviates the stress of the unknown and empowers teams to focus on their core strengths while we expertly manage sales tax returns alongside their own efforts.
“[Peisner Johnson] was able to streamline our sales tax process and process the information confidence. This, in turn, provided additional time for us to focus on other projects,” says Paul Lee of Coburn’s. Getting the right tools in place meant that Coburn’s team could tackle other areas of their business and confidently leave the audit in our teams’ hands. In fact, one auditor even told Lee that “their state actually takes courses from Peisner to keep updated on current topics.” Who wouldn’t want the people training auditors on their side during an audit? We know what they are looking for and how to save you the most during an audit.
