Most people know that October is noted for being the breast cancer awareness month as well as the time we celebrate Columbus Day and Halloween.  For sales tax aficionados like myself, we also know that October is National Sales Tax Refund Claim Month!

How should someone celebrate such an occasion?  Great question!  Here are some examples of opportunities that are worth celebrating:

1) Accounts Payable Review: Click HERE for an example of an opportuniy you may find in such a review.  Typically speaking, A/P groups are measured by their speed instead of their accuracy.  The default often becomes: “If In Doubt, Tax It.”  Go get some of that back!

2) Bad Debt Review: Click HERE for a discussion on why bad debts can present an opportunity for getting sales tax refunds.

3) Targeted Transaction Review:  Diving into your records head-first may result in discovering random refund opportunities.  Instead of a shotgun approach, try a rifle-shot approach.  Examine your business practices and look at specific areas instead.  You may find it easier to see a consistent pattern of errors that will make your efforts pay off quicker.  One example: does your company do sale/leaseback transactions?  If so, double-taxation often happens with those.

Do a little fall-cleaning and try to dust off some sales tax refund opportunities.  It’ll make cruising into year-end a much smoother ride if you have some cash coming back in the door.