Transaction Tax

Managing exemption certificates can be challenging and time-consuming for any organization, distracting team members from vital strategic tax planning and other critical initiatives. Fortunately, our transaction tax team can help offload the burden by managing the entire exemption certificate process.

DMA’s Exemption Certificate Management process includes:

• Validating incoming exemption certificates
• Proactively tracking expiration dates
• Executing effective refresh campaigns
• Communicating directly with customers regarding invalid certificates or certificates that need to be updated
• Updating exemption certificate records
• Storing images directly in your system of choice (or within our proprietary exemption certificate management system)

Let us take care of tedious exemption certificate validation and refresh projects so your team can focus on other value-added initiatives.

DMA’s tax professionals approach state taxing agencies on your behalf to enter into a Managed Compliance Agreement. We handle every step of the process, including:

• Initial discussions with the state
• Calculations for the formal agreement
• Review of the final agreement language

Our transaction tax team ensures the included accounts are sufficient and that the statistical sampling selection and methodology are representative and fair. We also retrieve and review all transactions and invoices to determine taxability and research any questionable items, as necessary.

Overall, we focus on establishing a managed compliance agreement to improve transaction tax compliance and reduce audit assessments, all while minimizing your administrative burden.

DMA offers Transaction Tax Credits and Incentives services to assist you with the following:

• Identification of transaction tax incentive opportunities
• Pursuit and negotiation of benefits
• Compliance administration to ensure full utilization and proper application of the benefit

State and local taxing jurisdictions may reduce a company’s transaction tax liability based on proposed capital investment and/or job creation from that business. The benefits can be in the form of:

• Rebates on construction materials
• Rebates on equipment purchases
• Point-of-sale exemptions for certain types of purchases
• Revenue sharing based on increased sales tax
• Rebates based on new job creation

Our team’s jurisdiction-specific expertise means we understand the unique tax implications of incentive opportunities and can secure significant transaction tax savings.

To help minimize future transaction tax discrepancies, DMA offers Transaction Tax Training and Education.

Through this service, our team takes a deep dive into your company profile to:

• Understand your specific business operations
• Learn about the types of transactions your business deals with
• Design a customized corporate training program with topics suitable for all levels

Not only do we provide comprehensive in-person or remote training for your staff, but we also provide customized training materials for future reference. Our team of tax experts serves as a resource to lean on whenever tax-related questions arise.

Transaction taxes paid on utility bills can significantly impact your bottom line. And with energy costs on the rise, it is important to minimize the taxes due on such purchases.

DMA offers detailed utility studies designed to capture the true taxable and exempt utility consumption.

Our approach to each engagement involves the following activities:

• Obtain information about your business operations
• Tour the facilities to identify every piece of equipment that draws energy
• Document the specifications for each piece of equipment
• Calculate the actual energy usage and its corresponding taxability
• Review current and past utility bills to determine if eligible for any tax recovery
• Present a comprehensive report of DMA’s analysis, findings, and recommendations
• Obtain your approval to submit documentation for exemption of future utility purchases and to pursue any available refunds on past overpayments
• Prepare and submit the appropriate documentation for exemption and/or refund with the utility companies and proper taxing jurisdictions (required state forms, detailed schedules, invoice copies, plant diagrams, and citation of appropriate transaction tax laws and regulations)
• Monitor status of utility exemption and refund claims filed with utility vendors and/or state auditors
• Provide a summary of final tax savings secured for you

If your company is currently paying transaction tax on utility expenditures, our team can help determine if there is an opportunity to reduce or eliminate your tax liability.