State & Local Tax

Our extensive services help clients manage their SALT challenges and reach their goals in a tax-efficient manner.

• Nexus Studies
• Entity Rationalization/Restructuring
• Merger and Acquisition Consulting
• Lookback Reviews
• Tax Controversy, Voluntary Disclosures, and Tax Amnesty
• ASC 740/750 Support
• Source Data Automation and Dashboarding
• Income/Franchise Tax Apportionment Planning
• Pass-through Entity (PTE) Election Modeling
• Income/Franchise Tax Compliance
• Indirect Tax Systems Automation
• Indirect Tax Compliance
• Telecommunication State and Local Regulatory and Tax Consulting
• Real Property Appeal and Valuation Analysis
• Property Tax Complex and Volume Compliance
• State and Local Credits and Incentives
• Unclaimed Property
• Insurance Premium/Retaliatory Tax Compliance
• State and Local Payroll Tax Consulting

Due to the ever-changing state tax landscape, income and franchise taxes can be cumbersome and time-consuming for your internal tax team. Significant federal legislative changes coupled with changes in how organizations conduct business have created administrative compliance challenges and a significant income tax burden for taxpayers. This also creates the opportunity for income tax planning.

From the enactment of economic nexus provisions to state-level pass-through entity tax elections, our income and franchise tax team works with its clients and manage the SALT burdens resulting from changes in legislation and administrative policy. Our team can help by working with you to develop a strategic plan so you can unlock your business' potential.

Our Income & Franchise Tax Compliance and Consulting Services:

• State and Local Income/Franchise Tax Compliance
• Pass-Through Entity Tax Election Analysis
• Nexus Reviews and Planning for Both Income Tax and Gross Receipts Tax
• Audit Defense, Voluntary Disclosures, and Tax Amnesty Registration
• State and Local Income Tax Refund Reviews
• Apportionment Studies
• Unitary Studies
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Buy and Sell-Side Due Diligence Reviews
• Income Tax Planning and Entity Restructuring
• Revenue Agent Reporting (RAR) and Amended Return Services
• Provision Services/FIN 48 Reviews
• Domestic Transfer Pricing
• Residency Considerations

Indirect taxes are a significant cost of doing business both within and outside of the United States. Taxing authorities have diverse, complex rules regarding the taxation of goods and services. Businesses need customized services tailored to their individual business needs, whether they are a Fortune 500 company or in the initial stages of start-up.

Forvis Mazars' dedicated indirect tax professionals provide tailored intelligence to blend your unique situation with our tax and systems knowledge and address your company’s specific indirect tax issues. By remaining focused solely on the complexities of the indirect tax laws, our indirect tax group stays on top of current trends and emerging issues. Regardless of the size or scope of the company, our knowledge and experience can help you move with momentum through the potentially costly indirect tax environment.

Our indirect tax group provides the following services:

Strategic:

• ASC 450
• Audit Defense
• Buy-/Sell-Side Due Diligence
• Co-Source/Outsource Indirect Tax Function
• Integrate Third-Party Indirect Tax Automation Solutions
• Nexus Analysis
• Technical Opinions
• Voluntary Disclosures

Value Add:

• Process Reviews – Indirect Tax Impact on Business Functions
• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• Purchasing
• Indirect Tax Data Assessment
• Data Analytics to Review Client’s Indirect Tax Functions to Identify Savings or Exposures
• Lookback (Overpayment) Reviews

Our property tax consultants can help you drive business forward with property tax compliance. As part of the compliance process, Forvis Mazars conducts an in-depth review of your tax return, including adjustments, deductions, and exemptions to look for changes that can help reduce your tax liability as well as comply with the regulatory requirements of each jurisdiction. Our team can also assist with appealing property tax assessments, helping to further reduce your business's property tax burden.

• Compliance Services: High-volume and complex/industrial return preparation, notice of value review, tax bill payment and tracking
• Property Tax Consulting Services: Research and filing methodology analysis, exemption review, mergers and acquisitions planning, property tax budgeting and forecasting
• Appeal Management: Valuation analysis and negotiations, assessed value review, hearing and litigation support
• Specialty Consulting: Obsolescence quantification, inventory valuation studies, ghost asset reviews and reconciliation, asset tracking and tagging studies, embedded software studies, depreciation and useful life studies, compliance process documentation and improvement
• Automation and Visualization: Source data cleansing, merging or allocation in an automated format accessible via customized dashboard visualization with options to include budgeting, tracking assets, and forecasting

The SALT team can assist your company with a wide array of services within the unclaimed property space and often arise during buy/sell transactions to ensure the selling entity has properly addressed and/or accounted for unclaimed property prior to the transaction.

Whether your company is trying to assess unclaimed property requirements for the first time, looking to improve a process that is already in place, preparing for a buy/sell transaction, or reacting to a notice received from a state or their representatives, Forvis Mazars is here to help you move with momentum in navigating these unclaimed property matters.

We can assist with:

• NAUPA File Preparation
• Due Diligence Letter Processing and Tracking
• Data Scrubbing
• Exposure Estimates
• Audit Assistance
• Voluntary Disclosures – Including Extensive Experience with Delaware’s Unclaimed Property Voluntary Compliance Program

Our State and Local Tax Credits and Incentives (C&I) practice delivers value by helping clients access opportunities to offset the costs of new and expanded facility investments or expansion in their workforce. Through our relationships with industry experts and state and local economic development organizations, we can also assist with site selection and the related compliance requirements of the credits and incentives awarded to a company.

Due to the McCarran-Ferguson Act, states were granted the authority to regulate insurance activity within their borders and have imposed some unique, specific, and often complex tax provisions applicable to the insurance industry. Our SALT team can help insurance company groups navigate this specialized tax regime, including all aspect of compliance and consulting pertaining to:

• State and Local Premium/Retaliatory Tax
• Fire Insurance Tax
• Surplus Lines Tax
• Self-Procurement Tax
• Captive Insurance Tax
• Insurance Assessments
• Insurance Specific Income/Franchise Tax

Forvis Mazars can also conduct a detailed SALT review to help identify and quantify open tax exposures and/or savings opportunities. We can further assist with mitigating the found exposures and garnering potential refunds.

Navigating complicated payroll tax laws can be challenging for any tax or human resource department. Failure to follow the compliance or reporting requirements correctly could result in notices or penalties from the IRS and states. Complex payroll tax regulations and deadlines are also constantly changing, creating many opportunities for errors trying to meet payroll withholding or unemployment tax requirements in various states. With remote or hybrid work arrangements becoming more commonplace, the challenges increase to remain in compliance and reduce audit risks.

Our specialists are experienced in helping companies identify compliance requirements, establish proper registrations, develop compliance protocols and resolve past tax liabilities. Our practical approach will provide guidance on best practices for companies with multistate tax payroll issues.