State and Local Taxes (SALT)

Compliance with state and local tax (SALT) laws and regulations is a significant challenge for companies operating across multiple states and cities.

With the rise of e-commerce and remote work, along with changing tax laws, business tax liabilities are now triggered by a wide range of factors, including:

• Physical presence, such as an office, warehouse or store.
• Economic nexus, triggered by sales in a state without a physical presence.
• Owning or leasing property.
• Payroll tax liabilities based on where employees live.
• Licensing of intangible property.
• Operations within a state via partnerships or LLCs.
• Industry-specific activities.

Adding further complication to these tax triggers are inconsistent thresholds, filing requirements and tax rates for each state, along with constantly changing regulations and interpretations of law by tax authorities.

Ever-changing regulations and aggressive enforcement make staying current with the correct preparation of SALT returns increasingly difficult and time-consuming. Given the existence of nearly 5,000 local tax jurisdictions, many companies may not even realize the extent of their tax exposure and that it could have implications on their financial statements.

BPM’s SALT professionals offer a complete range of SALT services to help you stay in compliance, avoid penalties and craft tax strategies that align with your business’s unique needs and goals.

We carefully monitor state and local developments, analyze nexus-creating activities, conduct product and service taxability reviews, and help you leverage all available SALT exemptions, deductions, credits and incentives. We do more than help you pay your taxes; we create an effective SALT strategy that uncovers hidden opportunities, protects you from risk, retains cash for operations and positions you for growth.

BPM’s primary SALT services:

Income, franchise and gross receipt tax: As your business grows, you may find yourself hiring more remote employees, expanding your physical presence and economic nexus, establishing temporary physical presence through trade show attendance and engaging in other activities that affect your tax profile. We can help you determine where you have filing obligations and assist in preparing the related returns.

Sales and use tax: Online businesses may now be obligated to collect and remit sales tax in state and local jurisdictions where they make sales, not just those where they have a physical presence. We can identify when your sales in a state legally require you to collect sales tax, determine the taxability of your products and file your returns to remit all tax collected.

Abandoned and unclaimed property: States require businesses to escheat uncashed payroll checks, unclaimed customer credits and other property types to the state for safekeeping. We can help you identify your obligations in this area and determine when you are entitled to recover unclaimed property.

Audit defense: Don’t undergo an audit alone. We have experience working with state auditors and understand their process. Let us manage your audit defense while you focus on running your business.

Mitigation strategies: Whether you are looking for state tax credits, resolving an unpaid tax exposure or seeking to reduce current liabilities, we are your trusted partner in developing strategies to meet your goals.

Areas in which we can help include:

• Voluntary Disclosure Agreements (VDAs) 
• Nexus analysis 
• Mitigation and remediation strategies  
• Sales and use tax
• Tax and credit incentives
• Income and franchise tax
• Property tax
• Enterprise-zone credits
• Multi-state planning

What sets BPM apart

As a mid-sized professional services firm, BPM can provide services that are both personalized and comprehensive. Our commitment to excellence ensures that every client receives the attention and knowledge they need at every growth stage.

Our BPM1™ Service Model is a team-based approach that enables our clients to address multiple organizational challenges by working with a single firm. As your business grows and your goals change, our collaborative approach adapts, helping ensure that our partnership evolves with you.