Service Solutions

How much of a bite from your company’s profits do state and local taxes take? Do you feel like you are in a maze of bureaucracy whenever you try to figure out how much you owe? Do you feel like you might be missing out on lucrative tax credits and incentives or just that you’re paying too much?

Taxes are a cost, right? Not necessarily. At BKD, we view state and local taxes as an opportunity to save. How? By pursuing a policy of tax reduction, we address many aspects of state and local tax planning and compliance to look for opportunities for savings.

State & Local Tax Solutions Sheet

Customized Solutions from BKD

As one of the 10 largest CPA and advisory firms in the nation, BKD is uniquely situated to help you turn state and local taxes into an opportunity for real savings. Our dedicated state and local tax practice has been the firm of choice for several Fortune 500 companies as well as thousands of small and mid-size companies. Big-firm talent, services and skills with small firm overhead make BKD the best choice for your state and local tax needs.

Our team has extensive training in tax accounting, tax law, compliance, audit and economic development benefits. We have experience with the tax laws in many states, particularly in the central United States. Our solutions include:

Sales & Use Taxes

Sales and use taxes are a significant revenue source for states. However, the laws in this area are full of special exemptions, elections and exceptions that vary by state. We help you navigate this maze and take advantage of the different laws and interpretations by providing:

• Reverse audits for refunds
• State tax audit assistance
• Nexus studies and multistate tax planning
• Compliance assistance
• Ruling requests
• Structuring for tax reduction
• Effective tax rate solutions

Accounts Payable Recovery

Most companies would be thrilled if their payables staff were 99.9% accurate on all transactions during the year. Even with this degree of precision, companies would still be throwing away an estimated $1,000 for every $1 million it spends. Image what a 3%-4% inaccuracy rate cost.

BKD has developed a four-step approach to help you recover these losses. We look for double payments, review invoices to make sure contractual obligations were upheld and find out if you took advantage of discount offers. The result can be compelling savings and the documentation to withstand vendor review.

Income & Franchise Taxes

Whether you do business in one state or several, you know too well how difficult state income and franchise taxes can be. We work with you to develop a strategic tax plan that allows your company to grow.

Our state tax professionals help you take advantage of planning opportunities that can reduce your tax burden. And we apply our knowledge to nexus, apportionment, legal entities and other concepts to help reduce your state income and franchise taxes. We can help you with:

• Nexus planning and multistate tax planning
• Entity selection
• Apportionment studies
• Credits and incentives
• Compliance
• Audit assistance
• Due diligence reviews
• Transfer Pricing Studies

Property Taxes

Our tax and business valuation consultants can assist in identifying opportunities to save on real and personal property taxes and seek refunds from local and state taxing authorities. We can help you:

• Challenge incorrect valuations
• Identify exemptions, refunds and abatement opportunities
• Look for misclassifications
• Appeal to taxing authorities and file necessary documents
• Seek refunds for unclaimed property

Credits & Incentives

Many state and local governments offer incentives to attract new businesses and expand existing ones. Researching the opportunities and taking advantage of them can be difficult and time consuming. We can help you:

• Identify opportunities
• Take advantage of exemptions, refunds, abatements and credits
• Develop strategies to profit from these incentives on an ongoing basis

Employment Taxes

Changes in organizations through mergers and acquisitions affect employment and payroll taxes. Our goal is to help your company reduce its employment and payroll taxes and develop strategies to manage these taxes. BKD’s state tax and incentives consultants can identify:

• Cost-saving strategies
• Rate-transfer opportunities
• Areas of unnecessary tax exposure

For More Information

Contact your BKD advisor or: