Blog Posts in FL SALES TAX CRIMINAL

As a business owner, you can be doing everything right with running your business. One day you may open your mail to find an audit notice from the Florida Department of Revenue. While fear may come to ...

Business owners and managers are required to collect and remit sales tax for transactions subject to sales tax in Florida. We routinely hear from business owners who are behind in sales tax. This ...

Throughout my time both with the Florida Department of Revenue and after, I have seen that gas stations and convenience stores are a common target of Florida sales tax audits. As we are rapidly ...

The Florida Department of Revenue has been focused on auditing florists for sales and use tax audits. I remember being told at an early age that sending flowers says “I love you” to the recipient. As ...

The purpose of this article is to discuss one of the most beneficial areas of Florida sales tax law – The Florida Voluntary Disclosure Program. Florida’s sales tax laws are endlessly complicated. ...

If your business has a sales tax problem with the Florida Department of Revenue, then you DON’T want to hire a “tax resolution” firm that specializes in IRS collections work. You want a law firm whose ...

Imagine owning an online business. The business has inventory in several states via Amazon’s Fulfillment By Amazon (“FBA”) services. This inventory is stored in warehouses across the country base on ...

Debtor’s Prisons and Double Jeopardy in State Tax Prosecutions: The Department of Revenue Has A New Trick Up Its Sleeve. The term debtor’s prison tends to conjure up images straight out of Dickens. ...

Florida Sales Tax - Theft of State Funds It is the legislative intent in Florida that it is a taxable privilege to be in the business of selling tangible personal property, or providing certain ...

FORT LAUDERDALE CLUB OWNER ARRESTED FOR SALES TAX THEFT On November 8, 2016, the Florida Department of Revenue (“FDOR”) announced [name omitted], was arrested by the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. ...

THE AFTERSHOCK: THE UNFORSEEN EFFECTS OF A FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION When considering the risks of opening a business, the loss of freedom probably does not make people’s ...

FL TAXABLE RENTAL VS NONTAXABLE SERVICE We have been getting an usually high number of calls from companies that are being audited and assessed Florida sales tax when using equipment to provide a ...

ARE CLEANING SERVICES TAXABLE IN FLORIDA? I get calls several times a month from nervous owners of cleaning companies and suspicious customers of cleaning companies, both asking the same question: Are ...

The groups battling to legalize pot sales in the U.S. had a rather large victory in the 2016 election. Presuming the election results hold, we will have 29 states that permit cannabis use for either ...

As a state and local tax attorney, to say that celebrity news relating to my field is infrequent would be a gross overstatement. Today is one of those rare occasions where the venn diagram of headline ...

Whether your client is obsessive about taxes, remits every penny of tax collected, or doesn’t even sell tangible personal property – I guarantee you that your client missed something that should have ...

On February 26, 2016, [ name omitted ], owner of The Little Store located in Wimauma, Florida because she allegedly collected but failed to remit sales tax for the periods January 2014 through ...

WEST PALM BEACH RESTAURANT/BAKERY OWNER – FACING 5 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SALES TAX THEFT On December 14, 2015 [ name omitted ], owners of Caribbean Choice Restaurant & Bakery, located at 955 Sansburys ...

If your business buys products or materials in Florida to resell, then having a Florida Department of Revenue issued annual resale certificate is an essential part of your business. The resale ...

BRANDON RESTAURANT OWNER – FACING 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SALES TAX THEFT On July 23, 2015, [ name omitted ], former owner of BCGB Unit 1, Inc. (doing business as Big City Grill Co.), located at 2490 ...

ORLANDO USED CAR DEALER ARRESTED FOR SALES TAX 2014 appeared to be the Year of the Florida Used Car Dealer, but not in a good way. As of early July 2014, at least a dozen used car dealers had been ...

FL Tax Audits – Taxpayer Bill of Rights Protects No Rights I have seen a lot of information and discussions about the IRS mistreating taxpayers. Being in Florida, this made me think of protections ...

STUART MARBLE & GRANITE OWNER ARRESTED FOR SALE TAX On January 9, 2015, the Florida Department of Revenue ("FDOR") announced [name omitted], was arrested by the Martin County Sheriff's Office. The ...

MELBOURNE USED CAR DEALER ARRESTED FOR SALES TAX On December 30, 2014, [name omitted] was arrested for sales tax fraud by the Brevard County Sherriff's Department. [Name omitted], a resident of Fort ...

On November 14, 2014, [name omitted] was arrested for sales tax fraud. [Name omitted] was the owner of TNS Auto Sales, Inc. a used car dealership located at 9171 103 rd Street, Jacksonville, Florida. ...

On September 25, 2014, [ name omitted ], owner of Naples Petroleum 102, Inc. located in Naples, Florida because he allegedly failed to file six sales tax returns and failed to remit the sales tax ...

JACKSONVILLE RESTAURANT OWNER – FACING 15 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SALES TAX THEFT On October 1, 2014, [ name omitted ], former owner of The Grape at St Johns Town Center, located at 10281 Midtown Parkway, ...

FLORIDA SALES TAX ON PRIVATE INVESTIGATORS Many individuals and businesses are well aware of Florida’s sales tax. Most that are familiar with sales tax think of it as applying to sales of tangible ...

Sarasota Sales Tax Attorney | Sales Tax Audit Help If you are in the Sarasota/Bradenton area and the Florida Department of Revenue is focused on your business or your client's business for Florida ...

FORT MYERS SALES TAX THEFT - RESTAURANT OWNERS ARRESTED On July 17, 2014, the Florida Department of Revenue ("FDOR") announced [names omitted], were arrested by the Lee County Sheriff's Office. The ...

Orlando Sales Tax Attorney | Sales Tax Audit If you are in the Orlando/Maitland area and the Florida Department of Revenue is focused on your business or your client's business for Florida sales and ...

It appears to be the Year of the Florida Used Car Dealer in 2014, but not in a good way. As of early July 2014, at least a dozen used car dealers have been arrested on charges of sales tax fraud ...

ORLANDO SIGN COMPANY OWNER JAILED FOR MERE $1,500 SALE TAX On June 23, 2014, the Florida Department of Revenue ("FDOR") announced [name omitted], was arrested by the Orange County Sheriff's Office. ...

MIAMI RESTAURANT OWNER – FACING 5 YEARS IN PRISON FOR SALES TAX THEFT On May 22, 2014, [ name omitted ], former owner of Villa Habana Food Service Corp, located at 3398 Coral Way, Miami, Florida ...

SECOND VERSE, VERY SIMILAR TO THE FIRST - FELONY TO EVEN POSSESS SALES SUPPRESSION SOFTWARE In March 2012, the Florida legislature passed rather unique, at least at that time, legislation aimed at a ...

On March 1, 2012, the Florida Department of Revenue ("FDOR") announced [name omitted], was arrested by the Broward County Sheriff's Office. The charges were that he allegedly collected over $14,000 in ...

US SALES AND USE TAX SYSTEM NEEDS FEDERAL C.P.R. Consumer Private Reporting Legislation – Draft of Summary for House Judiciary Committee Exploring Alternative Solutions on the Internet Sales Tax Issue ...

BROWARD USED CAR DEALER ARRESTED FOR SALES TAX On January 6, 2014, [ name omitted ], owner of Vehicles 4 Sale, Inc. located at 900 North State Road 7, Hollywood, Florida, was arrested because he ...

FLORIDA BAR TAX SECTION / FL DOR LIAISON MEETING 2013 On November 14, 2013, about 40 members of the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants ("FICPA") participated in a meeting with high ...

FL DOR DISCLOSES CONFIDENTIAL TAXPAYER INFO? Our comrades in Tallahassee never cease to amaze. Apparently if your business gets behind in remitting sales tax, then the collections arm of the Florida ...

On October 29, 2013, [ name omitted ], owner of O'Connor's Irish Pub Company dba The Irish Pub and Grille on Main, located 1359 Main St., Sarasota, Florida was arrested by the Sarasota County ...

The short answer is YES, you can go to jail for not remitting Florida sales tax that your business collected. Actually, Florida laws on sales tax fraud are some of the toughest in the country, ...

On September 10, 2013, [ name omitted ], owner of American Security Enterprises, Inc. located at 4329 West Pensacola Street, Tallahassee, Florida was arrested by the Leon County Sheriff's Department ...

On September 5, 2013, [ name omitted ], the Chief Operating Officers for of Jaxchex, Inc., was arrested by the St. John's County Sheriff's Department on first degree felony charges concerning theft of ...

FL DOR FORCING TAXPAYER TO SIGN AWAY RIGHTS TO REMIT TAX? Our Draconian 1 Comrades in Tallahassee are at it yet again. Actually, this time it is their comrades in the local Department of Revenue (DOR) ...

FL DOR USES "CALLZILLA" TO HARRASS TAXPAYERS Just when you thought it was safe to turn your phone back on after you successfully got your home number on the federal and state "do not call" list and ...

ORLANDO USED CAR DEALER ARRESTED FOR SALES TAX In June 2013, [ name omitted ], owner of BAS Specialty Cars, Inc. located at 1580 South Ronald Reagan Blvd, Orlando, Florida, was arrested because she ...

On April 8, 2013, [ name omitted ], owner of Palm Trading Group, LLC was arrested by the Seminole County Sheriff's Office on felony charges concerning theft of over $49,000 of sales tax (collecting ...

USED CAR DEALERS ARE THE FOCUS OF A STATEWIDE SALES TAX SWEEP BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE. HERE IS THE REASON WHY… Because our law firm practices almost exclusively against the Florida ...

LIQUOR STORE OWNERS ARE BEING AUDITED BY THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE AT UNPRECIDENTED LEVELS. HERE IS THE REASON WHY… If you own a liquor store (or convenience store) in Florida, then you have ...