Just recently, an entertainment company in New York that is in the business of distributing TV shows throughout the state and the country was involved in a tax case before the state’s highest court. This stemmed from the said company’s charging of sales tax from its customers who lease their satellite dish, which is needed to receive signals for TV shows, for a monthly fee. After four years of operating the business, state auditors found out that the company have committed violations of the state’s tax laws. State auditors argued that the company’s parent company should have paid sales tax for acquiring the satellite dishes, but it did not and instead passed the sales tax payment to its customers. The case is still pending with the state’s Court of Appeals.
Cases such as these are not at all uncommon. Individuals or business firms alike are involved in tax cases not because they have intentionally violated the applicable law but because they have no proper understanding of the same. In the case above, we can see how a simple error that could have been fixed with the help of an experienced New York tax lawyer became a serious legal trouble for a business firm. As illustrated in this particular case, a taxpayer is responsible for determining whether he is actually complying or not with the applicable tax regulation. And if not, the authorities can run after him, whether or not he understood the applicable law in the first place.
But since the law is in itself complex to clearly understand for that matter, what options does a taxpayer have in order to avoid legal problems in the future? With the case above, a New York tax lawyer could have been of help. Although the business firm concerned has no intention of defrauding the state with regards to sales tax, still, the state argued, they should have followed the applicable tax regulations. This clearly illustrates the need for a professional taxation lawyer before an individual should make any action regarding his obligations as a taxpayer.
