As a former South Dakota Auditor with over twenty-four years of experience in the areas of sales, use, and contractors’ excise tax, I have assessed, and businesses paid, millions of dollars in taxes, interest, and penalties to the State of South Dakota. Interest and penalties are money businesses should use to run, expand, and grow their businesses.

I have handed businesses audit assessments from in the millions for large companies, to even a thousand-dollar assessment that took several struggling small businesses to the brink of closing their doors. I have seen the frustration in the eyes of Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) with outside firms, to staff accountants, to bookkeepers, and even to business owners who did their own sales/excise tax returns in that even a small misunderstanding of South Dakota tax law can really cost you. I have seen businesses being billed and paying a higher sales tax rate than the rate applicable for that product or service.

I have also seen businesses being billed and assessed in audits, municipal taxes on products or services that were specifically exempt from the municipal tax. In addition, some businesses pay a lot of use tax on purchases of items and services that are actually exempt from use tax. Many contractors even remit the contractors’ excise taxes on work as a sub-contractor on non-qualified utility projects that they did not owe. In addition, because they did not have the proper paperwork, they could not even request that the overpayment of those taxes be credited back in the audit.

I have audited everything from small sole proprietors to the world’s largest corporations. I have audited small contractors to the largest construction companies with contracts in the $100s of millions of dollars. Including companies having separate but related entities, one providing design/engineering services, another manufactures the equipment, and another has the contract to install that equipment.

It is always a good idea to have audit listings reviewed before the audit is closed. Auditors are pushed to produce and frequently do make mistakes. Many audits are reviewed by attorneys or CPAs, who provide a very valuable service when those services are needed. However, attorneys and CPAs have not, and are not spending every working day working exclusively with South Dakota sales, use, and contractors’ excise tax law as I have. When it comes to reviewing audit listings - This is my area of expertise.

I would truly like to use my over two decades of expertise and experience as a South Dakota auditor to you and your business to gain a more thorough understanding of how South Dakota tax law affects your business and probably help you save some money. Please contact us to answer any questions that you may have, or just to discuss how we may be of service to you and your business.

Sincerely,

Curt L. Massie
Managing Member