Office handling state tax audit disputes

The Louisiana Department of Revenue has established an independent unit to work with taxpayers over disputes with audits.

The Audit Protest Bureau was set up to give taxpayers who are in the early stages of disputing an audit an alternative to the court system.

The bureau is managed by tax experts who are professionally trained in dispute resolution and reports directly to the secretary of revenue. Bureau director Monica Doss Washington said her office will not share taxpayer information with other divisions in the revenue department.

“This is a more efficient way to do business,” Earl Millet Jr., deputy secretary of revenue, told a group of accountants meeting in Kenner last week. “This will save taxpayers from going to court.”

The Times-Picayune reported that the bureau has received 135 cases since it began operations on July 1.

Currently under review are only protests involving sales tax audits. In January, the office will begin handling disputes over personal and corporate income tax audits. In July, audits of all state tax types will be handled.

“We were starting off step by step to see what our volume would be. We didn’t want to be inundated,” Washington said.

Although the revenue department must abide by the decisions the bureau makes, taxpayers don’t. They can still file suit if they aren’t satisfied with the bureau’s decision.

The bureau only handles protests filed by taxpayers who within the past 30 days have received a notice that they owe additional taxes as a result of an audit. Protests involving disputes over older audits, and audits that have progressed beyond the 30-day point, are not eligible.