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Why Should I Hire Brotman Law to Defend Me in My Payroll Tax Audit?

August 12, 2024July 14, 2020 by Brotman Law

The way from sitting down here in San Diego up into Northern California and we do a lot of these types of cases over the course.

What Happens After the Audit? What Happens If I Disagree With the Result?

November 4, 2024July 13, 2020 by Brotman Law

There are a couple possible outcomes. Number one is that the auditor’s report is sufficient and that you agree with it. If you agree with it, there will be a short exit conference between you, the auditor and the manager so the auditor can explain what they did in the report. If you don’t agree with the audit then this conference happens anyway but at least that will give you the opportunity to express your disagreements in front of the manager and have the auditor potentially make changes. Now the problem with this is is the auditor at this point has usually already run the audit report by the manager and anticipated any disagreements that you might have with it so the manager is less likely to stand up for you than you would think but there are opportunities there to present any additional documentation or any other fact-finding before the close of the audit. If you’re not successful with resolving things with the manager, then the auditor will issue you a bill. They will turn in the audit and a bill will be generated about two to three months later and then when you receive that bill, you can file a petition for redetermination. Upon filing your petition for redetermination, you will proceed to a 10-day conference. We will have the opportunity to speak with the head of the audit unit for that particular.

California Payroll Tax Audits and Payments to Officers

August 12, 2024January 4, 2018 by Brotman Law

In addition to payments to employees either as casual labor or as reimbursements, the auditor is also going to look at any payments to officers or any personal expenses that are being written out of the business, and in an effort to classify personal expenses as taxable wages. Let’s talk about that in a little bit of detail.

California Payroll Tax Audits and Employee Reimbursements

August 12, 2024January 4, 2018 by Brotman Law

One of the biggest problems that we come across in payroll audits is employee reimbursements and independent contractor reimbursements. A lot of the times what will happen is an employee will get paid a normal paycheck and then they will spend their own money outside the context of the business to buy materials, to buy supplies, go post office do whatever. The business will write the employee a check out of their operating account and not run it through payroll.

EDD Independent Contractor Test

August 12, 2024January 3, 2018 by Brotman Law

After verifying payroll and payroll tax withholdings, the EDD will next go through and verify all the workers that the business issued 1099s to. This is what is known as the EDD Independent Contractor Test. First, the EDD auditor will go through each 1099 worker in detail, one by one. Even 1099’s that were issued to businesses, landlords and others that are clearly not subject to payroll tax withholdings, you can pretty much count on the EDD auditor going through each one and verifying who was issued a 1099.

EDD Audit Payroll Tax Verification Test

August 12, 2024January 3, 2018 by Brotman Law

In addition to the payroll verification test, the EDD will also look at personal income tax withholdings and make sure that the amounts listed match what the state has on file as well. Just to go back and clarify, the EDD audit is going looking at the wages and the income that the people earned. The EDD auditor is going through the payroll journal to make sure that the total wages is going to match. Now, this article discusses going through and doing a personal income tax withholding test.

Independent Contractor Audit – Initial Interview Purpose

August 12, 2024January 3, 2018 by Brotman Law

In our last article, we examined the questions that are asked in an independent contractor audit. In this article, we would like to examine the purpose behind those questions in a little more depth.

EDD Independent Contractor Audit – Initial Compliance Interview

August 12, 2024January 3, 2018 by Brotman Law

The first thing that happens in an EDD independent contractor audit is the initial compliance interview. The initial compliance interview serves a couple of different purposes. Number one, it is to get background information on the client. Number two, it is to get answers in place for different questions in case there is any problems or factual disputes that come up later. For example, one of the questions they ask you is “How many locations do you have?”. That way if they later get information on a location that you did not disclose, you could potentially dig yourself into trouble.

California Payroll Tax Audits and the General Ledger

August 12, 2024January 3, 2018 by Brotman Law

During a payroll tax audit, the EDD is next going to go through the business’s general ledger in detail, the general ledger is important because the general ledger contains a record of all the payments the business made during the audit period in question. When the auditor goes through the general ledger, they are going to be looking for a couple of different things. Number one, is they’re going to be looking for payments to people. The auditor is looking for payments to people who may or may not have been a 1099 and they are going to be looking for payments to the business’s employees and toward 1099 contractors that were not listed on the W2 or the 1099 for whatever reason.

What to Do if the EDD Takes Your Money

August 12, 2024January 25, 2017 by Brotman Law

The California Employment Development Department can legally withhold money owed to you by the state for repayment of debt. In other words, either through error or willful action, you owe a monetary debt to the State of California.

The EDD is within its legal rights to withhold money from a variety of programs and tax refunds if you do not pay up. It works with the California Franchise Tax Board, the State Lottery, and the State Controller to collect the outstanding debt.