BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- For most companies, sales tax non-compliance is never intentional, because it's incredibly easy to make honest mistakes when dealing with complex multi-state tax laws. But these errors are extremely costly to fix. TaxValet's new blog post details the true cost of a state audit, the hidden operational costs, and why prevention is the best cure.
Read the full blog here: The True Cost of a Sales Tax Audit: What Businesses Actually Pay
The True Cost of an Audit
According to TaxValet's research, when a state decides to audit your business, the operational costs are:
- An audit takes an average of 223 days to complete.
- The longest and most complex audits can stretch up to 682 days.
- Properly defending an audit requires 20+ hours of dedicated expert support.
- Paying a general CPA or specialized consultant for the minimum 20 hours costs between $8,000 and $10,000+.
Why You Shouldn't Handle an Audit In-House
When internal teams try to handle a state audit on their own, they often make costly mistakes, like handing over too much data. Providing the state with more information than requested gives auditors room to scrutinize unrelated expenses and dig up unnecessary liabilities, which is exactly why expert representation is needed.
Expert Support Lowers Audit Costs
TaxValet's audit experts know how to effectively handle state audits. For example, they know what data an auditor needs and will ensure you provide only the necessary information, such as providing only page one of federal returns.
This expertise also helps lower the final cost of the audit. Across a recent sample of 38 audited clients with tax exposure from their pre-TaxValet days, TaxValet successfully abated 48.9% of all assessed penalties and interest.
And since they keep clean historical records and properly manage customer certificates and filings, when state auditors come in and look through their clients' data, there's nothing to penalize. Even better, full auditor management and support are included in a full-service TaxValet subscription for $0 extra.
True Compliance & Peace of Mind
Waiting until after an audit to correct problems can result in paying back taxes, extra penalties, and high legal fees while your business is hampered for months. TaxValet can help protect your business from these issues from the start.
Media Contact: Candice Lee Sparks, Digital Marketing Manager at TaxValet
Email: marketing@thetaxvalet.com
Phone: (720) 432-9021
SOURCE TaxValet
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