The third-party auditor stated that the taxable property value was too low. It appeared that the 30 minute “site inspection” of the balance sheet showed plenty of costs that the auditor could add back into the assessment without even asking any questions. How can this be? According to one third-party auditor, “It is standard procedure for all taxpayers.” Wow, and I thought it was all about fair market value.
If you are not reading this from your prison cell, you probably understand that the cost on a company’s books is not the last stop on the road map to taxable value. So why not ask if the equipment is still at a location? Why not look to see what a “flancofurnistop” actually does?
When discussing the value added by the third party auditor we received this response, “I would guess that you have roughly three million dollars worth of piping on the roof.” What does guessing have to do with anything? All questions of value may as well be solved by means of belly-bumping contests. It would be just as accurate but much more interesting.
And what about taxpayer rights? Apparently, in this situation the taxpayer didn’t have as many rights as one would expect in a country as great as America. The taxpayer had to disprove the third-party auditor’s outlandish claims. I scratched my head in disbelief, and asked if there might be a better way to perform an audit.
The enthusiastic response: “We have looked into it—really. However, our current audit procedure generated the highest possible taxable value for the least amount of effort or documentation. And that is just dandy for everyone.” ...Except the taxpayer.