Florida Sales Tax Attorney

Counsel for Florida Sales Tax Audits, Disputes & Compliance

At Ribeiro Law, we represent businesses in Florida Department of Revenue audits, voluntary disclosures, appeals, and multistate compliance matters. We help companies of all sizes navigate the complexities of sales and use tax. The Florida Department of Revenue audit process is formal and deadline-driven, so a business should understand the applicable notice, requested records, and available response options before acting.

Businesses often seek counsel after receiving an audit notice, identifying unpaid sales tax, questioning whether registration or collection duties apply, or discovering that operations in multiple states may create overlapping obligations. These matters can turn on transaction classification, exemption documentation, tax nexus, filing history, and communications with a state revenue agency.

If you have received a DOR audit notice or have an unresolved sales tax liability, contact Ribeiro Law or call (561) 594-4887 to discuss your situation. Consultations are confidential.

What a Sales Tax Attorney Does

State sales and use tax laws are administered by each state’s DOR or equivalent agency. The DOR has broad audit authority, and the periods subject to review depend on the applicable law, filing history, and facts of the case. We provide representation and strategic counsel throughout the compliance and dispute-resolution process.

Our work may include reviewing the business model and transaction records, analyzing taxability or nexus questions, and evaluating the requirements in a Department notice. We can also communicate with tax authorities, assess procedural options, and develop a response based on the transactions under review and the records available. Clients work directly with attorney Amanda Ribeiro throughout the engagement, and our advice is tailored to the client’s industry and operations.

Florida Sales Tax Audit Defense

Audit representation may begin when a Notice of Intent to Audit Books and Records is issued. We can manage the process, communicate directly with the assigned auditor, and challenge proposed assessments before they become final. Early decisions about document production, transaction sampling, exemption support, and communications with the auditor can shape how disputed issues are evaluated.

A sales tax audit may involve sales and purchase records, exemption or resale certificates, returns, general ledgers, and the methods used to calculate a proposed liability. We review the notice and records request, help organize the business’s response, address disputed findings, and evaluate a proposed assessment under the procedures applicable to that notice.

Amanda Ribeiro has been licensed since 2014 and has advised nationally recognized companies, including SpaceX and Tesla, on multistate tax issues and state tax controversies. That background informs our approach to audits involving complex operations, multiple jurisdictions, or significant transaction data.

Florida Voluntary Disclosure & Past-Due Liability

Businesses that haven’t been collecting or remitting state sales tax, or have been doing so incorrectly, may be able to disclose past liabilities through the DOR’s Voluntary Disclosure Program. Florida generally requires that the Department hasn’t already contacted the taxpayer about the liability. Eligibility and program consequences depend on the tax involved, whether tax was collected, the timing of Department contact, and the information submitted.

Florida’s published program generally reviews the three years preceding the postmark date of the request and usually provides for penalty waiver after tax and interest are paid, subject to program rules and exceptions. These terms aren’t automatic in every case. We evaluate the filing and collection history, determine whether voluntary disclosure may be available, and advise the business before information is submitted.

Nexus & Multistate Sales Tax Counseling

The Supreme Court’s decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair expanded states’ ability to require tax collection by businesses without an in-state physical presence. Remote sellers and marketplace participants may be required to register, collect, and remit sales tax based on their activities and sales into a state. Businesses entering Florida from other states or expanding into new markets need a nexus analysis before they begin operations, not after a DOR notice arrives.

A tax nexus analysis examines the connections that may create sales and use tax obligations, including property, personnel, sales volume, sales channels, and marketplace relationships. For companies operating across state lines, we assess registration, collection, filing, exemption, and use tax responsibilities on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis. We represent businesses across the United States, including startups and national companies managing multistate taxation.

Florida Sales Tax Appeals & Litigation

At the conclusion of an audit, the state may issue a proposed assessment. We represent businesses as they evaluate available administrative review options and determine how to respond to an assessment, refund denial, or other agency action.

If administrative review doesn’t resolve the case, it may proceed to a formal hearing before the Division of Administrative Hearings, where the business presents its case before an Administrative Law Judge, or to a court when the applicable procedure permits. We handle administrative appeals and litigation involving sales and use tax matters.

When You Need a Sales Tax Lawyer

Not every sales tax question requires legal representation, but certain situations carry enough risk that professional counsel is warranted from the outset.

Consider contacting a sales tax attorney if any of the following apply:

• You have received a Notice of Intent to Audit Books and Records from the state Department of Revenue and need to evaluate the notice, requested records, and response requirements.
• You are facing a Notice of Proposed Assessment and are uncertain whether to pay, protest, or pursue another available procedure.
• Your business hasn’t been filing sales tax returns, and you are concerned about prior-period exposure. Voluntary disclosure may be available, but eligibility can be affected once the DOR initiates contact.
• You are expanding into Florida from another state, or selling outside of Florida, and need to understand whether your products or services are taxable, whether you have nexus, and how to register and begin collecting.
• You have received a tax warrant, or your bank account has been levied. These enforcement actions require prompt review of the underlying liability and available procedural options.
• Your business operates in a gray-area industry such as software, construction, food service, communications, or healthcare where the taxability of products or services requires a fact-specific analysis.

Focused Sales & Use Tax Counsel

Our boutique practice is devoted exclusively to sales and use tax law. Clients work directly with Amanda Ribeiro from the initial assessment through the conclusion of the engagement, without being passed through layers of associates or support staff.

Before founding Ribeiro Law, Amanda advised clients at a Big Four accounting firm on multistate tax issues and state tax controversies. We apply that technical background through a business-minded analysis of each client’s products or services, sales channels, operational priorities, and long-term compliance needs.