Wisconsin Still Seeking Auditors
- Sep 21, 2015 | Gail Cole
Work for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and you’ll have friendly colleagues, growth opportunities, and never a dull moment (plus great benefits and work-life balance). That’s according to the department’s Auditor Recruiting Video. The Department of Revenue needs 102 additional auditors and 11 additional agents to help uncover more than $80 million in annual revenue for Wisconsin.
If the figures in Governor Scott Walker’s February budget are accurate, “each new ‘front-line auditor’ could average about $940,000 in revenue by mid-2017:”
“The administration estimates that [102 new auditors] would cost $11.8 million GPR in 2015-16 and $13.6 million GPR in 2016-17, and that the increased audit and tax collection efforts would result in additional tax revenues of $31.5 million in the first year and $82.0 million in the second year” (Legislative Fiscal Bureau).
Look out, out-of-state sellers
Many of the new hires will focus on businesses that are based in other states and have a strong enough connection to Wisconsin to trigger a tax obligation (nexus). The Department of Revenue reports that “significant underreporting of sales/use taxes have been associated with businesses headquartered outside the state, in part because such businesses have never been subject to a Wisconsin audit.” The salad days are coming to a close for the one out of every seven companies that are licensed to collect Wisconsin sales tax and have out-of-state addresses.
This focus is particularly important given the fact that since mid July, there are new ways to trigger nexus in Wisconsin.
Beware the Minnesotans
A small army of green Wisconsin auditors will undoubtedly be a fierce force. Yet consider this: neighboring Minnesota has twice as many auditors.
Don’t fear – prepare
Automated sales tax software (SaaS) helps businesses sail through audits with aplomb. Learn more.
