Live webinar: Confessions of former auditors: Insider tips to survive a sales tax audit

WHEN
On-demand

DURATION
60 minutes

COST
Free

Get inside the minds of former state tax auditors in this upcoming panel discussion

As the tax adage goes, “it’s not if you’ll get audited, but when.” But many companies put off preparing for an audit until the day the Department of Revenue comes knocking, making it a painful process. 

Surviving an audit is all about taking preemptive steps. To help you along that path, we’ve gathered a panel of former state tax auditors to reveal their insider tips and tricks to help businesses like yours not only develop an audit-ready strategy, but be successful when the auditor arrives.  

In this exclusive Q&A session, we’ll cover:

  • How audits have changed in light of COVID-19
  • The best ways to prepare for an audit, even before you’ve been selected
  • How to be successful when the auditor arrives
  • Actions to avoid that can trigger an audit

Sign up to watch the on-demand recording at your convenience! Webinar attendees are also eligible to earn 1 hour of CPE credit. 

Register now

Silvia Aguirre 
Vice President of Certificate Management, Avalara

Silvia was an Auditor for the State of Texas in their San Antonio and New York offices. After her audit career, Silvia served as tax manager for national companies in manufacturing, retail, and technology industries. She is currently the Vice President of Certificate Management at Avalara and the co-founder of Avalara CertCapture. Silvia was previously co-founder and Principal of Tax Technology Services, LLC, where she had overall responsibility for the operational efficiency of the organization, as well as the tax knowledge base.  

Robert Banagay

Robert is a partner with TTR Consulting, which provides various tax consulting services for TTR customers. Robert leads the firm’s audit defense efforts and leads a team of professionals that specialize in all aspects of state tax compliance including nexus reviews, voluntary disclosure agreements, managed audits and direct pay permits. Robert spends much of his time assisting the tax leadership of various Fortune 500 companies manage their state tax portfolios.

With almost 25 years of experience, Robert brings a wealth of experience to his clients. He began his career in state and local tax as an auditor with the New Mexico Department of Revenue specializing in income and gross receipts tax audits of fortune 500 companies and small businesses. After leaving the Department he joined Sun Healthcare Group, a multi-billion-dollar healthcare company operating in 48 states.  As tax director, Robert led the tax compliance and tax planning activities of the company. Some of Robert’s responsibilities included management of the company’s audits, planning and compliance for sales and use, property, business license taxes. Robert was a key member on the company’s integration team and assisted with multiple acquisitions and divestitures.  

Steven Cabrera
Tax Director, Avalara Professional Services

Steven Cabrera is a CPA and former California State Tax Auditor. He has over 20 years of sales and use tax experience both in state government and “Big 4” and national public accounting sectors. His experience is in voluntary disclosures, tax recovery, registration, audit representation, taxability research, refund reviews, due diligence, and more. Steven is currently the Tax Director in the Professional Services group at Avalara. 

Clifford Turner
Vice President of Sales and Use Tax Enablement, Avalara

Clifford is a former California State Tax Auditor and an industry veteran with 25 years of sales and use tax experience. He has built and managed sales and use tax compliance operations for two of the “Big 4” accounting firms.