Refund Reviews

Turning Historical Tax Overpayments into Strategic Working Capital

In a complex multi-state tax environment, it is common for high-volume businesses to overpay sales and use taxes. These leakages often stem from misunderstood exemptions, software misconfigurations, or changes in state-specific legislation. For middle-market companies and PE-backed portfolios, these overpayments represent trapped capital that could be better utilized for expansion, debt reduction, or operational investment.

We provide the technical depth to reclaim your overpaid tax. At Calvetti Ferguson, we don’t just look for “easy wins.” Our State and Local Tax (SALT) specialists perform a forensic-level review of your historical transactions to identify every available refund opportunity. We handle the technical substantiation and the administrative burden of filing with state authorities, ensuring that your recovery is maximized and defensible.

A Multidimensional Approach to Tax Recovery

A refund review is more than a simple audit; it is a diagnostic of your financial health. We analyze your procurement and sales cycles to identify systemic overpayments.

Identifying Strategic Recovery Opportunities

We look beyond the surface to find value in areas often overlooked by generalist accounting teams.

• • • Unclaimed Exemptions: Identifying missed opportunities for manufacturing exemptions, resale certificates, or industry-specific carve-outs (such as R&D or energy use).

    • Software Misconfigurations: Correcting automated tax engines that may be defaulting to a taxable status for exempt items or services.

    • Legislative Changes: Retroactively applying new court rulings or legislative updates that favor the taxpayer, often spanning the full three-to-four-year statute of limitations.

Institutional-Grade Benefits

Our refund review provides immediate financial impact while strengthening your long-term compliance posture.

• • • Direct EBITDA Enhancement: Every dollar recovered through a refund review flows directly to your bottom line, increasing your enterprise value.

    • Process Remediation: We don’t just find the error; we identify the root cause. We provide technical recommendations to adjust your AP and AR workflows, preventing future overpayments.

    • Audit Defense Preparation: The documentation gathered during a refund review often serves as a robust defense should the state initiate a future sales tax audit.

Sector-Specific Recovery Expertise

The triggers for sales tax overpayments vary significantly by industry. We tailor our review to the technical nuances of your sector.

• Manufacturing & Industrial: Deep-dive analysis of “predominant use” for utilities, machinery components, and consumables used in the production process.

• Technology & SaaS: Navigating the “gray areas” of digital goods and cloud-based services where taxability varies wildly by state.

• Healthcare & Life Sciences: Identifying exemptions for medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and specialized laboratory equipment.

• Construction & Real Estate: Analyzing “contractor-as-consumer” rules to ensure tax was not paid on already-exempt government or non-profit projects.

Why Choose Calvetti Ferguson?

We offer a high-touch, senior-led approach to SALT advisory that prioritizes your time and your total tax strategy.

• Contingency & Performance-Based Models: We are confident in our ability to find value. In many cases, our refund review services are structured to ensure that our success is tied directly to your recovery.

• Integrated SALT Strategy: We coordinate your refund review with your Sales Tax Nexus Study to ensure that, while we recover cash, we also secure your future compliance.

• National Reach, Local Expertise: We understand the specific filing requirements and administrative hurdles of tax authorities across all 50 states.

Ready to Reclaim Your Trapped Capital?

Don’t let historical errors impact your current liquidity. Let’s build the transparent, high-integrity recovery plan your business deserves—partner with a firm that understands the intersection of tax recovery and enterprise value.

Contact Our Team