This page is geared for those who are under audit and trying to go it alone, or just those curious about some of the processes and want to have the relevant, administrative information
Contact Information
General Audit
All of the main offices and main office number locations are here - https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/contact/locations.php. Scroll down, select the correct service (audit) and office and it will populate the main line number and address information. If an auditor is not being responsive, or you don't know the status of your audit, this is the first place to check.
If you need an auditors phone number, typing in their name into here - https://comptroller.texas.gov/about/agency-directory/ will get you what you need. As of this writing the comptroller does not publish all of the email addresses for it's audit staff, but calling an office and asking for an email address, they will readily provide this information. If you're still having issues or they aren't being cooperative, contact us and we can provide it.
If you're auditor's office is not shown, and they aren't on the directory, they are likely a contract auditor. They are not employees, but third parties, generally former auditors, who continue their tax audit career in that capacity. This information is not as well documented, if you are having trouble reaching someone and the auditor is not being helpful, we'd be happy to help get you to the right person.
Completed Audit
If you have 'exited' your audit and are wondering when you'll get your bill, generally it take a 6-8 weeks as of this writing for the notice of audit results to be sent. If you are getting close to that point, or you haven't yet heard from them and think you should have, email [email protected] would be the folks to ask. Put your TPID in the subject line, and just ask if the notice of audit results has been sent out, and if not, do they have an approximate time that would be expected to be sent out. These are some of the busiest folks in Texas, so please do respect that.
Manual and Procedures
Much of what tax auditors do is up to discretion of every decision maker throughout the line from the tax auditor that selects the audit, to the separate tax auditor that conducts it, through every manager upwards all the way to the Comptroller themself. That being said, there are written procedures and manuals published in order to help facilitate consistent application of the law. Will these always be followed? No, especially not if a contract auditor is being engaged. However if something they are doing doesn't seem to have a written procedural basis, there is a fairly good chance that the procedure should be under further scrutiny to make sure you are receiving fair and equitable treatments.
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/audit/manuals/ Provides links and lists to all manuals. There's a few manuals that we regularly reference, so we'll put below:
Auditing Fundamentals
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/audit/manuals/fundamentals/
This gives an overall view of all the procedural steps in an audit, and it written from a trainer seeking to advise a newer auditor, so it can give you a sense of what considerations should be taken, and what steps should be followed. This isn't a great source to bring up a procedural claim, but if something is different than described in thsi detailed manual, it's generally worth questioning, nicely, why the current circumstances don't seem to align with procedure. There are many valid reasons, and valid procedural deficiency claims are a far bit more exacting than what will be discussed in this manual.
Contractors Manual
Audit Procedures for Contractors and Repairmen (PDF)
It's a download and I recommend everyone who does contracting in Texas to read this once. It's 59 pages, and goes over most of the major taxability issues faces by general contractors, subcontractors, and real property service providers in Texas, with the caveat that this is written by Tax Policy, and it will take positions that favor the Comptroller, even if out of line with statute. This conveys the fundamentals fairly well without having to do tax research.
On page 52-53 are the 'cheatsheets;' The flow charts of taxability to have as a quick and easy reference.
Sampling Manual
https://comptroller.texas.gov/taxes/audit/docs/sampling-manual.pdf
Samples make up the basis of most large audit assesments and the core to a good audit is a good sample. The correrally is also true - a bad audit generally is from sample issues. It's good to have the relevant information available, however procedural sampling concerns are most easily resolved before a sample is pulled and in our experience, require a expert to see a meaningful change. It won't feel uncomfortable or unfair until it's too late, so if you have a sample in your audit, check with an outside expert before going forward. Preventing issues is generally significantly less expensive then correcting them.
Miscellaneous
SIFT File Share
https://data-secure.comptroller.texas.gov/home/login
The SIFT system is how the Comptroller shares more sensitive, but public files. Using this system you can download various common open record records (such as who is being audited, which if you were audited and got a ton of calls, this is why) and the most up to date tax jurisdiction information, which can be updated once a quarter at most. Additionally this houses the multi jurisdiction look up tool, which allows taxpayers to input address information in order to see the specific tax jurisdictions. It's sometimes finicky, and sometimes doesn't get all that's needed so keep that in mind.
Map and Address Look up
https://gis.cpa.texas.gov/search
For more than 5 years now, the Comptroller has made available a tool to more easily find tax rates for given locations. Using the link above, you can search by address, even directly on a map to get the tax rates. Do note that they disclaim the map with:
"This product is for informational purposes and may not have been prepared for or be suitable for legal, engineering, or surveying purposes. It does not represent an on-the-ground survey and represents only the approximate relative location of property boundaries."
This is the tool that auditors use to look up tax rates as it's most practical, so if there is any chance it's incorrect in your situation, it's important to double check.
Open Records
Don't let that ".com" put you off, that is the 3rd party tool the Texas Comptroller uses to track, maintain and respond to open record requests. Going into why you would do an open record request for an audit is a bit beyond the scope of this document, however do know if you need to do an open record request for the Comptroller, this is where it is done.
If you have any questions about Texas Comptroller resources available, and they aren't being particularly helpful, feel free to reach out to us as it's likely something we've dealt with in the past, if we don't know, we likely would like to know as well.
