Specializing in Washington State Excise Taxes since 1991
Smith Auditing Services (SAS) was founded in 1991 by Ben Smith. We are a consulting
firm that specializes in Washington State excise tax matters. In the 33 plus years since our
founding, we have successfully recovered over $150 million in overpaid taxes for clients.
Generally, we provide two types of services:
(1) Our most common engagement involves a limited, “specific issue” arrangement. This
is often preferred by the clients that we have specifically targeted due to our knowledge of reporting errors being commonly made within an industry.
(2) We also perform full “reverse audit” engagements, which are broader in scope and involve a more complete review of business activities and tax liabilities in Washington. Reverse
audits are often sought by companies that have recently undergone mergers, acquisitions,
or key personnel changes. At such times many companies want to verify that compliance
formats are correct going forward; and that all overpayments relating to past periods are
identified and recovered. In addition to recovering overpayments, we assist in establishing
efficient, legally correct compliance procedures aimed at minimizing future tax liabilities.
Both types of reviews are performed on a contingency fee basis, where the contingency fee
represents the entire compensation to SAS. Thus, our travel and other expenses will always
remain our own responsibility.
We try to make the process as risk-free to our clients as possible. We also try to make the
process as close to “turn key” as possible. We prepare all schedules, petitions, amended
returns, etc. We follow up with the tax authorities to make sure that the process stays on
track. If a Washington auditor is assigned to review a refund claim, we will be present to
work with the auditor to help minimize the time our client’s personnel must spend on a
project.
Our clients always retain control of the process. We do not communicate with tax authorities
without first getting specific permission to do so. If a client chooses not to seek a refund, then
there will be no fee. This is true even if the client chooses to withdraw a claim after it is filed.
We do not earn a fee until a client actually receives a refund or credit.
Smith Auditing Associates
Partner
Ben Smith
Founded SAS in January of 1991. He is now in his 33rd year of providing consulting services to private industry. Prior to 1991, Mr. Smith was an auditor for the State of Washington Department of Revenue for nearly 13 years. Most of that time was spent in the out-of-state unit dealing with the unique set of issues confronting those who make sales or deliver services across borders.
Partner
Janaka Jayasekera
Joined Smith Auditing Services in early 2012, following a 22 year career with the State of Washington Department of Revenue. Most of that time was spent as the lead senior auditor stationed in the Southern California Region. During his long career, Mr. Jayasekera has reviewed the business activities and Washington tax liabilities of many of the largest companies in the world.