Originally published in the July 2014 edition of Tech Trends
(e-newsletter and as an article within NTEA News), this article is also
available to you below as an employee of an NTEA member company.
The Association has recently received several inquiries from members
who are being audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for Federal Excise
Tax (FET) compliance. These members report that auditors are focusing on a few
key FET items, including up-to-date exemption certificates, taxable body sales,
lift axle installation and further manufacture.
What You Need to Know to Prepare for
an FET Audit
- Make sure your FET exemption
certificates (from the truck dealers to which you sell bodies and equipment) are
up-to-date.
- Obtain new municipal exemption
certificates for each and every tax exempt sale.
- Keep detailed records on body
sales and the specific chassis on which they are mounted.
- Maintain detailed records on
who owned the chassis on which you installed any lift axle.
The Technical Services Department is available to help answer your FET
questions before, during and after an audit. In addition, the NTEA’s staff
engineers can help identify any IRS rulings that may support your FET
position.
NTEA Excise Tax Enquirer
Articles
Are you faced with technical or
engineering challenges?
Contact the Technical and
Engineering Hotline at (800) 441-6832 for individual attention on varied topics
such as Federal Excise Tax, truck certification and labeling, vehicle compliance
and truck spec’ing. The Hotline is available Monday-Friday, 8AM-5PM
(EST). Members can contact the Association as frequently as needed.