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You bought equipment, software, materials, or services for the business and paid sales tax on the invoice. Part of that tax may never have been owed. Vendors apply tax by default — including to purchases that qualify for an exemption, get billed in the wrong state, or get taxed twice. The money is recoverable, but not indefinitely.
Older overpayments expire quietly. Every quarter you wait forfeits a quarter of recoverable tax — whether or not anyone ever caught it.
The deadline varies by state. California sets it at the later of three years from the return due date or six months from the date you overpaid. Texas allows four years from the date the tax was due.
Most overpayments cluster in routine purchases: software, production inputs, and goods bought for resale — where the vendor charged tax because applying the exemption was the buyer's job, not theirs. Sales tax recovery services find those overpayments before the window closes and file the claims that bring the money back.
Four moving parts, from finding the money to stopping the leak going forward.
Invoices, fixed-asset additions, and use-tax accruals reviewed line by line for tax that was charged but not due. Most recoverable tax sits in a few recurring vendor categories — we concentrate there first.
Purchases tested against the resale, manufacturing, R&D, and industry-specific exemptions the vendor did not apply at the register. Each dollar tied to a specific statutory basis.
Each overpayment documented with its invoice and exemption basis, then filed with the right state authority. Weak items are cut so the claim that gets filed is the one that holds.
The same overpayment is stopped at the source so it does not keep repeating. Multi-state coordination where purchases span several states — each with its own exemptions and its own deadline.
We take your purchase and fixed-asset records for the open periods and run them against the exemptions that apply to your industry. Concentrated review of the highest-yield vendor categories first.
Each overpayment is documented with its invoice and exemption basis, then assembled into a refund claim for the correct state. Weak items get cut — the claim that gets filed is the one that holds.
We file, answer the state's questions, and push the claim to a decision. If the state denies part of it, there is a fixed window to contest — we handle that step.
What Our Recovery Clients Recover
Recovery work is judged on one number: how much came back.
Cost depends on the volume of purchase records to review, the number of states involved, and whether it is a one-time reverse audit or an ongoing review built into your process. We quote after a short look at your purchase volume and the states in play — so the fee matches the actual work.
A first look at your records tells us whether there is enough recoverable tax to pursue. If there is not, we will say so instead of running up a review.
Once a period ages past the claim window, the overpaid tax is gone — whether or not anyone ever caught it. The review only reaches back as far as the open periods allow, so every quarter you wait is a quarter of refunds that drops out of reach.
Because the claim window is fixed, every year you delay forfeits a year of recoverable tax. The window doesn't reopen once it closes.
Sources: CDTFA Publication 117; Texas Comptroller Audit Manual Chapter 8
A good fit if you:
Related: ongoing multi-state compliance is on sales tax compliance services. Facing an audit rather than pursuing a refund? See sales tax audit.
Send us a sense of your purchase volume and the states you operate in, and we will tell you whether there is money worth reclaiming.
You do not need to know which purchases were overtaxed before you reach out. That's the work.
First look tells us whether there is enough to pursue. If not, we say so instead of running up a review.
