Weaver: Beyond the Numbers

Detailed Description of Weaver’s Motor Fuels Tax Minute, Episode 48

00:00:00

Kelly: Thank you for joining us on this week's Motor Fuels Tax Minute where we talk all things motor fuel. Today we have one of our colleagues joining us, Bryan, and Emilda is just going to give him a brief introduction.

00:00:12

Emilda: Thanks, Kelly. I feel like I've known Bryan all my life. It's funny, but we talk all the time. Bryan's been with Weaver for three and a half years. He is a supervisor with our motor fuel excise tax team, and he has a lot of experience, so we rely a lot on him heavily from an audit side because of the experience he's had with the state of Texas for ten years. With Bryan on our team, I feel like we've really considered all the different things about audit.

I'm going to go ahead and pass it over to him because he has a lot of good tips on this.

00:00:54

Bryan: Without getting into specific types of audits, we have some general audit tips for you today. As you know, audits vary depending on the entity performing the audit, the tax type, or the scope of the review being conducted.

So, first tip: be responsive. What I mean is, respond to queries and documentation requests timely, of course, but also to be vocal about realistic timelines for your own schedule. Let the auditor know about things like month-end or year-end closings that would interfere with the review. On the flip side, if you haven't heard from the auditor in a while, and that does happen, reach out and let them know that you want to move the audit forward. It's in your best interest to get it wrapped up quickly. Put the pressure back on the auditor to get the review done timely. Interest accrues on adjustments from when the error was initially made and continues to accrue until audit payment is made. The longer the audit is held open, the more interest accrues.

Be vocal. Work with the auditor to help them understand your business and your process. I'm not saying you should yell or use a hammer to drive your point home or anything, but guide the auditor through your system and procedures. Oftentimes, the audit ends up becoming a type of conversation, where you're helping them to understand how you do things. If the auditor has a better understanding of how things are done, then they'll be more receptive to documentation that you provide them and it'll give you a voice in the audit, and it helps you to control the narrative of the audit. Generally, auditors are supposed to have an in-depth knowledge of the tax laws, although we all know that that's not always the case. But each business is different. So, accounting systems and methods vary from business to business. Auditors don't have in-depth knowledge of your particular accounting system, or your processes, and they rely on you as the taxpayers for guidance.

Always ask the auditor to provide support for their audit decisions, this one's big. These decisions can sometimes be pretty vague, and if you can get written support from the auditor, do it. And if they don't provide it, ask for it.

Click play above to hear the rest of the conversation.

Detailed Description of Weaver’s Motor Fuels Tax Minute, Episode 47

00:00:00

Kelly: This is Motor Fuels Tax Minute, where we talk all things motor fuel. In this week's episode, Emilda is going to dive into some ExSTARS requirements like SCAC codes and some other things as well.

00:00:11

Emilda: Thanks, Kelly. So yes, ExSTARS. So, we know that ExSTARS is an inventory reporting for terminal operators and some of the questions that we get asked pretty often are, what is the W-13 form and what is that used for? And so one of the things that we like to emphasize to terminal operators is that a W-13 is a form very similar in nature to a W-9 form, but it was designed to be able to collect the EIN number for the carrier or the position holder in a terminal, so that the terminal operator can report the correct EIN number for that entity that is actually purchasing or taking possession of that product at the rack.

The other thing is a terminal operator really needs to think about collecting the information for the carrier that is coming into the terminal. And that is by way of a SCAC code and an EIN. So, what is the SCAC code? The SCAC code basically stands for standard alpha carrier code that identifies who that carrier is and taking possession of the product that it's lifting from the terminal. So that is very good information to collect.

Other things that terminal operators should consider is maybe a carrier access agreement, allowing a carrier to come in and lift product from their terminal, and the W-13 that we just briefly touched on, and also a certificate of insurance. All of that information is very important for a terminal operator to consider. And when you allow carriers into your terminal, that's information you'd like to have verified, especially from an insurance standpoint, because they are coming in to pick up fuel from your terminal.

00:02:12

Leanne: Thanks, Emilda. That is a lot of good information for terminal operators and carriers.

As always, if there's any questions, please reach out to us. That's this week's Motor Fuels Tax Minute. See you next time. Thank you.

Detailed Description of Weaver’s Motor Fuels Tax Minute, Episode 46

00:00:00

Emilda: Welcome to Weaver's Motor Fuels Tax Minute, the vlog where we talk all things motor fuel. This week, Leanne will be touching a little bit on the stacking credits as it relates to the Inflation Reduction Act.

00:00:14

Leanne: That's right, Emilda. If you've watched any of our Energy Evolutions podcasts or read any of our blogs, you'll see that we talk about this all the time. And it's a question that keeps coming up. Can I get my 45Z clean fuel production credit, and my 45V hydrogen production credit, and my 45Q carbon sequestration credit, and possibly even a 48C investment tax credit? The answer generally is no. The credits cannot be stacked within the same entity and the same bit of steel. There are a few caveats to that. We're more than happy to, it would take a long time to go through it, and we're more than happy to discuss it with anybody who's interested. But the general rule is that credits cannot be stacked.

So, if you are looking into Inflation Reduction Act credits, please reach out to us and we can help you navigate which ones might be best for you.

00:01:09

Kelly: Well, that was probably disappointing news for some of our viewers that also probably saved them some time instead of trying to go down that route only to find it's not successful. So, thank you, Leanne, for another great update.

And that was this week's Motor Fuels Tax Minute.

Detailed Description of Weaver’s Motor Fuels Tax Minute, Episode 45

00:00:00

Leanne: Welcome to this week's Motor Fuels Tax Minute, the vlog where we talk all things motor fuel. This week, Kelly's going to talk about flash title, and given her flashy sunglasses, we can't wait to hear what she has to say.

00:00:11

Kelly: Well, flash title. It's not going to be like a blinding flash of light that you need these sunglasses for. Oh no, flash title is when, let's say Company A sells gasoline to Company B at a fuel terminal. Before the fuel is physically moved to Company B, Company B then sells the product to Company C, so Company B never takes physical ownership of the product. Now where this gets complicated is: How do you report it to a state? What taxes are collected? Who's responsible for remitting those taxes?

Probably no surprise to anyone, all the states are a little bit different. Distributor states tend not to really hound too much on this. It becomes a bigger issue with our rock states. So just a little bit of an example, the position holder in North Carolina would be responsible for reporting and paying the applicable North Carolina taxes on the flash title sale to the first purchaser. Another thing to keep in mind is that this doesn't usually show up with bill of lading because there's no physical transfer, so keeping track of these, especially as they occur throughout the pipeline, can be extremely difficult. So, just something to keep in mind when you're doing your reporting. Like I said, every state does a little bit differently, and Weaver can help guide you through that.

00:01:29

Emilda: That's really good information, Kelly. Because these flash title transactions happen all the time. And, you know, like you said, it's only the purchaser, the consignee that's listed on that bill of lading, so the ownership does fall within that taxation from the position holder that's selling to that consignee. So very good information. I think this is great information. Our listeners are going to be really excited to hear about it because it happens and it's not a foreign term, right?

This wraps up our Motor Fuel Minute for the week. Thank you for joining us.

Detailed Description of Weaver’s Motor Fuels Tax Minute, Episode 44

00:00:00

Kelly: Welcome to our Motor Fuels Tax Minute, where we talk all things motor fuel. Emilda today is going to talk to us about the heavy vehicle use tax.

00:00:09

Emilda: Thanks, Kelly. Yes, heavy vehicle use tax. Well, it is a tax on heavy vehicles. It's for highway motor vehicles that have a taxable gross weight of 55,000 pounds, or more, that are subject to the tax. And so, a heavy vehicle will include something that is self-propelled and it's designed to carry a load over the public highways. Whether or not it's designated to perform another function, as long as it meets the requirement of a heavy vehicle on public roads, it's required to remit a heavy vehicle use tax.

Some examples of that would be a vehicle that's used on public highways like a truck or a truck tractor, sometimes buses, or maybe waste management companies that use those heavy vehicles on the road. And generally, those that don't fall in this arena are going to be like your pickup trucks and other small vans and vehicles. And so, this is something that has to be filed annually. The heavy vehicle tax is usually filed for the periods of July 1st through June 30th of the following year. So, if you're a company operating a heavy vehicle and you need assistance with these filings, reach out to us.

00:01:39

Leanne: Thanks, Emilda. Another episode with a lot of good information, and I think the second one in a row where we've gone outside of what people traditionally think about us for, which is fuel taxes, and, you know, we can help our clients in a number of different ways and the other taxes that dovetail nicely within the fuel industry.

That was this week's Motor Fuels Tax Minute. Join us next time. Thank you.