I found a notification in my e-mail box about the start of the tax audit. What does this mean for me and my company? What should I do? How to prepare? How should I communicate? And in general, how much time will it cost me and my staff?

The initiation of a tax audit by the tax office is always an interference of the state into the rights of tax subjects, which, however, must be tolerated by the audited company. Such an intervention is always a burden on the company's time and resources, as it is necessary to prepare documents for tax auditors, which will burden employees who could engage in other work. There is always a risk of error and this can lead to sanctions on the part of the tax office carrying out the inspection.

How to minimize the time and risk burden? The ideal solution is to be represented by a professional, a tax advisor.

What are the benefits for me and company?

• I will save time studying all regulations and documents.
• I will avoid mistakes when communicating with the tax office.
• I do not task my employees with the preparation of documents.
• I will avoid mistakes in the submitted documents.
• I will not have to communicate with the tax office directly, all communication will take place through a tax advisor or lawyer.
• The tax audit will take place under the experienced supervision of a tax advisor, whose experience is irreplaceable.
• I am not "at the mercy" of the tax office, as the tax office respects the professional in the control process.
• As a professional, a tax advisor relieves the stress of tax office requirements, which may seem illogical and irrational to me.
• I will eliminate or reduce the risk of possible delivery or sanctions.

How to get represented?

After contacting a tax advisor, as a first step it is necessary to prepare and sign a power of attorney. As written acts will be performed by the tax office, it is necessary to issue such a power of attorney in writing.

When granting a power of attorney, it is necessary to consider the extent to which such power of attorney will be provided to the tax advisor. If the power of attorney is not limited in any way, it is a so-called general power of attorney, so that the tax advisor will be able to perform all actions against the tax office. This means not only all acts related to tax control, but also such acts as filing tax returns.

Warning! As a tax entity may be represented in proceedings before the tax office by only one tax representative, a generally conceived power of attorney could revoke powers of attorney given by another entity, e.g. for filing monthly VAT returns or monthly payroll reports. Therefore, before granting a power of attorney, it is good to find out whether I have already granted someone else a power of attorney and for what actions. If I have already granted another power of attorney, it will be necessary to grant the power of attorney to the tax advisor to a limited extent so that the powers of attorney do not overlap in content.

It is important to be represented by such a tax representative - a tax advisor who has experience in carrying out inspections by the Slovak tax authorities, a tax advisor licensed in the Slovak Republic. Such a tax advisor may then entrust his individual employees with the task of carrying out the inspection. The tax advisor may also authorize, if agreed with the client, another person (another tax advisor) to perform certain acts, which is appropriate, for example, for certain acts that need to be performed outside the client's premises in more distant destinations (eg witness examination), making tax management more economical.

When timing the granting of a power of attorney, it must be taken into account that the power of attorney becomes effective against the tax office only upon its submission to the tax office.

Of course, a client who is represented by a tax representative may also perform acts against the tax office himself, while his acts take precedence over the acts performed by his tax representative if these acts contradict each other.

The client can revoke the power of attorney at any time to his tax representative, even without giving a reason.