A recent court ruling against the State Comptroller's office has opened the door to a multibillion dollar sales tax refund for oil and gas companies. But companies will need to act fast to have any chance of collecting.

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has announced a new amnesty period for any tax that is administered by her office. Dubbed Project Fresh Start, the amnesty applies to such taxes as franchise tax, sales and use tax, motor fuels tax, alcohol beverage tax, and severance tax. The Public Utility Gross Receipts Tax is not included in the amnesty. The program applies to all tax periods for which the original tax return was due before April 1, 2012.

Over $40 Million in Potential Recoveries Could Be Lost Each Month

Houston (April 18, 2012) – Houston’s largest sales and local tax advisory firm is recommending that its clients and others in the oil and gas industry consider filing sales tax refund claims covering the past four years as soon as possible, based on a Travis County District Court ruling last week in Southwest Royalties Inc. vs. Combs that machinery used to extract oil and gas is exempt from the Texas sales tax.

Economic obsolescence can be caused by a variety of factors. Just a few of these factors to be considered may include national economic conditions, restrictions in income, operating under capacity (inutility), neighborhood or area decline, changes in the highest and best use of a property due to market shifts or governmental actions, zoning, lack of property demand, and other influence to the financial status of a property.

With a brief three months remaining in 2011 and a high degree of uncertainty surrounding any major tax changes, practitioners have begun stepping up the annual rite of year-end planning strategies for both their individual and business clients. Though strategies and client situations may differ, tax experts strive to reduce client tax liabilities both for the current and following year, and therefore avoid unpleasant - and often expensive - surprises via tax underpayments.