Lodging & sales tax
Peisner Johnson
Peisner Johnson is a consulting firm that works only on state and local sales and use tax. It opened in Dallas in 1992 as a state and local tax specialist, and now operates under the name The Sales Tax People at sales.tax. In 2024 the firm joined Amplēo, a national consulting firm, and states that the sales tax practice kept its team, its clients, and the final say on its own work.
The practice covers nexus and taxability analysis, registrations and voluntary disclosure agreements, outsourced sales tax management and filing, state tax audit defense, refund and overpayment recovery, exemption certificate management, sales tax automation advisory across platforms such as Avalara, Vertex, and TaxJar, and sales and use tax due diligence for buyers and sellers in M&A.
Audit work is taken at any stage, from a first notice through a preliminary assessment and into a protest; the firm can represent a client directly or advise from behind while the client keeps the agency relationship. It reports an average 58% reduction of initial assessments across cases defended, 40+ state audits defended in the past three years, and $3.8M+ in assessment dollars reduced or waived. Firm-wide figures cited include 42,000+ projects completed and 13,000+ state and local jurisdictions covered.
It also publishes free tools and reference material, including a nexus calculator covering all 50 states, a state-by-state sales tax hub, articles, and a podcast. Buyers should note the firm does not present itself as a general accounting or income tax practice.
Best for
Multi-state sellers with nexus exposure, an open sales tax audit, unregistered periods, or a pending transaction where sales tax liability could follow the assets; not a fit for anyone looking for income tax work or general accounting.
What they do
- Nexus and taxability studies
- Sales tax registrations and voluntary disclosure agreements
- Outsourced sales tax compliance and return filing
- State sales tax audit defense and representation
- Sales and use tax refund recovery
- Exemption certificate management
- Sales tax automation advisory (Avalara, Vertex, TaxJar)
- Sales and use tax due diligence for M&A
Details
| Attribute | Value |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1992 |
| Ownership | Subsidiary |
What stands out
- Opened in Dallas in 1992 as a state and local tax specialist and has worked only on sales tax since.
- Joined Amplēo, a national consulting firm, in 2024 and now trades as The Sales Tax People.
- Reports an average 58% reduction of initial audit assessments and 40+ state audits defended in the past three years.
- Cites 42,000+ projects completed and coverage of 13,000+ state and local jurisdictions.
- Publishes a free nexus calculator covering all 50 states and a state-by-state sales tax hub.
Common questions
- Does unpaid sales tax follow a business when it is sold?
- In many states it can. Unpaid sales tax attaches to the business or its assets rather than only to the entity that owed it, so buying assets does not automatically leave the liability behind, and a stock deal certainly does not. For a target that never registered, many states treat the period as open back to the date nexus began.
- How long is there to claim a sales tax refund?
- Refund claims sit inside a statute of limitations, commonly three to four years depending on the state. Nothing flags an overpayment automatically, so the oldest recoverable quarter drops off the back every month a claim is not filed.
- Why do auditors start with exemption certificates?
- A missing certificate is the easiest item in an audit to prove wrong. Taxability and nexus are arguable; a certificate either exists and is valid or it does not, and the burden of proof sits with the seller. The firm reports that 31% of the audit assessments it reviews involve missing or invalid exemption certificates.