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About the Course
Introduction
This webinar will provide businesses and their tax advisers with a practical framework for preparing clients for California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) examinations and defending positions taken on California sales and use (S&U) tax returns. Our panel of knowledgeable tax attorneys will outline current areas of focus and recent legislative and administrative developments in California related to S&U tax.
Description
S&U tax examinations conducted by the CDTFA present unique risks for California businesses due to the state's complex sourcing rules, expansive district tax regime, aggressive use tax enforcement, and data-driven audit selection methodologies. In recent years, CDTFA has intensified audit scrutiny across industries, with particular emphasis on exempt sales documentation, resale certificates, marketplace transactions, economic nexus, and use tax compliance. As a result, businesses operating in—or selling into—California face heightened exposure during S&U tax audits.
California has the highest sales tax rate, 7.25%. When combined with local taxes, Los Angeles businesses remit 9.75% on California sales. With local incentive taxes for city services, businesses in Palmdale and Santa Fe Springs suffer rates of 11.25% and 11%, respectively. The CDTFA imposes a 6% penalty on late payments, increasing to 10% if due to "negligence or disregard," and, for certain suppliers or wholesalers who knowingly fail to comply, the penalty rate is 25%.
Tax professionals and businesses with S&U obligations in California need to understand current sales and use tax requirements, manage sales tax compliance, and prepare for potential CDFTA scrutiny.
Listen as our panel of astute California tax attorneys divulges high-risk issues for California S&U examinations, outlines the CDTFA audit process, and offers advice for managing California S&U tax compliance.
Presented By
Mr. Horwitz has over 35 years of experience as a tax attorney specializing in the representation of clients in civil and criminal tax cases, including civil audits and appeals, tax collection matters, criminal investigations, administrative hearings and in civil and criminal trials and appeals in federal and state courts. He has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of California and was Chair of the Taxation Section for 2015-2016 year. Mr. Horwitzwas previously Chair of the Tax Procedure and Litigation Committee of the State Bar Taxation Section. Prior to joining Hochman Salkin Toscher Perez P.C., Mr. Horwitz was with a boutique tax controversy firm in Orange County, where he represented clients in civil and criminal tax cases in the U.S. Courts of Appeal, U.S. district courts, California superior courts, and before the Internal Revenue Service, the California Franchise Tax Board, the Board of Equalization, the Employment Development Department and the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board. He has been a speaker on tax matters at the UCLA Tax Controversy Institute, the Annual Meeting of the Taxation Section of the California Bar and the California State Bar Annual Meeting. Mr. Horwitz has authored articles on tax law that have appeared in diverse publications, including Tax Notes, the Federal Lawyer (the publication of the Federal Bar Association), and the California Tax Lawyer. His monograph in “Responsible Persons and Fiduciary Liability” was published in the Proceedings of the New York University 75th Institute on Federal Taxation. Mr. Horwitz was an invited delegate to the 2015 U.S. Tax Court Judicial Conference. He is a member of the Planning Committee of the UCLA Tax Controversy Institute. Mr. Horwitz is a member of the bar in California and in Illinois. He is admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Seventh, Ninth and Federal Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Southern, Northern and Eastern Districts of California, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Tax Court. He was named a Southern California Super Lawyer 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Mr. Stein specializes in tax controversies, as well as tax planning for individuals, businesses and corporations. For more than 25 years, he has represented individuals with sensitive issue civil tax examinations where substantial penalty issues may arise, and extensively advised individuals on foreign and domestic voluntary disclosures regarding foreign account and asset compliance matters. Mr. Stein is well respected for his expertise and judgment in handling matters arising from the U.S. government’s ongoing enforcement efforts regarding undeclared interests in foreign financial accounts and assets, including various methods of participating in a timely voluntary disclosure to minimize potential exposure to civil tax penalties and avoiding a criminal tax prosecution referral. Mr. Stein is a frequent lecturer at national and regional conferences on topics including tax compliance sensitive issues, IRS examinations, State and Federal worker classification issues, etc.
Mr. Stigile specializes in tax controversies as well as tax, business, and international tax. His representation includes Federal and state tax controversy matters and tax litigation, including sensitive tax-related examinations and investigations for individuals, business enterprises, partnerships, limited liability companies, and corporations. His practice also includes complex civil tax examinations, administrative appeals and tax collection proceedings (where he is widely respected for achieving meaningful resolutions of difficult tax collection issues). Mr. Stigile frequently writes and lectures on topics involving taxation.
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BARBRI is a NASBA CPE sponsor and this 110-minute webinar is accredited for 2.0 CPE credits.
Date + Time
- event
Tuesday, June 9, 2026
- schedule
1:00 PM ET/10:00 AM PT
I. Handling CDTFA S&U tax examinations: introduction
II. CDTFA audit environment and audit selection
III. Unique procedural aspects of CDTFA examinations
IV. High-risk S&U tax issues in California
V. Recent legislative and administrative developments
VI. Defending positions and managing an examination
VII. Best practices
The panel will cover these and other key issues:
- Current CDTFA priorities in S&U tax examinations
- S&U tax compliance requirements in California
- Reducing future audit exposure
- Steps in the CDTFA audit process
- Preparing now for future potential examinations
Learning Objectives
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Identify common California S&U tax issues that could trigger an audit
- Determine high-risk areas that the CDTFA is targeting regarding S&U tax
- Decide how recent sales and use tax legislation impacts S&U tax in California
- Ascertain how to be audit-ready for a CDTFA examination
- Field of Study: Taxes
- Level of Knowledge: Intermediate
- Advance Preparation: None
- Teaching Method: Seminar/Lecture
- Delivery Method: Group-Internet (via computer)
- Attendance Monitoring Method: Attendance is monitored electronically via a participant's PIN and through a series of attendance verification prompts displayed throughout the program
- Prerequisite:
Three years+ business or public firm experience at mid-level within the organization, preparing complex state income tax forms and schedules; supervisory authority over other preparers/accountants. Knowledge and understanding of state taxation of warranties, including mandatory, option and extended warranties; familiarity with sales tax nexus issues.
BARBRI, Inc. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of Accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE Credits. Complaints regarding registered sponsons may be submitted to NASBA through its website: www.nasbaregistry.org.
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