Sales tax help in Any and All States
Whether it’s called a sales tax, transaction privilege tax, gross receipts tax, general excise tax, or any other name, and whether the Department of Tax and Fee, Department of Revenue, State Comptroller’s Office, State Tax Commission, or any other agency enforces the tax, our sales tax consultants can help you negotiate your state’s maze of regulations and minimize your tax burden.
Our Northern CA Team
Before joining forces with Dan to form McClellan Davis, LLC, Jesse worked as an internal auditor for a Fortune 500 public corporation, where he helped ensure that retail locations across the nation remain in compliance. He then became a sales and use tax auditor for the California State Board of Equalization, accumulating a wealth of insider experience auditing a wide variety of businesses. Upon leaving the state, Jesse joined our predecessor company where he served as its vice-president and audit division lead consultant.
Jesse has provided expert witness testimony for sales and use tax purposes in civil litigation matters, written articles on a variety of tax-related topics and has spoken at several taxation and accounting seminars. Jesse also leads our firm’s ongoing efforts to initiate and draft new laws, regulations and procedures that are intended to provide for the protection and advocacy of taxpayers. He is credited with initiating and leading the effort to establish standard of proof guidelines for California’s audit staff, serving as the principal author of the published guidelines.
Jesse graduated third in his class at Lincoln Law School of Sacramento and with honors from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.
After leaving the Board, Dan spent 11 years as the managing partner of his own CPA firm. He then sold the firm to become a full-time sales and use tax manager/consultant, working in that capacity for Fujitsu America Inc., Arthur Consulting Group, Inc., and Associated Sales Tax Consultants, Inc. During that period he accumulated extensive “hands-on” experience in dealing with both California and multi-state sales and use tax issues.
In addition to nearly two dozen articles, Dan has written two major reference books on sales and use tax matters. The books, which are published online by CCH, Inc. and updated annually, include the Multistate Guide to Sales and Use Tax Audits and the Multistate Guide to Sales and Use Tax: Construction. Dan has also taught and lectured on a variety of tax and auditing topics at graduate and postgraduate levels.
James actively participates in the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration’s (CDTFA) rule making process on behalf of his clients and all California taxpayers. He continues to author meaningful recommendations for changes to California’s regulations and policies to ensure taxpayers’ rights are protected. His articles on sales and use tax have been published in industry specific, professional trade magazines and online forums. James was also the lead research analyst for a multistate sales and use tax continuing education course for accounting/legal professionals published by a major national provider.
James currently specializes in California and multi-state sales and use tax matters including, but not limited to the hospitality, medical, high-tech, ecommerce, cannabis and automobile industries. James also established and manages McClellan Davis’ vehicle, vessel and aircraft exemption program.
Prior to joining McClellan Davis, James worked in the hospitality industry as a general manager of a well-respected, publicly traded restaurant. James owned/operated his own restaurant prior to joining McClellan Davis. His experience as a business owner helps him relate to his clients, particularly in matters related to tax compliance. This unique perspective helps him fully understand the challenges business owners face in dealing with, and successfully over coming, sales and use tax audits.
James graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management with an emphasis in accounting, and has completed the CDTFA’s auditor training program. He is a member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants and holds an active CPA license (CA# 132576).
In addition to his experience as an auditor, since 2014, Mr. Stradford has personally represented, or has been directly involved with, hundreds of cases before the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (formerly Board of Equalization) as well as taxing agencies from other states; successfully resolving numerous high-value, complex cases at all levels of the administrative appeals process.
After earning his Juris Doctor degree and becoming a licensed attorney, Lucian worked as a Deputy District Attorney, where he prosecuted more than 50 jury trial cases. He then returned to the Board of Equalization, first as a Business Tax Appeals Hearing Officer, and subsequently as an Appeals Supervisor. During that time, Lucian authored over 700 tax decisions and reviewed more than 5,000 decisions. He was also instrumental in developing the formatting and review policies, which are currently used for processing California sales and use tax decisions. Many of his decisions and opinions have formed the basis for sales and use tax annotations, published by the Board of Equalization.
Prior to leaving the Board of Equalization, Lucian spent five years in the Settlement Division, where he handled complex appeals, as a Settlement Officer and reviewer. Lucian’s extensive and unique experience makes him a tremendous resource for our California and multistate clients.
Our Southern CA Team
Steve works with most industry types large and small. His experience includes audit representation through the appeal process, voluntary disclosure programs and credit studies through the claim for refund process.
Steve was also a member of the interest party committee representing various industries in working with the State to rewrite a number of sales & use tax regulations. These rewrites not only greatly reduced sales tax charged to industry customers but also alleviated costly sales & use tax audit liabilities.
Steve also teaches multi-state sales & use tax CPE classes to CPA firms and MCLE classes to Law firms.
Steve is a licensed CPA and graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business Administration (Accounting).
For 12 years, Melissa worked at the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) (formerly the California State Board of Equalization) where she held various positions, including Senior Sales and Use Tax Auditor.
At CDTFA, Melissa conducted sales and use tax audits on medium to large sized companies in all industries. Melissa also trained incoming auditors and taught classes on sales and use tax laws and auditing techniques. Additionally, Melissa regularly presented educational sales and use tax seminars on behalf of CDTFA to the general business public.
After leaving CDTFA, Melissa joined Stafford & Associates, Inc., a multistate sales and use tax consulting firm, where she spent 13 years representing companies across a diverse array of industries in sales tax audits, planning, registration, and compliance. In 2020, Stafford & Associates, Inc. was acquired by McClellan & Davis, LLC.
Melissa graduated from the University of San Diego with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance. Melissa and her family reside in San Diego, California.
During his appointment, Ted worked closely with the agency’s Business Taxes Committee and interested parties to address topics via the Board of Equalization’s formal rule making process. He was involved in improving and/or developing audit policies and procedures and he worked with taxpayers to provide insight into the appeals process and how to prepare for an appeal.
After his retirement from the Board of Equalization, Ted spent over 3 years in public accounting with KPMG. During his time with KPMG, Ted managed audits, pursued appeals and worked with businesses for tax compliance purposes with a focus on multi-state sales tax issues. He assisted businesses in determining which states they may have filing/reporting obligations with and also assisted them in establishing taxability guidelines for their businesses. Ted has completed voluntary disclosure agreements and has represented taxpayers in sales/use tax audits and/or appeals in multiple states, including California, Florida, Illinois, New York, and Washington.
Our Happy Clients
“Your professional and successful handling of our Petition for Redetermination of a sales tax audit by the State Board of Equalization is very much appreciated. The expert approach in working through the technical minefield … certainly speaks well of your ability to restrain an obsessive government agency.”
“We were very pleased with the sales tax work you did for us. The thoroughness with which you handled our situation was evident by the savings to our company.”
“Our experience with the people of your firm has been of the highest order, definitely five star all the way! We have found everyone to be courteous and astute, efficient and prompt, highly responsive and especially well-informed. Your firm made a most satisfactory settlement and conclusion of our case.”
