Global Soft Drink Company

Previous to the current project, the soft drink company had retained Ashland five years earlier to conduct a corporate income/franchise tax review and were very pleased with the result. Ashland approached the soft drink company again, indicating that they felt they had some issues that would be worthwhile. Even though the tax department management had changed, the company’s new team saw no harm in retaining Ashland to conduct a follow-up review.

To minimize disruption to the tax department, Ashland limited its review to only three states. Ashland’s business model is to utilize the best talent in each state and bring them in from around the country to work directly with their clients face-to-face for the initial review. Ashland flew in several of their top Single State Specialists for this project to the company’s headquarters for the review. On the first day, the team had a one-hour meeting with the Tax Director to discuss the structure of the company and any unique transactions or tax related events. They were then assigned a conference room and provided copies of returns, workpapers, and audit history documentation. There was a short meeting held at the end of each day to clarify any outstanding items, and on the fourth afternoon, Ashland presented their issues and provided a Report of Findings to the company’s tax team. It included all the issues, detailed justification and tax effect of each proposed issue. After review, the soft drink company determined which issues it wanted to pursue, and Ashland prepared the necessary documentation for submission to the states.