Negotiating Tips April 25, 2012

Negotiate On the Subject of Taxes

When you’re looking at places where you can ask- or give- concessions in an negotiation, look at the area of taxes.

A safe assumption is that the other person’s tax situation differs from your own. For example, as a seller, I may not care when you take actual possession of the property I want to sell you, as long as I get paid.

However, you may care when you take actual possession of the property because you may have to pay more taxes or have other expenses associated with a delay in taking possession of the property.

Sales tax varies from state to state. Can the order be moved legally to another state to save on sales tax? Federal taxes may go up or down if merchandise is owned on December 31 rather than January 1. Can you adjust the sales date to take advantage of this?

Taxes are one area where it is very important for the buyer and seller to coordinate their needs and to check out possible advantages with their respective accountants. Doing this is especially critical in foreign transactions where more than one country is likely to be involved in tax collection matters.