SALT Practitioners: Unsung heroes with high growth potential

By Matthew D. Melinson, CPA, and Dylan Diodato, CPA

States and localities are becoming aggressive in their revenue collection efforts, spurring demand for qualified practitioners who can navigate an array of state and local tax (SALT) regimes. Working on SALT issues offers numerous pathways to success, allowing professionals to tailor their career aspirations and goals to their strengths and interests. Whether one chooses to specialize in a particular area or develop broad knowledge across various tax types, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to a successful SALT career.

SALT professionals often wrestle with complex tax matters that are sometimes overlooked in favor of federal tax issues or the immediate concerns of a business. Practitioners must often research tax laws, regulations, and guidance to assist their clients or their organization with strategic business decisions, drafting research memoranda to document tax positions, and resolve tax disputes and controversies with various taxing authorities. Given the growing fiscal impact of state and local taxes, SALT experts are becoming increasingly valued and recognized for their contributions.

To excel as a SALT practitioner, it is important to understand your company’s or client’s business and the specific tax issues they face. Complex matters such as apportionment and sourcing of revenue can often overlap with and impact other multistate tax issues, providing a complex and challenging environment to build expertise. SALT professionals can specialize in various tax types, including sales and use tax, income and franchise tax, and property tax. Within each of these, one can further specialize in any mix of compliance, consulting, and automation. 

SALT professionals also have options to build careers within different environments, such as public accounting, business and industry, or state or local governments. But regardless of your exact career path, seeking out mentors, building relationships, and collaborating with colleagues throughout your career is critically important and can lead to new and exciting opportunities.

SALT Economics

SALT makes up a significant portion of overall U.S. tax collections, only slightly behind total federal tax revenue in recent years. For example, in fiscal year 2023 total federal tax collections were about $2.56 trillion,1 while state and local tax revenue was only marginally lower at around $2.45 trillion. Most collections within SALT stem from indirect taxes, including $720 billion in property taxes and $576 billion in sales and use taxes.2

During fiscal year 2023, SALT collections were allocated as follows: 30% property tax, 24% sales and use tax, 21% individual income tax, and 7% corporate income tax. The remaining 18% comprises a variety of excise taxes and other taxes and fees generally categorized as indirect taxes.3 While the allocation of resources between federal tax and SALT has commonly not aligned with the overall tax dollars in play, the same could also be said for the resource allocation between income and indirect taxes. This places indirect tax experts in a unique position to add significant value by leveraging their specialized knowledge to make a strong fiscal impact.

SALT Entrepreneurs 

“Following the money” can often lead SALT practitioners along a successful entrepreneurial path as it can indicate where the most opportunity is present. Given SALT’s total annual economic footprint of over $2 trillion, this area is likely to continue to open doors to exciting new ventures. Below are a few SALT entrepreneurs to put potential opportunities into context.

Vertex Inc., headquartered in King of Prussia, Pa., is a leading provider of indirect tax services. Founded by Ray Westphal in 1978 and later led by his son Jeff Westphal, Vertex has grown into a publicly traded company worth an estimated $6.3 billion as of April 2025.4 Vertex provides a wide array of indirect tax-related services, including, but not limited to, indirect tax software, tax engines, and implementation services. 

Avalara is a major enterprise borne from the vision of Scott McFarlane. Avalara was acquired by a private equity firm in October 2022 in a deal valued at about $8.4 billion.5 Headquartered in Seattle, Avalara offers an array of indirect tax solutions. 

Ryan LLC is another example of a successful organization born out of SALT indirect taxes. Founded by Brint Ryan and headquartered in Dallas, Ryan LLC has grown to have an estimated valuation of $2.5 billion as of 2022.6 The origin of Ryan LLC is rooted in sales tax, and today offers various state and local tax solutions as well as other tax services.

The common thread among the three examples above is that they each primarily emphasize indirect taxation and have made significant technology investments. 

In the context of SALT on mergers and acquisitions, the high dollar value, complex issues involving sales tax, and perhaps occasionally escheat can impact a deal. Tax technology is also experiencing rapid growth and demand due to increasing complexity and volume of tax transactions, particularly within large, multinational corporations. Specifically, the aforementioned companies – as well as several large professional service organizations such as our firm, Grant Thornton Advisors LLC – show the connection between U.S. sales tax, global value-added tax (VAT), and tax technology, demonstrating how they integrate together in today’s market.

A Changing Tax World

With constantly changing tax laws and policies as well as global and multistate businesses that are becoming more complex, SALT professionals often find themselves “working in the gray.” There are tax controversies, differing interpretations, and other matters that often do not result in simple “yes” or “no” solutions. Staying curious, remaining steady amid ambiguity, and creative thinking often lead to strong leadership development and executive functioning opportunities. All this can help an individual become an exceptionally well-rounded business professional. Blend with excellent communication and people skills, and soon the tax professional has a path to advancement.

Many SALT professionals are unsung heroes within the business world. They are increasingly needed to manage the strict deadlines imposed by various taxing authorities. Sales and use taxes are a primary example, having various deadlines throughout the year, with returns generally being due by the 20th of each month. Meeting quarterly or monthly deadlines sometimes requires substantial time commitment and sacrifice, which can be underestimated and misunderstood by people outside the tax function. 

SALT is a proven, yet growing, area in which to build a successful career. Broad-based knowledge and specialization in certain areas, coupled with business acumen, can lead to a rewarding career. Given state taxing authorities’ increased focus on enforcement efforts to collect more revenue, frequent changes to state tax laws, and rapid advances in tax technology, SALT career opportunities are only expected to continue to increase.  

1 Internal Revenue Service Data Book, 2023, Publication 55-B, IRS (April 2024).

2 Andrew Phillips and Caroline Sallee, Total State and Local Business Taxes: State-by-State Estimates for FY23, EY, Council on State Taxation, and the State Tax Research Institute (December 2024).

3 Ibid.

4 StockAnalysis.com. https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/verx/statistics

5 “Avalara to Be Acquired by Vista Equity Partners for $8.4 Billion,” Business Wire (Aug. 8, 2022). www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220808005258/en/Avalara-to-be-Acquired-by-Vista-Equity-Partners-for-%248.4-Billion

6 “Ryan to Receive New Investment from Ares Management and Continued Investment from Onex Partners,” Ryan LLC (May 26, 2022). https://ryan.com/about-ryan/press-room/2022/ares-and-onex-investment

Matthew D. Melinson, CPA, is a principal with Grant Thornton Advisors LLP in Philadelphia, PICPA’s 2024-2025 president, and a member of the Pennsylvania CPA Journal Editorial Board. He can be reached at matthew.melinson@us.gt.com. Dylan Diodato, CPA, is a manager, tax services, at Grant Thornton Advisors in Philadelphia. He can be reached at dylan.diodato@us.gt.com.

Reprinted with permission from the Pennsylvania CPA Journal, a publication of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants.