Manufacturing stands out for one uncomfortable reason. Its sales tax audit rate hits 18 percent. That figure, drawn from Avalara research ( https://www.avalara.com/us/en/products/industry-solutions/manufacturing.html ), exceeds every other sector. Finance teams and ERP specialists see the number. They rarely grasp what produces it. Tax rules do not strike manufacturing as a single obligation. They arrive as overlapping demands. Procurement triggers use tax. Production hinges on equipment exemptions that shift by state and actual usage. Sales requires exemption certificates stored and validated across jurisdictions. Facilities pile on property taxes that differ in classification and depreciation from one plant to the next. Add cross-border shipments and the list grows to include VAT, e-invoicing and HS code classifications. Auditors examine the full set. Most internal systems track only fragments. But the gaps stay hidden. Until an audit arrives. Use tax creates the widest blind spot.…