Hassle Free Your Tax Concerns
Tax matters are often complex. ATL has the experience and persistence needed to resolve matters before the Internal Revenue Service, Franchise Tax Board, United States Department of Justice, Employment Development Department, CA Department of Tax and Fee Administration, Office of Tax Appeals, among other tax authorities.
Specific Practice Areas
Drew has extensive experience with tax controversies and tax litigation, including criminal tax matters. Drew represents individuals and businesses in federal and state tax audits, administrative appeals, and litigation in all forums (but only if a favorable settlement cannot be reached). His expertise covers substantive tax issues involving income, estate and gift, and excise taxes. This includes matters involving personal and business tax returns, foreign bank account and foreign property reporting, voluntary disclosures, and tax collection matters.
Audit Representation
Receiving a letter from the IRS, FTB, EDD, or other tax authority, indicating you are being audited often instills fear and panic in taxpayers. Even if you know your tax return is flawless, the intrusion by the government is jarring. ATL specializes in relieving your stress by taking full control of your audit and efficiently communicating with the tax authority until it is resolved.
Even if your own CPA or tax preparer has started the audit, sometimes it is best to have an experienced tax attorney take over in order to streamline the process.
Administrative Appeal
At the conclusion of an audit by the IRS, FTB, EDD, or other tax authority, you will receive either a “no change” letter (no additional tax), or a report containing a proposed assessment of additional tax and potentially penalties. This is merely a proposal and not the final word.
Unless you agree with the proposal, it is crucial that you respond (i.e., protest the proposed assessment) within the timeframe listed on the report. The protest is your ticket to an administrative hearing before the Appeals division of the tax authority. ATL has extensive experience preparing and filing persuasive protests that can lead to resolution without prolonged proceedings or litigation. Matters are often resolved, however, through the Appeals process.
Penalty Abatement
Penalties can be excessive and are often arbitrarily asserted even when the underlying facts don’t support imposition of draconian fines. After all, interest on tax deficiencies accrues from the due date of the tax return and is penal enough.
Penalties can be abated (i.e., eliminated) in a number of ways. Taxpayer representatives don’t utilize the IRS’s First Time Abatement policy often enough. This is usually the first line of defense. Penalties can also be decreased or eliminated if you are able to present a reasonable cause defense as to why you made certain errors on your tax return. Too often, your own tax return preparer is unwilling to set aside his or her own conflict of interest in order to present a robust reasonable cause defense on your behalf. This would require they acknowledge that you relied on them in taking certain positions on the tax return. In this situation, you are often better served by engaging a tax attorney who was not involved in the filing of the tax return in order to develop the strongest penalty defense possible.
Federal and State Tax Litigation
If a matter cannot be resolved with the IRS or state tax authority during an audit or through an administrative appeal, it may be necessary to pursue litigation in the US Tax Court, federal district courts, US Court of Federal Claims, or state courts. Litigation can be stressful and costly, but also may be the only route to obtaining the correct result in your tax matter.
ATL has over 15 years of tax litigation experience in all of the aforementioned courts. Our first priority is always to resolve a matter as quickly and efficiently as practical, which may involve seeking the best possible settlement in order to avoid unnecessary litigation costs. However, we will NEVER back down from going to trial if the facts and law support your position.
Voluntary Disclosures
The IRS has a longstanding voluntary disclosure program that allows taxpayers to “come in the front door” and disclose willful attempts to evade tax and failures to file delinquent tax returns. In many cases this will come at a cost of paying the 75% civil fraud penalty for the year in which the tax owed is highest. The upside is tremendous: the IRS generally will not prosecute those who make a truthful and timely disclosure and agree to pay the associated taxes due and owing.
ATL has over 15 years of guiding taxpayers through the IRS voluntary disclosure programs. This includes first determining whether the program is appropriate or if the taxpayer has other options for coming into compliance. Waiting and hoping the IRS never contacts you is rarely a good option.
Criminal Tax Defense
The IRS has a special division dedicated to investigating and pursuing criminal violations of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and related financial crimes. The IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CI), along with the Department of Justice, Tax Division (DOJ Tax), have highly trained special agents, investigators, and attorneys whose sole job is to find and prosecute a long list of tax-related criminal violations. This includes tax evasion, abusive tax schemes, corporate fraud, employment tax, illegal gaming, healthcare fraud, international tax evasion, money laundering, non-filing of tax returns, among many other violations of the IRC.
As Judge Learned Hand famously proclaimed, “Anyone may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes.” Helvering v. Gregory, 69 F.2d 809, 810 (2d Cir. 1934). There is an important distinction between tax avoidance (legally paying the least tax due) and criminal tax evasion (intentional and willful attempt to evade tax).
The difference often depends on the evidence: whether the IRS can prove with credible evidence that a taxpayer willfully violated the tax code.
How you respond to an IRS civil audit or criminal investigation can have a substantial impact in the eventual outcome of the matter. Taxpayers often believe “explaining” the situation to an IRS Special Agent or civil auditor, or offering to pay any additional tax due, will resolve the matter quickly and avoid a criminal tax prosecution. This rarely happens. Instead, the IRS agents will likely encourage you to “explain” what happened and then use this confession against you in the prosecution.
ATL has helped taxpayers avoid prosecution, settle criminal tax prosecutions with substantially less criminal punishment (reduced or no jail time), and defend against criminal tax charges at trial against the IRS and DOJ. It is important you contact a criminal tax defense attorney early in the investigation to avoid making the matter worse.
Collection Matters
There are a number of actions that the IRS and FTB can take to collect tax you owe if you don’t voluntarily pay such tax. The collection process begins when you don’t make your required payments in full and on time, after receiving your tax bill.
If you do not pay your taxes, the IRS and FTB have an arsenal of tools available as part of the tax collection and enforce process. This includes liens (claim against your property), levies (seizure of assets) and passport revocation. However, taxpayers have rights and there are a number of options available to prevent the IRS or FTB from seizing your assets.
The most important factor taxpayers should keep in mind is timely responding to IRS Notices and Letters threatening tax collection enforcement. If you fail to respond to certain notices, the IRS is allowed to file liens and seize property to satisfy your tax liabilities. A timely response permits you to seek various tax collection alternatives, including installment payment plans, offers in compromise, or having your account notated as currently non collectible.
ATL has substantial experience helping taxpayers void seizure of assets by pursuing various tax collection alternatives.
Taxation of Settlement Proceeds
The tax consequences of settling or litigating a lawsuit to judgment can be significant for both the payor and payee. Proper tax planning is imperative in order to ensure the most favorable tax treatment of proceeds or payments. This includes determining whether settlement proceeds are ordinary income or capital gains, and whether settlement payments are deductible or should be capitalized.
When business partners decide to dissolve a business, or a partner seeks to withdraw from a partnership, how the dissolution is structured can have significant tax consequences to all parties.
ATL has extensive experience litigating the tax consequences of settlements against the IRS. With this firsthand experience, ATL advises clients how to structure settlements and renders tax opinions after cases have been settled or litigated to judgment.
Representative Matters
In the first year since starting Allen Tax Law, the firm as successfully saved its clients over $2,000,000 in tax and penalties asserted by the IRS alone.
Contact Us
Have tax questions? We’re here to help.
750 Menlo Avenue, Suite 250 Menlo Park, CA 94025
Client Results
Helping clients navigate complex tax challenges isn’t just our job—it’s our commitment.
B and K, Menlo Park, CA
Client
15 Years of Experience
We have extensive experience handling high-stakes tax disputes before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Department of Justice (DOJ), California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), Employment Development Department (EDD), and other state and federal courts for income tax (civil and criminal), international tax, property tax, sales and use tax, and employment tax matters during all phases of a controversy (audit, protest, appeals, settlement and litigation).