Highly Experienced

Tax lawyers have the education, training, and experience to help you solve your tax troubles. A competent tax lawyer will be knowledgeable about the IRS’ complicated tax code and therefore, better suited to help you resolve your tax debt.

IRS Defense

As you probably already know, the IRS can be very aggressive in their collection efforts. If you feel the IRS has treated you unfairly, then it is in your best interest to hire someone who has experience in dealing with the IRS and won’t be intimidated.

Privileged Communications

When you communicate with a tax lawyer or his or her staff, you can rest assure that what you tell them will remain confidential. Like all lawyers, tax attorneys are required to keep your communications confidential. They will only discuss with the IRS your financial information in order to resolve your tax debt.

Ethical Standards

Tax lawyers and attorneys are licensed and regulated by their respective state bars. They are required to complete a minimum amount of continuing legal education to remain up-to-date on their profession. They are also required to be honest in their communications. To do otherwise, would be to risk disciplinary sanctions by their state bar.

Skilled Negotiators

A tax lawyer’s negotiation skills and experience come in handy when negotiating with the IRS to resolve your debt. A tax lawyer can negotiate a manageable tax resolution since they have the experience and negotiation skills necessary to deal with the IRS.

Not Intimidated

Most taxpayers are intimidated by the IRS and the IRS knows this. On the other hand, tax lawyers are not intimidated by the IRS because they know what the IRS can and cannot do. Competent tax attorneys will not back down in their negotiations with the IRS until they have done the best they can for their clients.



By: Roni Deutch

About the Author:

Highly Experienced

Tax lawyers have the education, training, and experience to help you solve your tax troubles. A competent tax lawyer will be knowledgeable about the IRS’ complicated tax code and therefore, better suited to help you resolve your tax debt.

IRS Defense

As you may already know, the IRS can be aggressive in their collection efforts. If you feel the IRS has treated you unfairly, then it is in your best interest to hire someone who has experience in dealing with the IRS and won’t be intimidated.

Privileged Communications

When you communicate with a tax lawyer or his or her staff, you can rest assure that what you tell them will remain confidential. Like all lawyers, tax attorneys are required to keep your communications confidential. They will only discuss with the IRS your financial information in order to resolve your tax debt.

Ethical Standards

Tax lawyers are licensed and regulated by their state bars. They are required to complete a minimum amount of continuing legal education to remain up-to-date on their profession. They are also required to be honest in their communications. To do otherwise, would be to risk disciplinary sanctions by their state bar.

Skilled Negotiation

A tax lawyer’s negotiation skills and experience come in handy when negotiating with the IRS to resolve your debt. A tax lawyer can negotiate a manageable tax resolution since they have the experience and negotiation skills necessary to deal with the IRS.

Not Intimidated

Most people are intimidated by the IRS and the IRS knows this. On the other hand, tax lawyers are not intimidated by the IRS because they know what the IRS can and cannot do. Competent tax attorneys will not back down in their negotiations with the IRS until they have done the best they can for their clients.



By: Roni Deutch

About the Author:

To understand the exception, we need to step back in time.

To the surprise of many, the limited liability company is a relatively new form of business. It was created out of the blue by Wyoming in 1979. While the politicians indicated they were trying to be business friendly, they were really trying to find a way to generate more tax revenues. What better way than to create a new, flexible entity that was perfect for small businesses? Well, there is little disputing they stumbled onto something, but there was one hitch.

From 1979 to the late 80s, the LLC more or less went unnoticed. Why? The IRS took a long time in figuring out how it would be taxed. Would it be taxed like a corporation or like a partnership? Should an entire new section of tax code be created for it? The IRS never really came up with a good answer, so they let people select if they wanted to be taxed as a corp or partnership. Most picked partnership and everything was fine.

States are jealous of each other. When the IRS finally figured out how it would tax the limited liability company, all the other states immediately started passing laws that allowed LLCs to be formed in their states. A majority of the laws even allowed one person to form the entity. This caused immediate problems when most of these single owner LLCs filed partnership tax returns.

A partnership is a business venture between two or more people. This is a basic legal axiom that has been around forever. It is also imbedded in the tax code. You can probably guess the problem. How could a single owner LLC file taxes as a partnership. There is only one person!

After some debate, the IRS made its decision. A single owner LLC is to be treated like a sole proprietorship for tax purposes. You are probably wondering why you should care? Well, the ruling means that you have to pay the 15.2 percent self-employment tax if you are the proud owner of a single owner LLC. Most people don’t know this when they decide to form the entity and they get a very nasty surprise when it is time to pay Uncle Sam.

If you want to form a single owner LLC, there is nothing wrong with that. Just make sure you understand self-employment tax will be due and you have the money to pay it.



By: SD Lawyer

About the Author:

As everyone understands there are a number of Commonwealth Government taxes. The major ones are CGT, FBT, ICT, GST, LCT and PAYG (earn/withholding). At this stage this paper will only deal with GST legislation. The main piece of GST legislation is a new tax system (Goods and Services Tax Act 1999) which came into operation on 1 July 2000 and is payable only on supplies and importations made on or after that date. GST is charged at the rate of 10% on most goods and services consumed in Australia. It is important to keep in mind that the manipulation of GST is an offence which is punishable by fine, penalty, criminal sanction and may amount to a false or misleading claim which may contravene the Trade Practices Act 1974. Where ambiguities arise they have been traditionally resolved in favour of the taxpayer, however the pendulum has swung to look at the purpose or intent of the legislation in its overall context.

It is fair to say that GST applies to most businesses. Most businesses should have an ABN and be registered for GST so that they can charge either their customers or clients for goods and services. Effectively GST input tax credits can be claimed by all of those involved in the supply chain except the final consumer. There are a number of GST-free goods which include a number of hospital, medical, child care, religious, charitable, state-based services, education courses and duty free goods to name but a few.

Registration is central with the imposition of GST however problems can arise as there are basically three categories of potential registrants:

1 those who cannot be registered;

2 those who can be registered but do not have to be;

3 those who are required to be registered.

In order to be registered you must be carrying on an enterprise and it is mandatory where your annual turnover exceeds $50,000. Issues arise in a GST context depending upon your status e.g. employer and employee; employer and independent sub-contractor; principal and agent; partners, licensor/licensee and joint venturers. In the vast majority of cases in order to overcome any conflict the entity should have an ABN and be registered for GST provided they are carrying on an enterprise.

Complications can arise where both goods or services are sold, however the problem becomes more complicated in the services sector for some participants. An entity is liable to pay GST where it makes a taxable supply or importation. A taxable supply covers a wide range of transactions. It sounds trite to say but for there to be a taxable supply there must be a supply and this occurs when something passes from one entity to another in certain circumstances. There are mixed and composite supplies and to some extent this depends upon whether the parts of the supply may be separately identified. With mixed supplies there has to be apportionment. There has to be a consistent identifiable methodology which is adopted when dealing with these matters. Where goods are partly taxable and partly GST-free then any additional service has to be dealt with in the same way.

Ever since the introduction of the GST there have been a number of attempts by a number of tax-payers to avoid paying GST. The ATO looks strictly at the basis of the relationship between the taxpayer and any other party with whom they are dealing. For example, contractors who are service providers or putative or deemed employees. This examination goes not only to the issue of GST non-compliance but to whether or not PAYGW obligations have also been met. The following quote was taken from an ATO information bulletin with respect to the latter point: “Establishments that pay service providers are reminded of their withholding obligations, particularly the no-ABN withholding obligations where the service provider is a contractor. If the service provider does not quote their ABN or provide a statement by a supplier – reason for non-quoting an ABN to an enterprise form, the establishment must withhold 48.5% of the total payment and send the amount withheld to the Tax Office.” Of course any PAYGW obligation is now satisfied at 46.5% as against the 48.5% stated above. Of course all enquiries precipitated by the Tax Office will also extend to SGL and when they are not satisfied with the so-called contractor as an independent sub-contractor they will be made accountable for any shortfall in the superannuation guarantee component.

The status of the worker is all important. The Tax Office often describe persons engaging in a particular activity as a worker and this pervades the whole approach to this area including GST, PAYG (E&W) and SGL. Questions could arise as to whether the entity is acting as an agent for the service provider for not making GST supplies to clients or could be making taxable supplies to workers for example including facilities or administrative services. One of the key questions in this area is whether or not A or B are entities which are running separate and distinct enterprises involving the supply of services? Obviously it is better for the tax office if A is an employer as it streamlines the analysis and leads to the ready identification of what taxes have to be paid where the taxpayer is non-compliant. Alternatively much the same could be said where A is the principal and B the agent or vice-versa. Alternatively some of the same arguments could be used where A is the employer and B is a contractor. However, difficulties arise where the ATO encounters licensors and licensees; lessors and lessees; and bailors and bailees in their respective industries. The question of tax compliance or non-compliance is in part tied up with the question of exploitation by B of any available asset which they have a right to use or occupy. It is further complicated by whether or not separate payments have been received or where one of the parties accepts a group payment on behalf of both.

This is a complicated area which requires the detailed attention of a pure tax lawyer to ensure you are properly advised before you commit to a course of action or have any dealings with the ATO especially where you may be or are tax non-compliant.



By: Frank Egan – LAC Lawyers

About the Author:

One of the biggest problems that you will face in your life is owing back taxes to the IRS. When you are facing this problem there can be devastating results. Many people find it difficult to function in their daily life, can’t sleep at night and have problems with other members of their family because of the stress that they are facing from the tax debt. There are steps you can take to eliminate this problem in your life, no matter what phase of the tax problem you find yourself.

The first thing that you should do is get an expert on your side that can help you to negotiate with the government. Look for a firm that has the experience necessary to handle the Internal Revenue Service for your particular situation. If you are already receiving threatening letters from the government, the time to act is now. You should begin to solve your case, before the IRS begins to use levies, liens and garnishment against you to collect money that you owe.

The representative that you choose should inform you of all your taxpayer rights when you are dealing with back taxes. Of course, you should continue to see the correspondence that is occurring on your case. When you are represented, you will not have to speak with the IRS.

You should make sure that you check out the Enrolled Agent or CPA that you will be using you in your case with the Internal Revenue Service. Look at the number of cases like yours that they have handled and also find out the number of years they have been in business. You want someone with the most experience on your side to ensure that you are getting proper representation.

A tax lawyer can help you with your case as well. The cost may be a little higher for an attorney that specializes in administrative tax issues. But you should make sure that you do the same kind of research on an attorney that you would for a representative. Do your homework before you choose the right tax expert to help you with your back taxes. Fighting the IRS will take someone who has the experience and knowledge of the system to get you the kind of relief that you need.

You will find that just having someone on your side is enough to provide you with a great deal of relief. It is facing the Internal Revenue Service on your own that you will find incredibly stressful. Knowing that others have used the same Enrolled Agent, CPA or tax attorney to find relief will help you to relax a little bit and know that your life is being put back on track and that you are taking it into your own hands by getting assistance.

Make certain that the representative or attorney that you hire has the ability to file your back taxes and get you started with a repayment plan that will work for your finances. Also, be sure that they are able to negotiate a compromise with the Internal Revenue Service that will allow you to pay back a lesser amount to the government if you qualify. There are many things to consider and once you have a representative on your side, you will be ready to face the IRS without fear.



By: Jackie Johnson

About the Author:

By, Jones & Ryan

Dealing with the IRS and related tax problems can be anyone’s worst nightmare. Once the IRS has begun to go after you, it can seem that they won’t stop even after you think they have gotten what they want. The tax lawyers of Jones & Ryan have been working since 1995 to solve such nightmares. Grey W. Jones, Esq. and Cheryl L. Ryan, Esq. are tax attorneys with extensive knowledge in tax law and today want to answer some of your common tax questions for free. Below you will find four answers to common tax and IRS related questions. If you wish to find more in-depth answers and get more tax help our website offers an extensive frequently asked tax questions section that we are constantly updating, as well as, a simple tax help questionnaire to start a free initial consultation with our tax lawyers.

Why did the IRS file a tax lien against me?

A tax lien, usually filed with your county recorder, serves as notice to those who may loan you money (home or car loan, bank loan, credit card advances, etc.) that once the lien is filed, the IRS’ claim against you for taxes will come before those of anyone loaning you money after the filing. With certain exceptions it attaches to all property, real and personal, tangible and intangible, in which you have an interest, wherever the property may be located. A lien does not result in the actual seizure of any property, real estate or other forms. Further, before the IRS can file a lien against your property, it should give you 30-day notification that it intends to do so. This may give you time to make a payment or other arrangements.

Can the IRS levy on my house? On my wages? On my bank accounts? What about retirement funds?

A levy usually means the property is actually seized by the IRS. In the case of real estate, it means the IRS can force a sale of the property and keep the proceeds up to the amount of taxes, penalties and interest owed. A certain portion of wages and commissions are exempt from levy; the amount depends on a number of factors, including the number of dependents. All forms of bank accounts—savings, checking and CDs—are subject to a levy in full. In order to catch subsequent deposits, the IRS must serve a new levy on the bank. Once wages are levied upon, the same levy reaches all subsequent wages, commissions, bonuses, etc. No forms of retirement funds are exempt from levy, including social security payments and other forms of government pensions. However, unemployment and workers’ compensation benefits are exempt from levy, as are SSI and some forms of public assistance. A small amount of household and personal effects, and tolls and equipment used in the taxpayer’s trade or business, are exempt from levy.

The IRS is garnishing my wages. How can I stop them?

The IRS will garnish your wages after proper notice. All the IRS wants is payment or a good reason why you can’t pay. This is when you can negotiate a payment plan or an Offer in Compromise or convince the agency you are worthy of uncollectible status. It is imperative after you receive a notice of “Intent to Levy” that you deal with it immediately. Intents to Levy are time-sensitive and if you miss your deadline to reply, i.e. make payment arrangements, your employer will be made aware of the situation and your wages may be garnished. If you’re not sure how to go about this, consult a qualified tax attorney to assist you.

When is the right time to consult an attorney?

There are various reasons you would need to consult an attorney such as: fraud investigation, a long audit or one that involves legal issues, inadequate books/records, not filing returns for a number of years, if you don’t actually owe taxes, if the statute of limitations has run out or if you would feel more comfortable dealing with the IRS through an attorney. Whatever the reason, don’t hesitate to contact an experienced tax attorney to help you through your foray into the wide world of IRS red tape. Many law firms including Jones & Ryan offer free initial consultations to better understand your situation and decide how they can help.

The Jones and Ryan Tax Attorney website offers an extensive frequently asked tax questions and answers page. You will also find free tax articles as well as information about our lawyers, firm, initial free consultation, and how to get in contact with us.



By: Grey W. Jones

About the Author:

“You’ve probably read in the newspapers of various celebrities and successful business who manage to avoid or at least substantially reduce their UK taxes – whilst a significant proportion of the general public are paying close to 50% of their income in tax. Well, there’s nothing to prevent you using some of these techniques to slash your UK taxes as well, depending on your circumstances.

Here’s some of the techniques that the Rich & famous use:

Make the most of your offshore status

People like Mohammad al Fayed make tremendous use of their non UK domiciled status. If you’re an overseas national and were born overseas (typically your father will also have been a non UK domiciliary at the date of your birth) you can avoid paying any tax on your overseas income and capital gains. The main condition to this is that you need to keep the income or proceeds outside of the UK. As you’d expect though there are ways around this to enable some of the proceeds and income to be brought into the UK free of taxes

Make the most of your spouses offshore status

If you’re lucky enough to have a husband or wife that is either non UK resident or non UK domiciled you can use their offshore status to your advantage. This is what Philip Green did (the billionaire owner of BHS). His wife is a resident of Monaco and he ensured that she extracted dividends from his UK companies free of UK (and overseas) tax. This saved him paying UK tax of around £200Million that he would have otherwise had to pay if he’d extracted the dividends.

Using a tax efficient holding company.

Famous bands such as U2 and the Rolling stones make use of some of the best offshore companies to avoid paying tax on much of their income. U2 for example used to fall within the Irish tax regime which had a longstanding tax exemption for artists. When this loophole was tightened up, they moved their holding company to the Netherlands to take advantage of tax free royalties. There are lots of other countries that can also offer tax efficient holding companies such as Spain, Denmark and Cyprus. Using tax efficient trading companies.

Multinationals such as Coca Cola make good use of a string of offshore companies to ensure that they can redistribute profits within the group to reduce the overall ‘effective’ rate of corporation tax. (It is reducing this effective rate that is the main focus of many in house tax lawyers lives!)

Actually move overseas Celebrities such as James Blunt, Michael Schumacher and Boris Becker have all moved offshore to ensure they have only limited UK tax obligations. They’ve based themselves in Switzerland and are local residents. The beauty of Switzerland is the ‘fiscal deal’ which allows the tax liability to be fixed at an artificially low amount.

So there you have it – some ideas to get you thinking about how you could use the offshore tax planning techniques of the rich and famous. For more detailed articles on offshore tax visit www.wealthprotectionreport.co.uk

“



By: Lee Handum

About the Author:

Matter of James P. Colliton (First Dept.; Admitted to Bar: 1989). Discipline imposed: Disbarred

This one ends with a whimper, rather than a bang.

Attorney Colliton worked at the top law firm of Cravath Swaine & Moore, earning, like, half-a-mil ($500,000) a year. He had a wife and kids upstate in Poughkeepsie, and spent his days perusing the complexities of our tax laws.

Colliton, age 39, had a taste for underage girls. You may remember this case from the newspapers. Arrested in September, 2006, Colliton claimed that the two teenage sisters that he had sex with, aged 13 and 15, were imped to him by their mother.

Before he could be arrested, he tried to run away. He ran to Toronto, Canada, but was released due to a communication foul up. He fled back to Manhattan.

Finally, he was arrested alone in his room at a flea bag hotel in Manhattan. This criminal mastermind made the desk clerk suspicious when he tried to register under two different names.

He was recognized, and the cops called.

According to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, Colliton was carrying identification in the name of “James Sullivan,” and “had a bag with a lot of cash in it and a lot of American Express gift cards.”

Finally, as related by the Departmental Disciplinary Committee:

On October 2, 2007, respondent [Colliton] pleaded guilty in Supreme Court, New York County, to rape in the second degree in violation of Penal Law § 130.30(1), a class D felony, and to patronizing a prostitute in the third degree in violation of Penal Law § 230.04, a class A misdemeanor, in full satisfaction of Indictment No. 0861-2006. On that same day, respondent also pleaded guilty to rape in the third degree in violation of Penal Law § 130.25(2), a class E felony, in full satisfaction of Indictment No. 1748-2006. The charges to which respondent pled guilty alleged that he engaged in sexual intercourse with a person who was less than 15 years old and a person who was less than 17 years old, and that he patronized a prostitute who was less than 17 years old. On October 11, 2007, respondent was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of one year on each charge, to be served concurrently, and was required to register as a sex offender.

And the case ends with a whimper: Upon conviction of a felony, Colliton was automatically disbarred, and so holds the Departmental Disciplinary Committee.

Commentary: This rather dry opinion marks the end to a high-paying legal career. It being well known that prison is particularly tough for child molesters, one can only wonder as to how tough prison will be for a child-molesting tax attorney.



By: Gary E Rosenberg

About the Author:

Tax attorney’ is nothing but a lawyer, who is aware of tax law complications. One might need the suggestion and expertise from a reputed as well as qualified tax attorney in several situations. Most significant part is to get the right individual for a job, because they’re the one from whom he or she is about to obtain tax help. One might be suggested to take up an experienced tax professional rather than tax lawyer. One should understand those things which could be carried on by tax attorney prior in hiring someone.

Several things can be performed by tax lawyer. Most essential service which could be rendered by tax lawyer is to help people in their financial and tax planning. This could be only applicable if people have sizable properties. If they possess sizable properties, they might need suggestions on property planning strategies for helping them to file property tax returns.

One could even get the tax lawyer services for the business tax setting up and as well as in devising business strategies. The entire novel venture requires of those professionals assistance for framing their ventures’ legal structure. Any kind of international business would even require the assistance of such professionals.

Any kind of sensitive information could be shared along with this type of attorney, because they’re not permitted for testifying in opponent to their clients. There’s some level of attorney – clientele confidentiality.

Payment of tax is actually made simple through revenue services, because they’re providing instalment agreement. Such scheme has made huge amount’s payment like tax simple. Such agreements contain reasonable terms which make them well known. Only tax attorney could help one in using instalment agreements for a highest probable extend.

Such attorneys could even assist one in the ‘bankruptcy analyses. They should offer their statement for making the bankruptcy as legal. The bankruptcy analysis process is extremely tricky that even the well-experienced lawyers face difficulty in understanding the process complexities. Every circumstances related to the bankruptcy is quite unique and a consultation of an expert is required to tackle such circumstances perfectly.

If one has unfiled tax returns then taking the assistance of the attorney who is experienced in the taxation should be approached as he or she could assist one in clearing their tax returns. Opting for the assistance of tax lawyer would help one immensely by clearing their unpaid taxes and saving one from further trouble. Actually, unfiled tax returns are liabilities which require to be given special attention.

Anything which requires one to face the tax court should be dealt by having consultation along with the tax lawyer, therefore by this one would be able to understand as to what it’s all about and as well as how one should face this. There’re numerous companies providing tax help for the entrepreneurs as well as to common people. These people support one in clearing the questions regarding taxation as well as help one in all their complications regarding tax. One more thing which requires the consultation if the tax lawyer is when one goes for appeals. Appeals are dealt with fine care because they’re those cases which have been already ruled against him or her. Now – a – days, the tax lawyers play great role in the business.



By: Martin

About the Author:

So you want to study for a law degree take up a career as a lawyer? Many people have misconceptions on what the legal profession is all about. Contrary to what you watch on TV and movies or from newspaper reports, lawyers do most of their work in offices and legal libraries instead of just socking out exciting legal cases in courtrooms. Lawyers meet clients in homes, offices, hospitals or even in prisons. So the career of a lawyer may not be as glamorous as what is commonly being portrayed or thought to be.

Lawyers in private practices usually work long and irregular hours while conducting research, meeting and entertaining clients, or preparing legal papers during non-office hours. It is a fact that most successful lawyers often work long grueling hours and this is one of the most common reasons why many lawyers continue to drop out of the legal profession and embark other careers. They may face particularly heavy pressure when a case is being brought up for trial and they must be continuously educated on the latest laws, conventions and judicial decisions.

Although a lawyer’s work usually is non seasonal, there are exceptions such as for the tax lawyers and other law specialists.

Newly hired lawyers usually start as law associates and work with more senior and experienced lawyers. After several years of gaining experience and responsibilities, some lawyers are admitted to partnership in law firms or they may set up their own law firms.

As lawyers get more experienced and reputable, they may be nominated and appointed as magistrates and judges. Others may opt for a career in the academia becoming legal lecturers and educators. Some lawyers also work in large corporations and become legal advisors under employment.

It was reported that lawyers in USA held about 730,000 jobs in 2004. About 3 out of 4 lawyers practiced privately, either as partners of law firms or in their own solo practices. Most salaried lawyers held positions in the government civil service or with big corporations.

Government lawyers work for many different government agencies, especially so in the departments of justice, treasury, and defense. Many salaried lawyers are also employed as house counsel by public utilities, banks, insurance companies, real estate agencies and other commercial businesses.

Employment of lawyers is expected to grow as a result population and economic growth. There is also an increasing demand for lawyers and attorneys in health care, intellectual property, venture capital, antitrust and environmental legal issues. However, competition for lawyers though is expected to be fierce because of the large number of law graduates graduating from universities, colleges and law schools every year.

Therefore, if you want to have a career as a lawyer, do not think of the legal profession as a glamorous one. Being a successful legal eagle requires a lot of hard work and skills, just like in any other noble profession.



By: Chris Chew

About the Author: