California Tax Legal Questions

When the IRS and franchise tax board find out you have paid taxes, you will be subject to all the back taxes and penalties for failure to file tax returns, fail to pay taxes, and for late payment. If your non-compliance involves criminal conduct, then you are at risk for crmininal prosecution.... Read More

Free consultations may not get you where you need.  Audits are usually too complex to be addressed for free and you will get what you pay for.  What you want to find out is whether the attorney has experience with your type of case rather than asking for free help to sort out the issue.  Once you find a competent attorney, he/she will help you sort out your case and the information you receive will likely be valuable and helpful.... Read More

If you do not file tax returns with the Interntal Revenue Service (IRS) or California's Franchise Tax Board (FTB), then either agency may prepare the return for you.  This is known as A Substitute For Return (ASFR), Filing Enforcement, or Notice of Proposed Assessment (NPA).   The IRS or FTB will use information they receive from third parties such as a W-2 received from your employee or 1098-int from your mortgage provider to prepare the return.  Typically, the returns prepared by the IRS and FTB result in a higher liability than if the taxpayer had prepared and filed the return.   I recommend that a taxpayer in your situation have a representative, ie. tax attorney, reach out to the IRS and FTB to determine the status of your tax accounts.  Information received from the IRS and FTB can then be used to prepare the missing returns.  If there is a tax liability, then after submitting the returns you can evaluate an offer in compromise, installment agreement, or other tax resolution strategy. Please let me know if you have any other questions. Adam Brewer Tax Attorney, AB Tax Law APC... Read More

Good afternoon, If you owe taxes to the State of California there are a few remedies that may be available including an Offer In Compromise.  Whether an Offer In Compromise is available to you will depend on a few circumstances incuding your ability to pay and the value of your assets.  Essentially, we need to convince the California Franchise Tax Board that you do not have the ability to full-pay your liability and that the amount offered is more than they are likely to collect otherwise. I would be happy to speak with you in more detail concerning your California tax liability. Best regards, Adam... Read More

You're in a tough spot, but there are still steps you can take to resolve your tax issues. First, call the IRS and request your Wage and Income transcripts for the tax years at issues. The transcripts should provide you with all the third party documents that were filed under your social security number -- W-2's, 1099's, 1098's, etc... Then, call the FTB and ask if you had any state withholding for the tax years at issue.  You will need that information to prepare the returns and reduce your tax liablity.   Once you have that information you can begin preparing your returns.  After the returns are completed you should submit them to the IRS and FTB and request Currently Not Collectible or Hardship Status based on your unemployed status.  Hope that helps. Adam... Read More

Unfortunately, this is not a question that admits of an easy answer. There is a big question of whose law applies, where the tax is owed, whether an American court has jurisdiction over your brother. You are going to need to consult with a lawyer experienced in trust litigation to assist you. Indeed, the extraordinary nature of the question means you will need to find someone quite experienced to help you.... Read More

Whether you appeal or submit an OIC, you may be subject to an audit for 2010 for other reasons.  Your need to sell your house seems to be partially unrelated to your tax obligation - you are unemployed and disabled and therefore unable to pay your mortgage.  Working with an attorney seems important since you have a complex situation - changing attorneys may make sense only if the next lawyer's rates are lower than your current lawyer's.... Read More

Unfortunately, the fees don't stop until the final corporate tax return is filed with the FTB and the entity is dissolved with the California Secretary of State.  Until that is done, the FTB will continue to assess the minimumum tax of $800 plus interest and penalties.   The good news is that since it is assessed against the corporation you are not personally liable for the fees.  The bad news is that if the corporation has assets you may need to pay to stop the FTB from attempting to levy the corporate bank accounts and accounts receivables.... Read More

Based on what you have described, I beleve it is likely that your tax account being handled by IRS Collections Department.  Once you start working as a wage earner the IRS will become aware of your employment based on tax returns and deposits made by your employer. While the wage garnishment won't happen automatically, the IRS is likely to garnish your wages at some point after they become aware of your employment.  To prevent this, you should resolve your tax liablity with the IRS by establishing an installment agreement, currently not collectible status, or an offer in compromise. Best regards, Adam Brewer, Esq. AB Tax Law APC - California Tax Attorney  ... Read More

Since your sister used the home for nonresidential purposes, a portion of the gain will be taxed regardless of the amount.  Further, since your sister depreciated the house, a portion of the gain will be taxed to recapture the depreciation.  First you compute the gain on the sale of the house. Then you subtract from the gain the amount of depreciation taken on the house.  This amount of gain will be taxed at no more than a 25%  income tax rate.  Second, you will compute a fraction. The numerator will be  the amount of time the house was used for nonresidential purposes beginning in 2009 up until the date the house was used as a residence. The denominator will be the entire time the house was owned by your sister, beginning in 1997. You will multiply the total gain, before exclusion  of the depreciation, by this fraction to determine the amount of gain taxed, which will be taxed at no more than a 15% income tax rate. You then subtract this gain from the remaining gain after subtracting out the depreciation.  Any gain left will be eligible for the $250,000/$500,000 gain exclusion  available  if your sister used the home as her primary residence  for two out of five years before sale.  My answer assumes your sister uses both halfs of the duplex  as a residence.... Read More

You need a tax attorney to review the assessment and determine a method of resolving your liability.  If the business closed without filing a final return, then it may have resulted in the BOE preparing the returns.  If that is the case, you would need to prepare and file the missing returns as well as a final return to reduce the liability.  If all returns have been filed, then we would consider requesting an installment agreement or making an offer in compromise. Let me know if you have any additional questions. Best regards, Adam Brewer, Esq. // AB Tax Law APC 1-888-351-3707  ... Read More

Criminal penalties are reserved for intentional tax fraud and for inducing others to commit tax fraud. Simple errors are handled by penalties and interest. Tax fraud generally involves a scheme to hide income - for example, Barack Obama had a Chicago gangland figure buy the vacant lot adjoining his home for $500,000 then sell it to Barack for $1,000 as payment for his involvement in the $45,000,000 subsidized housing scam. That's a scheme to defraud the government of taxes (of course, politicians don't get prosecuted)... Read More