Awards & Recognition

You may feel like you have a solid handle on fear, but that can change quickly when you receive an official letter notifying you of an IRS or California state tax audit. The stakes can be exceptionally high in a city like Carlsbad, known for its thriving tourism, biotech industries, and affluent residential areas. Failure to comply with California state or federal tax laws can lead to severe legal, financial, and professional consequences. Additionally, inadvertently overlooking or misunderstanding details of the U.S. Tax Code can deprive you of valuable credits, deductions, or exemptions while making effective tax planning more challenging. Consequently, what might begin as a routine tax audit can quickly escalate into a potentially catastrophic criminal tax investigation. In Carlsbad’s rapidly changing economic environment, being proactive, understanding potential risks, and seeking experienced legal advice isn’t just wise—it’s essential. Whether you’re a local entrepreneur, a real estate investor, or someone unexpectedly in the IRS’s spotlight, understanding the gravity of your situation and securing the proper defense becomes imperative.

Whether you need to defend yourself against a criminal tax investigation/allegations of criminal tax wrongdoing or simply have questions about how to make the most advantageous use of the Tax Code for your business or your family, rely on the award-winning and dual-licensed Carlsbad Tax Audit Lawyers and CPAs at the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing for unparalleled client service with a focus on risk mitigation and wealth preservation. The Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing, focusing on high-risk civil and criminal tax controversies, stands ready to offer its specialized expertise to the residents and businesses of Carlsbad. With a team of seasoned Dual Licensed Criminal Tax Defense Attorneys and CPAs, our office is uniquely poised to navigate Carlsbad residents through the intricate maze of federal civil and criminal tax exposure.

Boasting an impeccable “A+” rating from the Better Business Bureau and a perfect 10.0 from AVVO, Mr. Klasing’s unwavering commitment to top-tier Civil and Criminal Tax Defense Representation is evident. Our firm is not just another name in the vast legal landscape of Carlsbad. It is a beacon of criminal tax defense excellence, with a remarkable track record of victories, helmed by one of the nation’s most distinguished tax professionals. In a country teeming with attorneys and CPAs, an estimated mere 24,000 professionals can claim dual licensure. Among this select group, only around 3,000 have the added accolade of a Master’s in Taxation. David W. Klasing, a luminary in this elite circle, harnesses his unparalleled academic credentials and hands-on experience to ardently represent our clients in their civil and criminal tax defense endeavors. Moreover, our strategic approach of simultaneously handling a mix of civil and potential criminal tax controversies keeps the IRS on its toes.

Call (760) 338-7035 or 888-640-3408 or contact us online today to schedule a reduced rate initial consultation at our Carlsbad tax law offices or one of our other convenient locations across Southern California.

Could I Be Facing Criminal Tax Charges in Carlsbad?

The IRS routinely collaborates with state agencies like the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), as well as other federal agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), to investigate taxpayers suspected of misdemeanor or felony tax crimes. These investigations may stem from tax audits but can also be initiated for various reasons, including failure to file or detection by fraud units.

Our criminal tax defense attorneys and tax evasion lawyers are qualified to handle criminal tax proceedings in California’s state and federal courts. We manage cases involving a wide range of tax charges, including but not limited to:

• 26 U.S. Code § 7202 – Willful failure to collect or pay over tax
• 26 U.S. Code § 7206 – Fraud and false statements
• 26 U.S. Code § 7212 – Attempts to interfere with the administration of Internal Revenue laws
• 18 U.S. Code § 371 – Conspiracy to commit offense or to defraud the United States

How Can I Protect Myself During a High-Risk Audit or Criminal Tax Investigation?

When facing tax audits from agencies such as the IRS, CDTFA, EDD, or FTB, certain red flags—like destroyed records, underreported income, badges of fraud, or unfiled returns—can intensify the examination and may lead to high-risk eggshell and reverse eggshell tax audits. Residents and businesses must be aware of potential criminal tax violations and the signs that indicate they might be under a more rigorous investigation by the IRS’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID). This is especially crucial when the taxpayer has a history of blatantly cheating on their federal tax returns and is now under audit, fearing criminal tax prosecution.

Hiring our dual-licensed Tax Attorneys & CPAs at the beginning of an audit allows us to monitor the audit and look for signs of a potential clandestine criminal tax investigation. We excel at defending against allegations of criminal tax fraud and, to the date of this writing, have not had an audit client face federal or state criminal tax charges. In eggshell or reverse eggshell audits, the audit can quickly evolve into criminal tax issues. Using our dual-licensed Tax Audit Attorneys & CPAs to quickly identify criminal tax exposure and mitigate the risk they create is your absolute best chance at keeping the audit about money, not jail time.

Our dual-licensed Carlsbad Tax Evasion Defense Attorneys and IRS Tax Fraud Defense Attorneys & CPAs have vast experience handling most types of potential misdemeanor and felony tax evasion charges, including federal income tax evasion, state income tax evasion, employment tax evasion, sales tax evasion, corporate tax evasion, cryptocurrency and Bitcoin tax evasion, offshore tax evasion, and divorce tax evasion. We can also assist with related tax matters, such as unfiled or delinquent tax returns, undisclosed foreign accounts and related foreign taxable income, and tax preparer liability. For a reduced-rate initial consultation, call our Carlsbad tax office at (760) 338-7035 or contact the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing online here.

What to Do When the IRS Criminal Investigation Agent Contacts You

Validating Agent Authenticity

Should you be approached by an IRS Criminal Investigation Agent in Carlsbad, your immediate priority is to validate their authenticity. Rigorously inspect their law enforcement badge and photo identification, ensuring the presence of an IRS.gov domain email address. For an added layer of verification, it’s prudent to contact the IRS through a centralized phone line to confirm the agent’s affiliation.

Type of Investigation

IRS Criminal Investigation Agents will ordinarily inform you whether the investigation is administrative or a grand jury investigation. In the latter case, the stakes are higher, indicating the case has progressed further.

Determining Your Role

It is vital to pinpoint your role in the criminal tax investigation. Are you the primary target, a subject, or a peripheral witness? If labeled as the target or subject, seeking legal representation is crucial to protect yourself from self-incrimination. Even if you’re initially tagged as a witness, any potential involvement in the scrutinized activities warrants securing legal counsel before any engagement with the IRS.

Accountant Communications

Once you know of an investigation, refrain from discussing further details with your tax accountant. Only your interactions with an attorney are shielded under the attorney-client privilege. The attorneys’ staff’s work product is also privileged. Contacting your accountant might provide the IRS with additional evidence against you. Furthermore, securing a specialized IRS criminal tax defense attorney becomes paramount when your accountant has liaised with special agents. It would be wise to recognize that their need to protect their reputation and livelihood directly contradicts your need to avoid criminal tax prosecution.

Risks of Exposing Sensitive Information

Dialogues with tax preparers or accountants are not confidential. If called upon during a legal tax proceeding, they must divulge any incriminating information shared with them. Tax preparers often attempt to redirect any blame to their clients, especially when they are at risk of simultaneous investigation & prosecution for aiding and abetting tax crimes to protect their professional standing, licensing, reputation, livelihood, net worth, and liberty.

Lack of Legal Protection and Confidentiality

When navigating a tax audit or criminal tax probe, only the attorney-client relationship affords you the necessary confidentiality and protection to thoroughly discuss the potentially incriminating nature of your case without having the professional you trust the issue to become a witness against you. The attorney-client privilege and the attorney work-product rule ensure that your disclosures remain safeguarded.

Superior Legal Expertise

Engaging a dual-licensed civil and criminal tax Attorney and CPA provides an added benefit. They can collaborate with consulting accountants under the auspices of the attorney-client privilege through a mechanism known as a Kovel letter. This ensures that your disclosures remain confidential, tapping into the expertise of accountants concurrently. While accountants are geared toward precision, attorneys prioritize advocacy, making their expertise invaluable as tax matters veer toward legal disputes. We have an entire staff of Kovel accountants at our disposal.

Get Back into Tax Compliance without Facing Criminal Tax Prosecution In Carlsbad

Once you have been selected for federal or California state audit and have undisclosed foreign accounts and unreported offshore income-generating assets, your options to get yourself back into compliance become extremely limited, and you could end up facing severe civil and even criminal tax penalties and or criminal tax prosecution, especially if your conduct were willful concerning any non-compliance with income tax or foreign information reporting. If you’re in Carlsbad and realize that you could face criminal tax prosecution over a history of blatantly cheating on your tax returns if discovered, voluntarily disclosing this history by knocking on the IRS’s door before they bang down your door is the most crucial step towards resolution without facing criminal tax prosecution.

Our dual-licensed Carlsbad Voluntary Disclosure Attorneys and CPAs navigate the complexities of various federal and California state voluntary disclosures, including domestic, offshore, CDTFA, and FTB voluntary disclosures, streamlined procedures, and delinquent FBAR and international information return submission procedures. As long as a taxpayer who has willfully committed tax avoidance (potentially including non-filed foreign information returns coupled with affirmative evasion of U.S. income tax on offshore income) self-reports the federal tax non-compliance through a domestic or offshore voluntary disclosure before the IRS has started an audit or criminal tax investigation/prosecution, the taxpayer can ordinarily be successfully brought back into tax compliance and receive a nearly guaranteed pass on criminal tax prosecution and simultaneously often receive a break on the civil penalties that would otherwise apply.

Call (760) 338-7035 or 888-640-3408 or contact us online today to schedule a reduced rate initial consultation at our Carlsbad tax law offices, or one of our other convenient locations across Southern California.

Our Carlsbad office is conveniently located at:

701 Palomar Airport Rd Ste 300

Carlsbad, CA 92011

(760) 278-3508