Oakland, CA Tax Attorney

The Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing provides the full spectrum of tax services for entities and individual taxpayers who are located or conduct business in the Oakland, California area. We are an award-winning, nationally recognized team of dually licensed Tax Attorneys and CPAs and accounting consultants. Our clients benefit from more than 20 years of experience among our team members, who combine a vast wealth of knowledge across diverse fields of tax law, including but not limited to international tax law, criminal tax law, business and employment tax law, audits and appeals, divorce tax issues, cryptocurrency tax issues, domestic and international estate planning, tax preparation, tax relief, tax controversy resolution, tax litigation, and more.

To arrange a reduced-rate consultation about how we can help you, your family, or your business with a civil or criminal tax issue, contact our Oakland office at (510) 764-1020 or (800) 681-1295, or use our online submission form to briefly describe the nature of your issue. Our Oakland Tax Law Office is conveniently located at the following address:

505 14th Street, Suite 900, Oakland CA 94612

Oakland Business Tax Attorneys for Corporations, LLCs, Partnerships, and Sole Proprietors

Whether a business is structured as an S corporation, a C corporation, a general partnership (GP), a limited liability partnership (LLP), a limited liability company (LLC), a sole proprietorship, or another type of business entity, its owner or owners carry two ongoing responsibilities:

• Ensuring that the business consistently complies with state and federal tax laws. Employers must undertake numerous financial duties under the U.S. Tax Code and, in California, the Revenue and Taxation Code (RTC). For example, most employers have a legal obligation to withhold from employee earnings, match, and remit to the government certain taxes, such as the Medicare Tax and Social Security Tax, which are alternately called “payroll taxes,” “FICA taxes,” and “trust fund taxes.” Failure to meet this or other tax requirements for businesses can cause you to be heavily fined, which could damage or even bankrupt your business.
• Engaging in thoughtful, strategic short-term and/or long-term tax planning to help the business thrive. Whether a business is still in the early planning and formation stages, or its owner is ready to sell or dissolve the entity after decades of operation, meticulous business and tax planning is essential to maximize profits, minimize taxes and increase efficiency. Our Business and Tax Law Attorneys & CPAs in Oakland work with entrepreneurs, investors, start-ups, venture capitalists, and business owners from all types of industries. We can assist you with entity selection, business transactions, the strategic use of tax havens, bookkeeping and accounting for businesses, and, should you wish to pass the company down to a family member or loved one, business succession planning or estate planning services for domestic and international estates.

Whether you need to defend your business against auditors and investigators who claim you have broken the tax laws, or simply want to improve liquidity and increase profitability, look to the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing for comprehensive, client-focused support that is finely tuned to the unique business and tax needs of your industry or occupation.

International Tax Attorneys for Foreign Bank Account Compliance

As many Oakland residents are dismayed to learn, taxpayers must report – and, where applicable, pay taxes on – not only income that is earned in California or other parts of the United States, but also offshore income, including income held in foreign bank accounts or offshore business accounts. This extends to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and other cryptocurrencies that are stored in foreign wallets or exchanges. Our Bitcoin Tax Attorneys are well-versed in the ever-changing / evolving cryptocurrency tax regulations enforced by the IRS.

Depending on how much foreign income you were in control of and when, you may be required to (1) include the income on your tax return, and (2) file various foreign information forms in addition to your income tax return. For example, if you controlled a foreign bank account, such as a checking account, that contained more than $10,000 at any time during the year, you are generally required to file a Foreign Bank Account Report, more commonly known as the FBAR or FinCEN Form 114. Failure to do so may result in being heavily penalized on a civil and/or criminal basis, with maximum per-violation penalties ranging anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000 depending on the nature of the violation, and whether such violation was willful (intentional) or negligent (careless).

You may be able to avoid or minimize these penalties by filing an FBAR and/or other necessary forms, filing an amended tax return, or participating in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP). While participation may spare the taxpayer from incarceration while simultaneously mitigating tax penalties, there is also an obstacle to be mindful of: the OVDP is currently scheduled to end in September 2018, making it critical to consult with an OVDP tax attorney right away if you are concerned about failure to report a foreign bank account or failure to disclose foreign income to the IRS.

Ask our international tax attorneys about your reporting obligations, whether you qualify for the Foreign Tax Credit or Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE), and how we can help you reenter compliance if you have not accurately reported your offshore income through the Expat or Domestic Streamlined Disclosure program where your noncompliance was simply negligent rather than potentially criminal in nature. Whether you are an Oakland resident with a bank account or cryptocurrency wallet that is located overseas, the owner of a foreign company, or have other sources of offshore income, our international FBAR lawyers and tax lawyers for expats can help you report income properly while avoiding the pitfalls of double taxation.

Oakland Tax Audit and Appeals Representation (IRS, FTB)

A tax audit may be initiated by the IRS or California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) at any time, though the likelihood of auditing rises particularly high during tax season. Audits may be used to probe the financial activities of business entities or individual taxpayers, and may be conducted by varying means, including field audits, desk audits, and correspondence audits.

Regardless of why you are being audited, or which agency is conducting the examination, it is imperative to be represented by a skillful, tenacious, and dedicated tax attorney throughout the audit process. An IRS tax lawyer from the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing can help coach and prepare you for what to expect, gather the needed documentation, protect you from inadvertently placing yourself into jeopardy with harmful statements (inadvertent criminal tax admissions), and act on your behalf as an aggressive taxpayer advocate. Whether you are preparing to undergo a California employment tax audit, an FTB tax audit, a California sales tax audit, a worker classification audit (concerning proper classification “employees” versus “independent contractors”), or an FBAR audit or other type of foreign bank account audit, our Tax Lawyers and CPAs in Oakland can guide you through the process safely.

We can also represent you in an FTB, EDD, CDTFA (BOE) or IRS tax dispute should you disagree with the auditor’s findings when the audit concludes. However, taxpayers may find the appeals process thick with legal, financial, and procedural obstacles in the absence of effective FTB, EDD, CDTFA (BOE) or IRS appeals representation. Taxpayers who choose to challenge, or “protest,” the results of an IRS or FTB audit may prevail only if they meet strict deadlines, follow rigid rules for appealing an audit’s outcome, and effectively present robust factual evidence clearly supporting the taxpayer’s argument. It may also be necessary to engage in Tax Litigation in which we have a great track record of reaching favorable settlements without costly court proceedings.

Criminal Tax Defense Lawyers in Oakland, CA

The IRS regularly works in conjunction with federal law enforcement, such as the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The IRS also collaborates with state tax authorities, such as the FTB, CDTFA (BOE) and the EDD. Together with federal prosecutors, criminal investigators, and the cooperation of state agencies supporting its own team of auditors and special agents, the IRS uses sophisticated technology to detect tax fraud – and to aggressively enforce the Tax Code. This exposes tax offenders to serious criminal tax penalties, including long prison sentences and costly criminal fines in addition to IRS restitution.

The Oakland tax defense attorneys at the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing have decades of experienced defending clients in high-stakes cases, including tax preparers and CPAs. Our criminal tax lawyers in Oakland represent defendants who have been charged with income tax evasion, offshore tax evasion, failure to collect or pay over tax (payroll tax fraud), willful failure to file a return, making false statements (lying to IRS auditors or agents), and other tax crimes that violate state or federal laws.

Do not wait until you are already under California or IRS criminal investigation if you are concerned about the potential for criminal charges or an expected visit from a Federal or California criminal tax investigator: get legal help from our Oakland tax evasion lawyers today.

Experienced Oakland Tax Lawyers and CPAs

Whether you are worried about a long pattern of forgetting to file tax returns, have questions about your responsibilities to report offshore accounts, are concerned about potential civil and criminal tax issues that might arise as you go through divorce proceedings, want to discuss the process for making an offer in compromise (OIC), are at risk for tax liens, levies, and garnishments due to unpaid Federal or California tax liabilities, have tax questions about buying or selling property for the first time, or need assistance with any other tax issue involving California, federal, or international laws, we invite you to contact the Tax Law Office of David W. Klasing for a clear and honest assessment of your situation and the potential paths you could follow toward resolution. To book your appointment today at reduced rates, call our main office at call our Oakland office at (510) 764-1020 or (800) 681-1295 or contact us online.