Awards & Recognition
Your reasons for seeking tax assistance can vary significantly. What does not change is the IRS’ reputation for aggressive enforcement actions spearheaded by extremely knowledgeable Orange County tax lawyers, CPAs and tax professionals. While the IRS is required to treat you with professional courtesy, you should never assume that the investigator or auditor is working in your best interest. The auditor or investigator answers to the IRS and will attempt to advance the agency’s position through all reasonable means.
Even if you believe that your investigation, audit, tax collection or other enforcement action is unjustified and unwarranted, it is prudent to work with an experienced tax lawyer because serious penalties can apply. Penalties can includes monetary fines at a percentage of the tax owed. In situations where a willful disregard of tax obligations can be shown, criminal penalties including federal prison can apply. David W. Klasing is an attorney and a CPA that has handled IRS disputes for more than 20 years. He can advocate for you in a tax audit, tax appeal, collection action or criminal tax action.
Attorney fights failure to file and failure to pay penalties
For all United States citizens and residents there is an obligation to report income and pay taxes on your worldwide income regardless of in what country it was earned. A failure to file penalty applies if you do not file required tax reporting documents with the IRS by the regular or, if requested, the extended deadline. A failure to pay penalty can be imposed if the reporting requirement is satisfied, but payment on the tax obligation is not paid. Typically speaking failure to file penalties are greater than failure to pay penalties. David W. Klasing can assist you with complying with either tax requirement.
Orange County Attorney Handles IRS Tax Audits
Certain factors can place you at an increased risk of facing a dreaded IRS tax audit. Some of these factors include the industry you are engaged in, your business structure, tax discrepancies, and your associations to others that have been audited. However, audits can also be entirely random. IRS audits should be taken extremely seriously as they can result in serious consequences such as liens, levies, and seizure of your property.
If the audit determines that you do have an outstanding tax obligation to the IRS, you may be on the hook for a significant tax bill. The IRS is aggressive in its collections actions however you may appeal or propose an Offer in Compromise (OIC) to the IRS. If you appeal you will need to show:
- The items or determinations you wish to challenge
- Your reasoning for these disputes
- Evidence that supports your position
- The law or regulation that supports your position.
An experienced tax lawyer can identify these areas for appeal and prepare a strategic appeal that is likely to improve your tax situation’s result.
If an appeal is inappropriate, an Offer in Compromise (OIC) can also be proposed to the IRS. Generally speaking an OIC is an offer to settle the tax obligation for less than the full amount owed. If your OIC is rejected, you still retain the right to appeal its rejection within 30 days of the determination.
Criminal Tax Defense
If an audit or investigation morphs into a criminal investigation, you could be facing serious prison time. Working with an experienced attorney and CPA earlier in the process can reduce the likelihood of this happen due to privilege issues. If you work with a CPA during a civil investigation, the things you say to the CPA will not be protected and will be able to be discovered. However, if you work with a tax attorney, like David W. Klasing, the attorney-client privilege will protect the statements you make to your attorney from being discovered by the prosecutor.
In other cases a civil investigation or audit may transform into a criminal investigation if badges of fraud are detected. These badges of fraud include:
- Failure to file tax returns
- Maintenance of inadequate records
- Destruction of records
- Implausible or inconsistent explanations
- Concealment of assets
- Failure to cooperate with tax authorities
- Excessive cash transactions
- Filing false returns
- Making any other false or misleading statement
If you are concerned about a criminal investigation, a civil investigation, or if you are going through the audit process, an IRS lawyer serving Orange County can assist you. To schedule an initial consultation at a reduced rate, call The Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing at (949) 681-3502 or (800) 681-1295, or contact us online today.
