What Is a Tax Attorney?
For some, the thought of visiting a tax attorney is about as pleasant as seeing a dentist. But, in reality, the job of a tax attorney is usually to save their clients some money. Tax attorneys are masters of state and federal tax codes and help minimize tax liability through careful planning. They can also represent a client before the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in a tax dispute or before a criminal court in defense of tax-related crimes.
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Identification
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Tax lawyers went to law school and are licensed to practice law, and they do so in the specialized field of taxation. In addition to their legal education, which was likely focused on the federal tax law, they might also have other advanced degrees in business, economics or accounting. A tax lawyer's work can vary widely from preparing individual, corporate, estate or trust tax returns to representing clients in tax-related litigation. Many corporations use tax attorneys preemptively to avoid tax liability. Tax lawyers are one of the few professionals that can represent a client before the IRS.
Significance
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While anyone can assist a taxpayer in filling out her tax return forms (in the capacity officially called an unenrolled agent), only a professional or relative of the taxpayer can actually argue her case before the administrative tax court. To enroll as an agent, a tax attorney must sit for an IRS test. Assuming he passes, a tax attorney can offer representation before the IRS as part of his client services. This is important in matters where a taxpayer and the government disagree about the interpretation of the tax code or its application to a particular aspect of the taxpayer's filing.
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Function
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The skills and knowledge of tax attorneys are used both to prevent tax consequences and to resolve tax issues once they arise. Special planning can help a business, estate or trust minimize its tax obligations. But inevitably, some clients seek out the expertise of a tax lawyer for assistance with tax problems that could not be or simply were not avoided. This can happen as a part of bankruptcy, which does have tax implications, or during probate, when an executor needs assistance filing the estate tax, or when beneficiaries must declare their inheritance.
Considerations
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Tax lawyers are not particularly known for their litigation skills or oral advocacy, but the relative few who combine these skills fill another important role of the tax attorney. Tax evasion is just one tax-related federal crime that can result in prosecution before a federal judge. In such a case, a tax lawyer might be only an adjunct of the defense, providing his specialized knowledge as appropriate. Or, he might be the core of the defense, simplifying complex tax issues for a judge and jurors to understand. In this case, the tax lawyer must make a convincing case that his client lacked criminal intent in any error he might have made, and that he might not have made any error at all.
Features
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Most tax lawyers start their careers as part of the in-house counsel of a corporation, or as an associate in a law firm. Many ultimately choose to enter private practice, where their expert knowledge of the tax code provides valuable services to individuals and small businesses. Tax lawyers are especially helpful in estate planning, since tax consideration are among the top concerns when mapping the succession of assets to future generations. For some clients, a tax attorney's services can literally pay for themselves in future tax savings.
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