Why Hire a Tax Attorney During A Global Pandemic

WHY HIRE A TAX ATTORNEY DURING A GLOBAL PANDEMIC

As so many tax laws are changing during the COVID-19 crisis, help from a tax attorney can be beneficial. In other words, you might have tax-related questions that a tax debt attorney can help with. Fortunately, the IRS has created a number of new measures to help taxpayers during the crisis. Unfortunately, these new tax laws and measures can be hard for the typical taxpayer to understand. However, the tax attorneys at FinishLine Tax Solutions are here to help with any COVID-19-related tax needs. But, how can a tax attorney help with COVID-19 related tax issues? In this blog, we’ll help you understand how and when you should consider hiring a tax attorney. 

Do I Need A Tax Attorney To File Taxes?

If you need to file taxes, a tax attorney or accountant at FinishLine Tax Solutions can help. However, accountants are typically more involved in the financial side of your taxes. In contrast, a tax debt lawyer can help with the legal side of your taxes. Depending on the result of your taxes, a tax attorney can be a lot of help. For instance, if you find out you owe more than you can pay, a tax attorney can help. During the COVID-19 crisis, the federal government is offering different tax relief programs to taxpayers. While it can be hard to stay up to date with all the new rules, we can help. We employ tax attorneys and accountants that can help you file taxes. Even though the filing deadline has been extended, we encourage you to file sooner rather than later.

How Can A Tax Attorney Help Me?

A tax attorney can help you if your tax situation needs legal help. For example, if you are under an IRS audit, a tax attorney can represent you. Furthermore, if you own property overseas, a tax attorney can help you. In other words, there are certain exemptions you can take advantage of depending on your tax situation. The average taxpayer may not be aware of the different exemptions available. Therefore, working with a tax attorney can often get you the most out of your taxes. Furthermore, the world of taxes is going to be a different thing once the COVID-19 pandemic is over. You’ll want a tax attorney’s help to see if you qualify for any relief resulting from the pandemic. Here are some other instances where a tax attorney may be helpful.

Taxes When Buying or Selling a Business

If you are buying or selling a business, help from a tax attorney can be beneficial. You will want a tax allocation that maximizes capital gain if you’re selling a business. But, if you’re buying a business, you’ll want a different tax allocation. In other words, when buying a business you’ll want to recover the purchase price faster through depreciation. Setting a business up tax-wise can be complicated for the average taxpayer. Fortunately, this is an area of taxes that many tax attorneys have experience in. The professional tax attorneys at FinishLine Tax Solutions have helped many individuals buy and sell businesses. If you’re in the middle of buying or selling a business, contact an attorney.

Taxes to Set Up A Business

The tax attorneys at FinishLine Tax Solutions have tons of experience helping business owners set up their companies. Starting a business can be complicated for taxes. Fortunately, FinishLine Tax Solutions specializes in businesses. Our tax attorneys can help you anticipate potential tax incomes. In other words, your tax incomes will differ depending on how you set your business up. For instance, an LLC is treated differently for taxes than an S-Corp or C-Corp. This level of complexity is often outside of a normal taxpayers’ experience. Therefore, the tax attorneys at FinishLine Tax Solutions can help. Our tax attorneys can also help you with setting up your business type. For instance, you will have to choose between an LLC, S-Corp, or C-corp. We can help you go over the pros and cons of each business type. Furthermore, we can help you understand how each business type can impact taxes.

Taxes when Leaving Money or Property to Heirs

A tax attorney can also help when you’re leaving money for family members in your will. Additionally, a tax attorney can help if you have a property you want to leave to family in your will. Some tax attorneys also specialize in estate planning, which will be especially helpful here. If you’re leaving over $11 million, you will need to file an estate tax return. This can be especially difficult to understand if you’ve never filed one before. Therefore, seeking the help of an experienced tax attorney can save you a lot of time. Furthermore, if you don’t have $11 million, it can still be a good idea to consult a professional.

Been Accused by the IRS? Hire A Tax Attorney

You also want to hire an attorney if you’ve been accused of doing something wrong. For example, these may be some potential scenarios when you want to hire an attorney.

  • If you are under an IRS audit. But don’t worry, an IRS audit doesn’t always mean you’ve done something wrong. However, it is an investigation into your financials by the IRS. In other words, the tax audit should be taken very seriously.
  • Additionally, you may want to appeal your IRS audit if you are under one. In that case, a tax attorney can also be very helpful. Moreover, an attorney can be extremely helpful if you are being taken to court over your audit.

Owe Back Taxes To The IRS? Hire A Tax Attorney

In some cases, you can handle paying and filing back taxes on your own. This is especially true if you have the funds to settle your tax debt. However, if you owe a significant amount of money, hire an attorney.  The federal government has put in place a number of tax relief measures for taxpayers. In other words, if you’re worried about paying back taxes during the COVID-19 pandemic, hire an attorney. Our attorneys specialize in all kinds of tax laws and are here to help. If you find yourself in a stressful financial situation due to taxes, get help. Hiring an attorney can mean the difference between financial debt and financial freedom.

If you need to hire a tax attorney, call the professionals at FinishLine Tax Solutions today. We offer free consultations to new customers.

Here Is How You Can Become A Tax Attorney

Many people envisage the work of a tax attorney to be always stressful, involving courtroom litigation. However, this doesn’t mean that tax attorneys don’t have a fruitful career. The best part about being a tax attorney is that they will never become obsolete. Taxes will always exist, and so will the tax lawyers. Making a career as a tax lawyer will help provide stability and longevity.

Education of a tax attorney

If you want to be a tax attorney, there is an educational path specifically mapped out for you. The one thing that you need to know before starting a career in this field is that it is very different from family law and won’t involve a lot of personal interaction. You will be interacting with ‘Numbers.’ This is why students who want to be future tax attorneys need to have a strong academic background. Here are some education requirements for a tax attorney:

  • A Bachelor’s Degree
  • Law School admission through LSAT
  • Juris Doctor Law Degree
  • MPRE
  • Passing the Bar examination

The first step towards becoming a tax attorney is earning a bachelor’s degree. But there is no specific undergraduate degree that you need. However, it is recommended that you major in either accounting or business to help you prepare for law school better.

Once you have graduated, you would have to take the Law School Admission Test or the LSAT. This score is compulsory for admission to any law school and without which no school will even consider your application. If you want to get into a top tier law school, it is important that your application is strong. Also, there are only a limited number of seats, and having a good LSAT score will strengthen your position. You can take LSAT more than once. However, you will have to report test scores for a period of 5 years. So, it is important that you perform well on your first attempt.

Now that you are in law school, you need to focus on the extreme workload you will be facing. Every law degree is 3 years long, and the specific requirements and courses will depend on the school you are in. In law school, you will learn everything you need to know about the field.

After graduating, the next step is passing the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination or the MPRE. In the exam, you will be asked 60 questions about ethics. Once you get a passing score in this, you will be eligible for taking the State Bar Examination.

Next comes the most difficult step in becoming a tax attorney – the Bar Exam. Students usually spend months preparing for it. It is a very comprehensive exam in which students are tested in all areas of the law. However, the bar exam is not the same for every state. To be a Los Angeles Tax Attorney, you might have to check up the Bar Exam in the California state. It might include either one of the following:

  • MBE (Multistate Bar Examination)
  • MEE (Multistate Essay Examination)
  • MPT (Multistate Performance Test)
  • UBE (Uniform Bar Examination)

The Bar examination is the final step in the journey of a tax attorney’s education. 

Skills and job description of a tax attorney

It is clear that a tax attorney is responsible for helping people and businesses with their taxes. Now, this could include representing them during disputes with the IRS or any other government agency or finding a legal way to reduce any tax exposure. Also, their job involves a number of tasks like doing research on tax law, negotiating with other lawyers, conducting transactions, etc. If they are representing their clients in a court, they will be preparing for a trial. If you're looking for a Probate Lawyer west Jordan Utah, you've come to the right spot.

A tax attorney can enter into a number of specialty fields including the following:

  • Corporate tax
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Litigation
  • Audits
  • Appeals
  • Estate planning
  • Real estate tax

Regardless of the area you choose, there are some required qualities that a tax attorney should possess to be successful in their field.

  • Attention to detail
  • Knowledge of IRS protocol
  • Knowledge of tax law
  • Strong analytical reasoning
  • A strong foundation of legal codes
  • Updated on the government regulations

One of the main duties of a tax attorney, or for that matter any attorney, is ensuring full compliance for clients. This means that they have to strictly adhere to government deadlines. Another responsibility of a tax lawyer is working on designing a tax planning project. For projects like these, creativity is needed, and usually, clients hand over the responsibility to their attorneys who are tax experts. Also, there are some other complicated job assignments that a tax attorney must perform, including providing support to the clients through domestic market calculations. Tax audits are another important and common responsibility of a tax attorney.

It is the job of a tax attorney to help individual clients and business owners understand their tax situation. The reason why these tax experts are so much in demand is that the tax is an important and essential part of every business transaction. Even NGOs hire tax attorneys for documenting their transactions and staying updated with all the tax processes involved. Also, tax attorneys are the client’s line of defense against state tax agencies and the IRS.

Salary of a tax attorney

Attorneys are usually paid through billable hours. The same goes for tax attorneys. They will have to log every single minute of work done for the clients. The salary of a tax attorney depends on their experience. For example, the entry-level tax attorneys earn an average of $77,000 to $105,000, which is less than the average income. They spend most of their time conducting research. With experience, the value of a tax attorney also increases. Also, the salary will depend on the city you live in. This means that a Los Angeles tax attorney might earn more than a tax attorney in smaller cities. According to Glassdoor, a Los Angeles Tax attorney earns on an average of $141,000 per year while a Houston Tax attorney earns about $133,000 per year. 

Every business and every professional has to deal with taxes. This means that no matter which sector you work in or which state you live in, you will need a tax attorney. These tax experts can be hired by a law firm or an accounting firm. Tax attorneys are very flexible. They can work in a law firm, in a large corporation, or have their own business. It is a stable field for any lawyer. And if you want to work as a less-stressed lawyer, tax law is the one for you.