The Internal Revenue Service is charged with administering the federal tax laws. After a tax return is filed the IRS may assign one of its agents to examine the return for accuracy. A tax controversy arises when the agent assigned to examine the return and the taxpayer disagree as to the facts or to the application of the tax laws in a particular situation.
The first opportunity to resolve a tax controversy is with the examining agent. Additional facts may be presented to the agent to support the taxpayer's position, and often disagreements as to factual issues are resolved at this point.
Unresolved matters may be appealed within the IRS. An IRS appeals officer will be assigned to the appeal, and again additional information and legal authority may be submitted. Many cases are resolved at this level because appeals officers have greater settlement authority.
If the matter is not resolved on appeal, the IRS will issue a formal Notice of Deficiency. The Notice of Deficiency typically incorporates the IRS' most aggressive position on all issues and calculates the additional tax, interest and penalty it claims are then due.
Once a Notice of Deficiency has been issued, a taxpayer may challenge the IRS' position by filing a petition with the United States Tax Court. The petition must be filed within 90 days after the date of the Notice of Deficiency.
A taxpayer has the right to challenge the IRS position in Tax Court before paying the deficiency. In many cases this is an important advantage. Sometimes, however, it is to the taxpayer's advantage to challenge the deficiency in the appropriate United States District Court or the United States Claims Court rather than in Tax Court. In order to obtain access to these federal courts the taxpayer must pay first pay the deficiency in full.
We are experienced in handling tax controversies at all levels within the IRS and in tax litigation before the Tax Court and other federal courts. Please note, we do not handle tax collection matters where a taxpayer in financial straits seeks relief from having to pay taxes, interest, and penalties.
We invite you to contact us by telephone (401-331-5050) or our online consultation form for more information regarding tax controversies and tax litigation matters.
|
Our offices are located in the Samuel Staples, Jr. House on historic Benefit Street in Providence. We serve clients throughout Rhode Island from Newport to Woonsocket to Westerly and in southeastern Massachusetts.
Towns and cities served in Rhode Island include Barrington, Block Island, Bristol, Burrillville, Central Falls, Charlestown, Coventry, Cranston, Cumberland, East Greenwich, East Providence, Exeter, Foster, Gloster, Hopkinton, Jamestown, Lincoln, Little Compton, Middletown, Narragansett, Newport, New Shoreham, North Kingstown, North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Portsmouth. Providence, Richmond, Scituate, Smithfield, South Kingstown, Tiverton, Warren, Warwick, Westerly, West Greenwich, West Warwick and Woonsocket.
Towns and cities served in Massachusetts include Attleboro, Dighton, Mansfield, Norton, North Attleboro, Plainville, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea and Taunton.