Do You Need The HELP of a San Diego Tax Attorney?

Do you need the help of a San Diego Tax Attorney?

San Diego Tax Attorney, CDR Chris Cooke, USN, Retired, founder of Tax Law Center Inc., has the skills and tax experience necessary to assist you with your tax problems, tax controversies, IRS tax audits, unfiled tax returns, unpaid back-taxes, IRS installment agreements, tax levies, tax liens, and legal tax avoidance by utilizing time-honored, legitimate estate planning techniques.

San Diego Tax Attorney, Chris Cooke offers a full range of tax-related financial services for his clients in the greater San Diego area, and these services are offered for a reasonable price. Though Mr. Cooke’s focus is in assisting those who need help with tax issues, he also provides a wide selection of other financial legal services.

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Having Tax Problems with the IRS?

If you are visiting this website, chances are that you are having some kind of tax trouble. It may be that you received a notice that you are going to be audited and you are very worried as to its outcome, or that that the IRS or State’s Franchise Tax Board (FTB) has placed a lien or levy on your bank account or property. It could also mean that the IRS or FTB is trying to garnish your wages, or, it could mean that you have a lot of IRS debt that you are unable to pay and need help to attempt to have it significantly reduced or even eliminated.

Christopher Cooke offers expert legal representation for clients with federal IRS issues across the United States, all managed remotely from his San Diego office.

San Diego Tax Attorney Chris Cooke Will Make Sure You Don’t Face The IRS Alone.

CDR Chris Cooke, USN, Retired Is No Stranger To High Pressure Situations:

• In a state with a population of nearly 40M residents, there are 190,000 licensed attorneys, and of those, only 260 tax law attorneys have earned the prestigious State Bar title of “Certified Tax Law Specialist”, and Chris is one of them.
• A Solo Practitioner With Over 15 Years In Tax Law Practice
• As a solo practitioner Chris has resolved over 100 court cases (average a case every other month)
• Chris has represented his clients in Over 500 audits, from IRS Automated Under Reporter (AUR) correspondence audits to field and office audits. In many cases, the audit results in no change to the tax owed. In virtually all cases, even when tax is owed, Chris has been able to obtain penalty abatement Saving Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars over the years for his clients.
• Chris has represented many high-net worth individual with IRS and FTB collection issues. His clients have Saved Millions of Dollars in Taxes through careful planning and understanding of the collection process.
• Chris has Formed Over 100 Entities, usually corporations and limited liability companies.
• In addition to litigation Chris also Prepares Hundreds of Individual, Corporate, and Partnership Tax Returns Annually. All of his clients enjoy official representation before both the Internal Revenue Service and Franchise Tax Board through signed powers of attorney.

Learn More About Attorney Chris Cooke

Dealing with the IRS notice

When you receive an IRS Tax Audit Letter, take a big deep breath. It does not mean that you are going to jail. Some audits are routine, but most do have a targeted concern that the IRS wants to investigate more thoroughly before taking any action. The first thing you should do if you receive any troubling notice from the IRS, is to call an expert San Diego tax attorney such as Chris Cooke of the Cooke Law Firm. Mr. Cooke will review, get your take on it and what reasons you might have to me exceptionally-worried about your circumstances and then offer you some candid advice as to your options.

Following your meeting with attorney Cooke and coming to an agreed upon strategy, you or he should respond to the notice. Ignoring it will only result in unneeded escalation, and perhaps shorten the time you have to get prepared in instances where there is a pending audit or hearing. Mr. Cooke can help you set aside your stress and angst, he can even represent you, in your place, at an upcoming IRS hearings.

Simple mistakes, income unintentionally under-reported, can sometimes create an outstanding tax bill or worse: threats of criminal charges such as tax evasion or tax fraud. In such cases, The Cooke Law Firm can attend an IRS meeting at your side, or if appropriate, in your place, to explain the mistake to the Internal Revenue Service and attempt to have you cleared of any intentional wrong doing. Mr. Cooke will also negotiate to have the penalties associated with the error dismissed.

Unfiled Tax Returns

Generally speaking, anyone working or receiving income or other compensation must file a tax return. That said, filing a tax return can often be a complex and tedious task. Many of Mr. Cooke’s clients have will missed a past April 15th, then, the following year, faced with compiling two returns and having to possibly come up with significant money to pay the suspected taxes owed, will cause them miss yet another years’ filing. It is not difficult to get caught up in this compounding downward spiral, nor should you be embarrassed or feel like a “flake” if this is your current dilemma. Life happens! Suck it up. Pick up the phone and get some affordable help. You know… Putting this off, doing nothing, will not “end well.”

The IRS knows you haven’t filed! – If you have unfiled tax returns, remember, you don’t have to go this alone. The best way to stay out of trouble with the IRS is get some help and get those returns put together and filed as soon as possible. If you think that the IRS doesn’t know you should have filed because the are so big and they have another 300 million people to deal with… Think again, the IRS knows.

Turning Fear & Dread into Joy.   It happens…

Many clients who have unfiled returns will share that they have been living in a state of debilitating fear and anxiety. Not solely because of one or several year’s unfiled returns, but for the fear that they might owe tens of thousands of dollars they simply do not have. Surprisingly, after we compile their unfiled back returns, many of these clients actually end up being long overdue for significant refunds (some averaging $3,000+ per year for 2, 3, or even 4 unfiled back returns).

—All those years of unfounded & unnecessary dread, and it often turns out that the IRS was sitting on cash money owed to our clients! Considering the deductions available for mortgage interest, dependents, etc., such “happy endings” are more common than you might imagine. Our clients will often joke about all the sleepless nights and lost joy they’ve been suffering – – – and then – – – bang! We prepare their overdue returns and learn that there are minimal taxes, no taxes, or a multi-thousand dollar windfall refund awaiting them… Joyful days – those.

After assisting you in filing one or several back tax returns, you should experience no further issues with the IRS, as they will likely drop you from being targeted. We will remedy existing troubles and attempt to head off future IRS issues. We can even prepare and electronically file future tax returns for you. Considering that we will have all of your recent prior years’ returns, it will make filing a future return quick and affordable. Moreover, it can often be accomplished with just a phone call and a few emails back and forth – no need to drive to our offices.

Business-Related Tax Audits

Employee or Independent Contractor? – The tax laws covering the classification of various workers is extremely complex. If your workers are deemed to be employees, you are required to withhold payroll taxes and pay unemployment taxes on their wages. If they are deemed to be independent contractors, the employer generally does not withhold or pay taxes on compensation paid to them but, minimally need to report those independent contractor payments on a 1099 form each year.

Payroll Tax Audit? – Many businesses, get in trouble with BOTH the IRS and the EDD (California Employment Development Department) when they pay their employees in cash without paying the required payroll withholding taxes to the government.

Sales Tax Audit – If you were audited and it was determined that you owe additional sales taxes you are in for a potential world of hurt. If a business, even a corporation cannot pay the amount of sales tax that it is assessed in a redetermination audit, the State Board of Equalization may hold individuals personally liable for the amount of sales tax owed.

Tax Avoidance – Estate Planning

Tax avoidance sounds risky. And for some who attempt to avoid legitimate taxes it is. But there is the whole “realm” of estate planning tools that are totally, 100% legal and legitimate. In fact, the state Probate courts encourage people to get estate plans as they are facing huge backlog of Baby-Boomers passing away with significant assets, no Will, or just a simple Will (Wills alone must be Probated).

Estate Planning is a strategy whereby a tax payer escapes or extends the consequences of various taxes by properly arranging his or her Estate. Arranging ones property, income, and business affairs in such a way as to take advantage of the tax provisions that Congress has made available for themselves and for those who study tax law and then draft legal, legitimate, time-tested estate plans for the benefit of individuals and families. Doctors, judges, fellow-lawyers, business-owners, high net-worth individuals have done estate planning for decades. In the past thirty years, so too have ordinary middle-class people who own a home, vehicles, have a few investments, and want their children and heirs to benefit from their inheritance and not the government. For those foolish-enough not to have –at minimum– a Will, their survivors will pay the price in fees, unnecessary taxes, lawyers costs, court costs, court appearances, 12 to 24 moths of Probate, and the possibility that their lifetimes’ accumulation of assets (what’s left after the arduous Probate process) might be going to people the decedent had not intended because a complete stranger – some Probate Court judge – will have the final say.

Take advantage of powerful tools such as a Living Revocable Trust and a Pour-Over Will

Using estate planning tools that have been used for generations, you are able, with a few hours initial time and not all that much cost, to have a potent estate plan drafted for you that will likely consist of a Living Revocable Trust, other special trusts for unique situations, and what’s called a “Pour-Over Will” which will offer you powerful protection – enabling your estate to sidestep certain taxes, avoid Probate, and ensure that your final desires and wishes are precisely carried out upon your death. If that is not reason enough for 99% of the population to want an estate plan, your new Living Trust will protect your home and assets from unscrupulous people, creditors, and frivolous lawsuits filed by scammers and predators while you are still alive. Estate Plans are such powerful legal instruments, that virtually anyone who has one will gladly share with you their excitement and peace of mind they felt the minute their plan was drafted and put in place.