Things A Tax Lawyer Can Do For You

Just as there are many different kinds of doctors, there are also many different kinds of attorneys. They start out by learning the basics and then specialize in the more complicated parts of the law that they chose to become experts in. And, just like you probably wouldn’t want to go to a Urologist for a brain tumor, you also don’t want to visit a slip and fall attorney to handle your criminal case. That comparison is even more important when it comes to tax problems. The tax code for the United States is many thousands of pages long, and although most of the problems people have are less complicated, you can’t afford to make a mistake when it comes to your tax problems. Here are some of the most important things that a tax lawyer can do for you.

You Might Think That Knowing The Tax Laws Are The Most Important Thing

That’s an easy assumption since taxes are so complicated that if you actually call the IRS 5 times in a row, you’re likely to get at least 3 different answers to your question. That’s a problem and one that won’t be solved anytime soon. In fact, as the Houses of Congress enact new laws that conflict with the old laws, things get more complicated daily.

The best thing that an experienced tax lawyer can really do for you, has a contact in the IRS that they deal with on a regular basis that can give an accurate answer as to what needs to be done to solve an issue. Then, they’ll be able to work out a solid plan to help the client fix the problem, and once it’s fixed, it’s done. Working with the IRS is incredibly frustrating for normal people and attorneys as well, but having a level-headed contact inside that can make a reasonable determination and follow through on it is priceless.

A Tax Attorney Can Help You Set Up Your Record Keeping

A huge number of the problems that individuals and businesses have with their taxes is they lack a solid record keeping system that is easy to do every single day and is very effective at the same time. When a business has a problem with the IRS, it’s very often due to a lack of records and the IRS is demanding either those records or money for the taxes due because you can’t produce those records.

The way a business pays their taxes is that they buy products at wholesale, sell them at retail, pay for employees, rent, and other expenses, then pay taxes on their profits. A qualified tax lawyer can set up a system, usually using a computer tied into the cash registers, that keeps exact daily totals for everything sold and combines it with your monthly expenditures like labor, lights, and rent, then gives a nice print-out of profits and losses. These can be viewed daily, weekly, monthly and yearly to not only know exactly where you stand as far as profitability but also to submit to the IRS when you file taxes.

There are also hundreds of smaller deductions that many business owners miss, like maybe software updates, coffee machine repairs, or depreciation on the company car, that a tax lawyer will catch and include into the system. Many expenses are not actual but instead are done by predetermined and agreed upon increments.

An example of that would be getting the deduction on the company car based on mileage. This is usually meant to cover everything, including fuel, maintenance, insurance, original cost, and depreciation to make record keeping easy. But, if several different people are using the company vehicle, some keeping records and others not, there are huge deductions not being recorded. Setting up a system where the mileage is recorded each day or after each delivery, can go a long ways towards satisfying the IRS as to the use of the vehicle.