Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to the questions people ask before they call. If yours is not here, the consultation is where we answer the rest.
Working with Gordon Law
Yes. Our office is outside Chicago, and we represent clients in all 50 states and abroad. Federal tax matters, including IRS audits, crypto tax issues, and offshore disclosures, do not require a local attorney, and most of our client relationships are handled remotely.
With Gordon Law, you do not have to choose. The firm is led by a tax attorney and CPA and works alongside Gordon Tax, our affiliated accounting firm, so the same team that prepares your returns can represent you if the IRS has questions. Communications with your attorney carry legal privilege that an accountant alone cannot offer.
Consultations are confidential and are scheduled after a short intake call with our client success team, at no charge, so we can match you with the right attorney. [Andrew to confirm the consultation fee language before publish.]
A member of our client success team follows up to learn what is going on, explains how we work, and schedules a consultation with the right attorney. Nothing you tell us obligates you to hire the firm.
Communications with an attorney for the purpose of legal advice are protected by attorney-client privilege. Contacting us through the website does not by itself create an attorney-client relationship, so we recommend keeping details general until an engagement is in place.
We are a law firm. You work with an attorney, not a sales representative; your communications are privileged; and we tell you if you will not qualify for a program rather than selling you one. We also handle the accounting side through Gordon Tax, so nothing is referred out.
Crypto tax
Do not ignore it, and do not respond before you understand what the IRS already knows. Letters 6173, 6174, and CP2000 have different response requirements and deadlines. We review the letter, explain your options, and respond on your behalf.
No. Correcting prior years before the IRS contacts you generally results in lower penalties than waiting. The right path depends on whether the omission was a mistake or deliberate, which is a question to settle with an attorney before anything is filed.
Yes. Crypto tax software often labels transfers as sales, misses cost basis, or mishandles staking, DeFi, and NFT activity. Gordon Tax reconstructs accurate records and corrects past filings, and Gordon Law steps in if the IRS has already reached out.
Sometimes. Losses on transactions entered into for profit may be deductible under Section 165, and the IRS has allowed deductions for investment-style scams while denying romance and ransom losses. Documentation decides it. See our crypto theft loss opinion letters page.
All of it: trading, mining, staking, NFTs, DeFi, DAO participation, airdrops, and full accounting for blockchain businesses. We have handled crypto tax matters since 2014.
Tax controversy: audits, tax debt, and Tax Court
Note the deadline, do not call the examiner, and do not send anything yet. A real audit begins with a letter by mail, usually Letter 2205 or 566, listing the items and documents requested. Talk to an attorney before responding; with a power of attorney on file, the IRS communicates with counsel and the meetings happen at our office.
No. A CP2000 is an automated proposal of additional tax based on income reported to the IRS that does not match your return, with 30 days to respond. For crypto and brokerage accounts the proposed tax is often wrong because forms carried proceeds without cost basis. The response is a reconciliation with support, not a payment.
Sometimes. The IRS accepts an Offer in Compromise when the offer equals what it calculates it could collect: equity in assets plus disposable income over 12 or 24 months. We run that calculation before applying and tell you whether it fits. When it does not, installment agreements, partial payment agreements, and hardship status are the tools.
Yes, and it is the first priority in a matter with active collection. A bank levy holds funds for 21 days before the bank sends them; a wage levy continues every pay period until released. Both are released by putting a resolution in place, which we do while the underlying case is worked.
Often. Failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties come off for taxpayers with a clean three-year history under First Time Abate and its successor, Automatic Exemption from Penalty. Accuracy-related and international information return penalties are removed for reasonable cause with a documented request. Penalty relief is usually the first step in a collection case because it lowers everything after it.
Unfiled years are one of the most common reasons people call, and they are usually less expensive to fix than expected. Filing before the IRS prepares a substitute return for you almost always produces a lower balance, and no payment arrangement is approved until the returns are in.
Appeals is an independent IRS office that can settle a case by weighing the risk of litigation; most audit disputes end there, after a written protest within 30 days of the examination report. Tax Court is a federal court you petition within 90 days of a notice of deficiency, the only way to dispute tax before paying it. Petitioned cases usually go back to Appeals anyway, so the 90 days is the deadline that matters.
If IRS Criminal Investigation has contacted you, decline to answer questions and call an attorney before anything else. If you are in a civil audit and know the return has a problem, talk to an attorney before the next response; conversations with us are privileged, conversations with an accountant generally are not. Many of these matters stay civil when they are handled early.
Yes. Illinois income and sales tax audits, collection, and appeals to the Independent Tax Tribunal are a regular part of the practice; the firm’s office is in Skokie. Resolving the IRS does not resolve Illinois, and the state’s deadlines and collection tools are its own.
Foreign accounts and international tax
It depends on whether the failure was non-willful. The streamlined procedures let non-willful taxpayers catch up with a reduced or zero penalty; the Voluntary Disclosure Practice is for willful cases. Choosing the wrong program can make things worse, so the assessment comes first.
The FBAR is filed with FinCEN for foreign accounts over 10,000 dollars in aggregate. Form 8938 is filed with your tax return under FATCA at higher thresholds and covers some assets the FBAR does not. Many taxpayers must file both.
Usually this is fixable. The Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures accept original returns for the past three years with no offshore penalty for non-willful taxpayers, and many expats owe little or no U.S. tax once the foreign earned income exclusion or foreign tax credit is claimed.
Opinion letters and business
An opinion letter is a signed legal analysis applying the law to your facts at a stated confidence level. You need one when a tax position is large or unusual, when a preparer will not sign without support, or when a crypto theft loss needs documentation.
No. It documents that a qualified professional analyzed the position before you acted, which supports the position and your defense against penalties if the IRS disagrees.
Our business law practice focuses on asset protection and mergers and acquisitions. Entity structuring and tax planning for businesses are handled through Gordon Tax. For other business legal needs we can refer you to a firm that fits.
These answers are general information, not legal advice, and reading them does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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