14109 Overbrook Road, Suite B. Leawood, KS 66224 PHONE: 913.214.5100 FAX: 913.214.5191
Tax Law Attorneys | IRS Tax Resolution | Tax Relief servicing: Kansas City, Leawood, Overland Park, Olathe, Lee’s Summit | Leawood, KS
Carpani & Gordon, P.A. focuses its practice on the often interrelated matters of tax law, business law and estate planning and it enjoys an of counsel relationship to offer services in personal injury law.
Our practice generally has its genesis in business formation with our up and coming businesses. Additionally, clients who have reached a degree of success and sustainable healthy business revenues work closely with us on tax and estate planning strategies aimed at maximizing their wealth opportunities and minimizing financial and legal risks. Further, we represent clients of every economic stratum with tax controversy issues, working to resolve existing tax liabilities, penalty assessments and in effecting tax minimization strategies. We are a boutique firm working closely with larger intellectual property, health care, bankruptcy, personal injury, securities and litigation firms and can bring much to bear on the issues affecting our core client base.
Tax Law
Carpani and Gordon, P.A. places a large emphasis on assisting clients with resolving Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR) and Missouri Department of Revenue (MDOR) tax issues.
In most instances, our clients have suffered the loss of a job, experienced a divorce, domestic abuse, health crises, family tragedy, business failure or similar life challenge which resulted in a delinquent IRS, KDOR or MDOR tax liability. Too often, financial and emotional stress mounts in the face of calls from agents or collection agencies or innumerable letters from taxing authorities detailing liens or unfiled returns. Tax problems are the epitome of the proverbial snowball rolling downhill and they very often can grow unchecked to the point of paralysis or hopelessness in the taxpayer. Stated simply, many delinquent taxpayers do not know which way to turn or who to trust to resolve the problems. When these taxpayers become our clients, it is our utmost goal to assist them by navigating their case through the tax system to a workable resolution in a methodical manner.
We take the time, with each and every client, to understand and verify the nature and extent of the tax debt at issue and to come up with a comprehensive game plan to tackle the debt in a business-like fashion. Our clients’ tax liabilities range from several thousands of dollars to, more commonly, $50,000.00 and up to several million dollars. Regardless of the amount, it is of primary importance that our clients understand both the problem and the available solutions and that they be engaged in developing the tax resolution.
Once a game plan is decided upon, Carpani and Gordon, P.A. interfaces with the IRS (or other taxing authorities) on the client’s behalf. It is our goal to assume as much of the worry and stress associated with working the tax issue through the system to its conclusion as possible. In almost every fact pattern we have ever encountered, there has been a viable method to resolve the tax problem at issue. We are privileged to help many people take their lives and financial autonomy back from the taxing authorities through tax resolutions.
A key ingredient to a successful tax workout is maintaining a reputation of high integrity with the taxing authorities. Carpani and Gordon, P.A. is proud to maintain an excellent reputation in the arena of taxing authorities and our peers, having worked with many revenue officers, agents, offer specialists, accountants, CPAs and tax related personnel in our community. To this end, we work within the IRS and other taxing authorities’ established tax relief procedures, providing them with honest, comprehensive and credible disclosures required to succeed in resolving these cases. The net result of this practice plan is that we systematically garner credibility on behalf of our clients and provide incentive to the taxing authorities to assist us in moving the matters to a mutually constructive client/taxing authority resolution.
Our Core Beliefs
Central to our practice is a strong belief system derived from many years of practicing before the IRS, KDOR and MDOR. At its core the following 5 elements which every client should be aware of and anticipate with respect to making a decision to resolve their tax liabilities:
1. Resolving tax debt
Resolving tax debt should be handled by a tax professional, preferably a tax lawyer experienced in resolving tax controversies. In many instances, we hire or associate with the client’s existing accountant to effect more cost effective tax return preparation and to procure expert testimony, which is often a prerequisite to resolving tax debt. As such, we believe it is not advisable for taxpayers to represent themselves.
2. Full disclosure
Full disclosure of facts and asset information is crucial to tax resolution. Taxpayers should be fully aware of the disclosures required by law, and all information should be presented tactfully and in a manner aimed at resolving a tax matter in a client’s best interest by protecting assets legally within the tax code’s permitted framework. If the taxing authorities discover unexplained discrepancies in the nature or value of a taxpayer’s claimed assets or reported income, even minor technical deficiencies in the provision of information can turn fatal to the tax workout. We help clients identify what is at risk and what can be protected.
3. Identifying Opportunities
We do not subscribe to the notion that backroom deals, proposing unreasonable “pennies on the dollar” settlements, or challenging the constitutionality of a tax are successful approaches to resolving tax debt. In fact, they can invite more scrutiny and potential criminal investigation rarely effected by the taxing authorities in other circumstances. Taxes are legal and taxing authorities will enforce collection of them in the absence of compliance. In turn, there are effective and clear cut statutory procedures available for almost every conceivable tax problem. We work with clients in identifying their opportunities to secure relief and creating a plan to utilize the proper procedures in a methodical way.
4. Deliberate Written Communication
The IRS, KDOR and MDOR personnel frequently either do not understand all of the nuance in the law, misapply it or use the law in a manner most favorable to themselves. As such, their actions should be scrutinized and all notices should be respected. The IRS utilizes time deadlines, set by mailings and other collection actions, to remove files from the tax relief system. To counteract this reality, we only employ systematic, provable, written communication as deliberate written communication is the only way to keep a tax client in the system long enough to secure tax resolution in most cases.
5. Ethical Tax Strategies
It is unethical and illegal to render advice to taxpayers which would lead to evasion of taxes and, as such, that is never an option. However, we believe just as strongly that it is our core function to assist our clients in avoiding taxes which are avoidable and minimizing taxes through unambiguous and ethical tax strategies and planning. Further, where taxpayers can demonstrate a real inability to pay taxes, we believe it is appropriate to ask the taxing authorities to forgive debt, penalties and interest under clearly prescribed statutory procedures.
Our Service Offerings
Carpani and Gordon, P.A. offers a full range of federal and state tax services for both businesses and individuals, including tax compliance, tax controversy, offers in compromise, installment agreements, penalty abatement, innocent spouse conflict resolution, tax law research, tax planning and, in many cases, tax preparation. We are experienced in handling the following types of tax controversies, among others:
Offers in Compromise, Petitions for Abatement and Installment Agreements:
If a taxpayer has not filed income taxes for several years, or is late in filing taxes, we can help negotiate a resolution with the IRS, KDOR or MDOR. Where clients cannot demonstrably afford their tax obligations or payment under an installment agreement, we can propose an offer in compromise in the amount of tax owed with an elimination or reduction in taxes, interest and penalties where appropriate. An offer in compromise is an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS or other taxing authority to resolve tax debt for less than full payment upon providing well substantiated proof of an inability to pay. The compromise can reduce the amount of taxes, penalties, and interest owed if the IRS is persuaded that:
- There is doubt about the amount of tax a taxpayer owes;
- There is doubt that the taxpayer could ever pay the full amount of tax owed; or
- Payment of the full amount would create an economic hardship or be unfair due to exceptional circumstances.
Missouri Department of Revenue follows the IRS’s Offer protocol and the Kansas Department of Revenue offers similar relief through its Petitions for Abatement. For a comprehensive article we have written on the IRS’s process, please see the following: “Pennies on the Dollar”
Tax Liens:
A tax lien gives the IRS or state agency a legal claim to a taxpayer’s property as security for tax debt. A tax lien can attach all of a taxpayer’s property, including homes, bank accounts, cars, and other real or personal property. If the taxpayer is a business, a tax lien can also be applied to accounts receivable and other business assets. These liens affect a taxpayer’s credit rating, make it harder to borrow money, obtain a lease or mortgage or enter into other financial contracts and are a prominent fixture in the collection process. Carpani and Gordon, P.A. works with our clients to settle tax disputes in a manner that results in the removal of tax liens and use widely varying strategies and tools of the law to assist in that regard. For a comprehensive article we have written on this issue, please see the following: “To Lien or Not to Lien”
Failure to File or Late Filing of Taxes/Penalty Abatements:
Failure to file a tax return or delinquent filing of taxes is an expensive mistake. If a taxpayer owes back taxes, tax assessments could include interest charges and late-filing penalties that will increase the tax debt by up to 50% or more. We recommend that clients file their tax returns, irrespective of whether they can pay the taxes, in order to save interest and penalties that accrue by the mere failure to file returns. There are a myriad of circumstances where penalty abatement relief is available and we work with our clients to determine if relief from these assessments is possible. Where appropriate, we file abatement and other relief requests.
Innocent Spouse Relief:
Many married taxpayers file a joint tax return because of certain benefits this particular filing status allows. In so doing, a taxpayer may be held responsible for taxes that result from underpayment of taxes or from IRS disallowed deductions, even if his/her spouse earned all of the income. This is true even if a divorce decree states that a taxpayer’s spouse will be responsible for any amounts due on previously filed joint returns. A taxpayer must meet certain conditions to qualify for Innocent Spouse Relief; if qualified, we can seek to relieve taxpayers from responsibility for paying tax, interest, and penalties if his/her spouse (or former spouse) improperly reported items or omitted items on a tax return.
Business Law
Where business law is concerned, Carpani and Gordon, P.A.’s goal at the conclusion of each representation is for our clients to view us as more than a lawyer, but rather as a valued partner in business.
Our logo is intended to depict several important aspects of our practice. Beyond containing our monogram letters of C and G, our branding was specifically crafted to symbolize our core philosophy of assisting clients who are on the Cusp Of Greatness with actualizing their potential by our firm truly participating in and assisting them in getting over the proverbial hills which may be preventing them from realizing or exceeding their own business expectations.
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Estate Planning
Death and taxes. With those two most notorious issues looming on every horizon at some point in life, Carpani & Gordon, P.A.’s goal is to assist clients in understanding the estate planning process and preparing for the orderly distribution of his or her affairs in a tax efficient manner.
To make the estate planning process clear and non-threatening, Carpani & Gordon, P.A. provides a no-charge one hour intake and consultation to discuss planning possibilities, deliberate on appropriate planning options and quote a fee.
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Personal Injury
A personal injury can be a devastating event physically, emotionally, and financially and can affect all aspects of a person’s life, from the ability to work to caring for family. The effects of a personal injury can present significant challenges: the legal system is complex in the area of personal injury and rigid timelines exist in which to sue or make a claim in different types of actions. An individual’s failure to act timely to protect him or herself can become a complete barrier to the right to recover. It is always wise to confer with a personal injury lawyer as soon as the injury occurs to educate yourself on your legal rights and the remedies available.
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