Tax Attorney in Arlington, TX

No to both. Texas has no personal income tax — the Texas Constitution requires a statewide voter referendum to impose one. Arlington has no city wage tax either. What the city and county do levy is ad valorem property tax (collected by the Tarrant County Tax Assessor-Collector at 100 E Weatherford Street in Fort Worth) and a 1% local sales tax plus 0.5% Arlington Sports Venue District tax that combine with the 6.25% state rate for a roughly 8% Arlington combined sales-tax rate. Federal income tax under IRC Subtitle A still applies in full to Arlington residents through Form 1040 filings with the IRS.

Under IRC §61, all compensation is includible in gross income. The duty-day method, accepted across nearly every income-tax state, allocates a player's salary to each jurisdiction in proportion to the days worked in that state. For a 17-game NFL season plus preseason and required offseason days, the Cowboys roster generates filings in every state with an income tax where the team plays. The Rangers roster, on a 162-game MLB schedule, files in 20-plus states. Texas residence shields the home-game share from state tax (no PIT), but non-resident state taxes are owed on duty days performed in California, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, and elsewhere. The federal Form 1040 reports the full compensation; Schedule A historically offered state-tax deduction relief, but the $10,000 SALT cap under IRC §164(b)(6) constrains that path. We coordinate the multi-state package and review credit-for-taxes-paid claims to prevent double taxation.

Yes. The California Franchise Tax Board applies the nine-factor residency test from FTB Publication 1031 and routinely audits former Californians for years after a Texas move — particularly where the taxpayer kept a California home, family ties, professional licenses, voter registration, or vehicle registration in California. Arlington has received a share of California departures alongside Plano, Frisco, and Dallas, so the FTB watches the entire DFW corridor closely. The departing-resident audit can reach the year of departure and any year the taxpayer maintained meaningful California contacts. Cal. R&T §19255 gives the FTB twenty years to collect any assessed liability. VTL is admitted to the California bar and handles these residency audits directly, which is a credential most Texas-based federal tax counsel cannot offer.

Probably yes. FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) applies to U.S. persons with signature authority or financial interest in foreign accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. Form 8938 under IRC §6038D applies above higher thresholds ($50,000 single / $100,000 joint at year-end for U.S. residents, more for foreign residents). Accounts at Vietcombank, BIDV, Sacombank, Techcombank, and Agribank all count. If you missed prior years and the failure is non-willful, the IRS Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (5% miscellaneous offshore penalty on the highest aggregate balance) or Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (0% penalty) can bring you current with three years of returns and six years of FBARs. Willful non-filing under 31 U.S.C. §5321(a)(5) reaches 50% of the highest balance per account per year, with no statute on willful conduct. Arlington's large Vietnamese-American community makes this a routine engagement for the firm.

It depends on the case type and the precise Arlington address. Arlington is split for federal-district purposes — the city sits in the Northern District of Texas, with most of Arlington venued in the Dallas Division at 1100 Commerce Street rather than the Fort Worth Division. U.S. Tax Court trial sessions are held in both Dallas (Earle Cabell Federal Building, 1100 Commerce Street) and Fort Worth (501 W 10th Street); a petitioner can identify either as preferred place of trial. Refund suits, federal-tax-lien foreclosures, and federal criminal-tax matters typically proceed in the Dallas Division for Arlington taxpayers. The IRS Appeals office covering Arlington is the Dallas-Fort Worth Appeals function, which is administrative and not affected by the district-division boundary.

RSU vesting is taxed as ordinary income under IRC §83 when the shares vest, with employer supplemental withholding capped at 22% for the first $1M of supplemental wages and 37% above that — which leaves a gap if your marginal rate is higher than 22%. For a GM salaried manager with a $250,000 RSU tranche, the withholding gap can be high five figures. The standard playbook: (1) confirm the vested-share basis on the W-2 and the broker 1099-B match (this is where most CP2000 notices originate); (2) file the return on time even if you cannot pay; (3) request a Streamlined Installment Agreement if the balance is under $50,000 or a Non-Streamlined IA above that; (4) consider a partial-pay structure if the balance and your runway justify it. UAW supplemental-unemployment-benefit payments during plant changeover quarters compound the under-withholding problem.

Under Tex. Tax Code §111.201, the Comptroller generally has four years from the date a tax becomes due to assess the deficiency. The period is extended where the return was not filed, where fraud is found, or where the taxpayer signs a written waiver. Texas has no state PIT, so there is no individual-income-tax SOL to worry about. The federal IRS Collection Statute Expiration Date (10 years from assessment under IRC §6502) runs independently from any state SOL. Arlington residents with California audit exposure should also track Cal. R&T §19255, which gives the FTB twenty years to collect.

Texas does not operate a formal OIC program in the way the federal IRS does under IRC §7122. The Texas Comptroller may negotiate settlements of disputed liabilities, accept payment plans, and waive penalties for reasonable cause under Tex. Tax Code §111.103. For the federal side, the IRS OIC remains the standard mechanism for resolving a balance for less than the full amount when collectibility or liability is genuinely in doubt. The state and federal processes proceed on parallel tracks when both balances exist.

Your CSED is calculated from the date of assessment, which appears on your IRS Account Transcript as Transaction Code 150 (return filed) or Transaction Code 290 (additional assessment). Add ten years, then add the days for any tolling events: pending OICs, CDP hearings, bankruptcy stays, Innocent Spouse claims, and continuous absences from the United States. The IRS publishes the CSED date internally on its CC ACTRA transcript; we pull this for clients as part of every Arlington engagement. The practical impact is significant — a debt assessed in 2016 may be approaching expiration in 2026, and aggressive enforcement near the CSED is common.

Probably yes for the federal trust-fund portion. IRC §6672 assesses a Trust Fund Recovery Penalty against any "responsible person" who "willfully" failed to pay over withheld taxes — the employee FICA and federal income-tax withholding portion of Form 941, not the employer's matching share. The IRS conducts a Form 4180 interview to identify responsible persons; anyone with check-signing authority, payroll-decision authority, or knowledge of the unpaid taxes can be assessed personally. East Pioneer Parkway Vietnamese-American restaurants, Six Flags-adjacent concessionaires, Parks at Arlington food-court operators, and stadium-event hospitality vendors are all common TFRP targets after a slow quarter. The Texas Workforce Commission state-unemployment side is separate. The Texas Comptroller sales-tax responsible-person liability operates under similar principles for entities that collect sales tax in trust.

Yes. IRC §7345 authorizes the IRS to certify "seriously delinquent" tax debt — currently $62,000 for 2026, indexed for inflation — to the State Department, which may then deny passport renewal or revoke an active passport. The certification reverses when the debt is paid, an Installment Agreement is in place, an accepted OIC is in force, an active CDP hearing is pending, or Innocent Spouse Relief is in process. For Cowboys and Rangers roster members traveling internationally for offseason training, GM Arlington Assembly executives on Detroit and Mexico rotations, DFW airport-based airline crew flying international routes, and Arlington residents in the Vietnamese-American community visiting family in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang, decertification is often urgent and can be processed in 30 days or less once the right vehicle is in place.

A large food-or-beverage establishment for Form 8027 purposes is one with more than 10 employees on a typical day and where tipping is customary. Six Flags Over Texas full-service restaurants, Hurricane Harbor food operations, AT&T Stadium concession tenants, Globe Life Field food-and-beverage operators, and the Parks at Arlington restaurant tenants generally qualify. The form reconciles gross receipts, charged-tip totals, and reported-tip totals; where reported tips fall below the 8% allocation floor, an allocated-tip amount is assigned to employees. Section 45B provides a partially-refundable FICA tip credit, but allocated-tip exposure triggers employer-side FICA on the unreported portion under IRC §3121. We help Arlington establishments reconstruct historic tip records during audit and pursue penalty abatement where the reporting gap was a good-faith preparer or POS-system error.

Federal tax-resolution fees vary by matter complexity. A straightforward Installment Agreement typically falls between $1,500 and $3,500. A full Offer in Compromise with Form 433 financial analysis runs $4,000 to $7,500. Audit defense depends on audit type and the number of issues. A U.S. Tax Court petition with case workup and trial preparation generally starts at $6,000 and rises with complexity. A California departing-resident audit on the FTB side is quoted separately. Pro-athlete multi-state jock-tax engagements for Cowboys and Rangers roster members are quoted on a scoped basis given the number of state filings. VTL provides a written fee quote after the free consultation. Cal Bar Rule 7.1 limits comparative claims, so we do not market on price.

Yes. Communications between you and a licensed attorney for the purpose of seeking legal advice are protected by federal common-law attorney-client privilege, subject to the usual exceptions (crime-fraud, waiver, third-party presence). The narrower federally-authorized tax practitioner privilege under IRC §7525 applies to non-attorney CPAs and Enrolled Agents but does not extend to criminal-tax matters. An attorney handling your federal tax case retains the broader privilege that survives a criminal-investigation transition.

Yes, generally. IRC §6331(k)(1) suspends levy action while an offer is pending and for 30 days after a rejection, and during any timely-filed Appeals review of a rejection. The IRS will not levy on you while a processable OIC is being evaluated. However, the IRS may still file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien during the OIC pendency to protect its position. CSED is also tolled during the pendency. A poorly-prepared OIC that gets returned (not rejected) does not provide the same protection — processability matters.

For administrative redetermination at the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings, taxpayers may represent themselves or be represented by an attorney, a CPA, or another authorized representative under Comptroller rules — Texas-bar admission is not required at SOAH. For judicial review proceeding in Travis County district court, an attorney admitted in Texas is required. VTL handles the federal side of overlapping matters and coordinates with Texas counsel where state-court litigation is necessary. Many Comptroller franchise-tax and sales-tax disputes resolve at the SOAH stage without ever reaching state court.