Tax Attorney in Clovis, California

No, not the Mello-Roos portion. The Community Facilities District (CFD) special tax authorized under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act of 1982 at Cal. Gov. Code §53311 et seq. funds specific infrastructure (schools, parks, roads, fire stations) for newer Clovis master-planned developments like Buchanan Heights, Harlan Ranch, Loma Vista, and the Cole Avenue corridor. Treasury Regulation §1.164-4 limits the Schedule A property-tax deduction to ad valorem taxes — taxes assessed on property value at a uniform rate. Mello-Roos is a special assessment with a fixed annual amount that does not vary by property value, so it falls outside the §164 deduction. The general Prop 13 base 1-percent portion of your Clovis property-tax bill plus the voter-approved bond add-ons that are ad valorem are deductible; the CFD line, the standby charges, and the special benefit assessments are not. We see this misallocation routinely on amended-return work — Clovis homeowners deducting the entire bill and the IRS pulling the override on audit.

Likely yes. FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) under 31 USC §5314 reaches U.S. persons with a financial interest in, OR signature or other authority over, a foreign financial account where the aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. Signatory authority alone triggers the filing duty — you do not need to own the funds. Fresno County hosts the largest Hmong American population in the United States, and that concentration spills heavily into Clovis (Buchanan, Clovis North, Clovis East, and Reagan area). Multi-generational clan funds, pooled remittance arrangements, and parent-titled accounts in Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai all draw scrutiny when the title-holder lists a U.S. adult child as co-signer. Non-willful penalties under Bittner v. United States, 598 U.S. 85 (2023), cap at $10,000 per report not per account. Willful penalties run 50 percent of the highest balance per year. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (Domestic Offshore) is the standard path for non-willful Clovis Hmong families — three years of amended Form 1040-X, six years of FBAR catch-up filings, and Form 14653 certification of non-willfulness.

FBAR, Form 8938, and potentially Form 3520. The aggregate-balance-over-$10,000-at-any-point trigger applies to FBAR on FinCEN Form 114 under 31 USC §5314 — Indian bank accounts including ICICI, HDFC, SBI, Axis, Bank of Baroda, Punjab National Bank, and NRE / NRO / FCNR accounts all count. Form 8938 attaches to your Form 1040 at higher thresholds under IRC §6038D ($50,000 / $100,000 single domestic; $100,000 / $150,000 married joint domestic; higher for taxpayers living abroad). Foreign bank interest is U.S.-taxable on your 1040; Indian TDS withholding generates a foreign tax credit under IRC §901 subject to the §904 basket limitation. Gifts from non-resident relatives over $100,000 in a year trigger Form 3520 information reporting under IRC §6039F. Sale of ancestral Punjabi farmland goes on Schedule D at U.S. capital-gains rates with a foreign tax credit for Indian capital-gains tax paid. The Streamlined Filing program (Domestic Offshore certification on Form 14653) is the standard remediation route for non-willful Clovis-area Sikh-American families bringing prior years current.

CalSTRS (Cal. Gov. Code §22000 et seq.) is a defined-benefit plan qualified under IRC §401(a). Member contributions sit pre-tax for federal purposes but post-tax for California through R&TC §17501. That divergence creates a basis differential when you start collecting — your CalSTRS pension is fully taxable federally but partially excludable from California taxable income up to the basis built from already-state-taxed contributions. Your district 403(b) contributions reduce both federal and California current-year wages up to the §402(g) elective-deferral limit (with §414(v) catch-up for age 50+ and §403(b)(4) 15-year-of-service catch-up for long-tenured CUSD faculty). Clovis Unified is one of California's larger districts by enrollment and runs a particularly active 403(b) menu. If you also accept summer or after-school tutoring 1099 income from a private tutoring company or hire out to coach for outside leagues, that side income is Schedule C self-employment with §1401 SE tax and quarterly estimates. We see CUSD teachers fall short on quarterly estimates after the first 1099 summer.

CSU Fresno is roughly five miles west of Clovis on Shaw Avenue. Many Clovis residents commute to CSUF as adjunct lecturers, lab instructors, or graduate teaching assistants. Adjunct W-2 wages from CSUF are California-sourced under R&TC §17951 and federally taxed normally. Adjuncts are typically eligible for the CalSTRS Cash Balance Benefit Program (a CalSTRS hybrid for part-time educators) under Cal. Ed. Code §26000 et seq., plus a CSU 403(b) and a 457(b) menu. The §117 qualified scholarship exclusion does not cover stipends paid as compensation for services — many adjuncts and TAs misread §117(c) and exclude what is actually wage income. Side consulting (textbook reviewing, expert testimony, curriculum-development contracts) is 1099-NEC with Schedule C and §1401 SE tax. Some adjuncts hold both a CSUF W-2 and a CUSD W-2 (high-school adjunct dual-enrollment); coordination of withholding, CalSTRS dual-membership rules, and federal §6654 quarterly safe-harbor analysis takes a return-by-return look.

Sun-Maid Growers of California is a §521-qualified farmer cooperative (Subchapter T of the Internal Revenue Code). Patronage dividends paid to you on Form 1099-PATR under IRC §1382 are deducted at the cooperative level (so Sun-Maid is taxed once on member income passed through, not twice) and reported as gross income on your Schedule F when received as cash patronage or recognized when allocated as qualified written notices of allocation under §1388. IRC §199A(g) creates a 9-percent cooperative-specific deduction (the QBI replacement for what used to be DPAD) on the lesser of qualified production activities income or taxable income, subject to W-2 wage limitations. The cooperative either retains §199A(g) at the entity level or passes it through to patrons; if pass-through, you reconcile it against your regular §199A QBI deduction with a coordination rule that prevents double-counting. For Clovis-area Sun-Maid raisin growers also shipping almonds through Blue Diamond or citrus through Sunkist, the multi-cooperative math gets technical — we coordinate with the operator's CPA before filing.

Two different regimes. California Proposition 19 (Cal. Const. Art. XIIIA §2.1, effective February 16, 2021) tightened the parent-child exclusion from reassessment. The exclusion now applies only to the parent's primary residence and only if the child uses it as a primary residence within one year, with a cap of $1 million in assessed-value exclusion above factored base-year value. Agricultural land that is not the parent's primary residence gets reassessed to current market value on inheritance — a major shift for Fresno County orchards that previously transferred at locked-in Prop 13 base. On the federal income-tax side, IRC §1014 still gives you stepped-up basis equal to fair market value at date of death for the orchard, the irrigation infrastructure, and the planting. Section 2032A special-use valuation under federal estate tax can reduce the gross estate by capitalizing agricultural cash rental rather than highest-and-best-use value, capped at $1,420,000 for 2026 (indexed). The two regimes do not coordinate cleanly: you can lose Prop 13 base for property tax while gaining §1014 step-up and §2032A election benefits. We model the full picture before the executor files.

A common Clovis Community Medical Center (Community Health System) locum tenens and contracted-specialist pattern. 1099-NEC physicians pay self-employment tax under IRC §1401 — 15.3 percent on the Social Security base (approximately $168,600 for 2024, indexed) plus 2.9 percent uncapped Medicare plus the §3101(b)(2) additional 0.9-percent Medicare above $200,000 single / $250,000 married — federal income tax, and California income tax at rates up to 13.3 percent under R&TC §17043. Underpayment penalties under §6654 trigger when quarterly estimates miss safe-harbor (the lesser of 90 percent of current-year tax or 100/110 percent of prior-year tax). Resolution: streamlined IRS IA under $50,000, Non-Streamlined IA above with Form 433-F, or Partial Pay IA under IRC §6159 if disposable income runs below standard ALE budgets. Going forward, an S-corp election may reduce SE tax exposure (reasonable W-2 salary + K-1 distribution), but reasonable-compensation analysis under Watson v. Commissioner (8th Cir. 2012) and IRS audit risk merit a sit-down before electing.

Yes. The Clovis Rodeo (run each April since 1914 by the Clovis Rodeo Association at the Rodeo Grounds on Rodeo Drive) and other ProRodeo Cowboys Association events issue Form 1099-NEC or Form 1099-MISC for prize money paid to contestants and stock contractors at or above the §6041 / §6041A reporting threshold ($600). The full amount is taxable under IRC §61 as gross income whether or not a 1099 issues. Professional rodeo contestants typically report on Schedule C as self-employment income subject to §1401 SE tax, deducting travel, entry fees, vet bills on owned stock, equipment, and a portion of horse-trailer expenses under §162. Hobby-loss limits under IRC §183 apply if the IRS treats your rodeo activity as not engaged in for profit — the nine-factor regulation under Reg. §1.183-2(b) governs. Stock contractors leasing bucking stock to rodeo associations report on Schedule F (livestock-rental income is farm income) or Schedule C depending on the operation, with depreciation on bucking stock under IRC §167 and possibly §1245 recapture on sale. Get the structure right before the season.

Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §17014 sets the domicile test and FTB Publication 1031 weighs nine factors: physical-presence days in California, location of family, location of primary residence, driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, banking, professional licenses, and business or social ties. Appeal of Bragg (2003-SBE-002) and Appeal of Bindley (2018) frame the OTA analysis. The most common reason Clovis departing-resident audits fail is retaining the Clovis home (renting it back to a family member, keeping it "in case we come back," or leaving adult children in it) while claiming Idaho or Texas residency. The defense is a documented clean break: new driver's license and voter registration in the destination state at or before the move date, sale or genuine arm's-length lease of the Clovis home, transfer of professional licenses, change of mailing address everywhere (including banks, brokerages, and the FTB itself), and a careful physical-presence log under the nine-month presumption rule at §17016. Idaho gives a credit for tax paid to California under Idaho Code §63-3029 and Texas has no individual income tax, but the California domicile question must be settled first or you get assessed by both states.

Sixty days from the postmark of the Notice of Proposed Assessment to file a written protest with the FTB under R&TC §19041. The protest does not need a specific form — a written objection identifying the NPA, the proposed adjustment items, the legal basis for disagreement, and supporting documentation is sufficient. The FTB's protest unit reviews the matter and issues a Notice of Action under §19044. From the NOA, you have 30 days to file an appeal with the California Office of Tax Appeals under R&TC §19045 — OTA petition forms and procedures live at ota.ca.gov. The OTA hears the matter as an independent tribunal with a Sacramento headquarters plus hearing rooms in Fresno and Los Angeles; Clovis appellants typically request the Fresno OTA hearing room rather than traveling to Sacramento. We appear there directly. If you miss the 30-day OTA window, you fall back to a refund suit under §19382 / §19385 — pay the assessment first, then sue the FTB in Superior Court for refund.

Multiple forums depending on the type of liability. United States Tax Court petitions designating Fresno as place of trial under Tax Court Rule 140 are heard at the Robert E. Coyle United States Courthouse at 2500 Tulare Street in Fresno, about 12 miles from downtown Clovis — Fresno is one of only five California Tax Court trial cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento, Fresno). U.S. District Court refund suits and criminal-tax matters proceed in the Eastern District of California Fresno Division at the same Coyle Courthouse. The IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center sits at 2525 Capitol Street in Fresno — the closest TAC to Clovis. Appeals on Notices of Deficiency, lien and levy CDP hearings under §6320 / §6330, and Office of Appeals conferences run by phone, video, and written submission from anywhere in the country. We represent Clovis clients in all of these forums under Form 2848 PoA without requiring you to travel — and we appear in person in Fresno when calendaring requires.

The CDTFA Fresno District Office at 8050 N Palm Avenue, Suite 200, Fresno CA 93711 covers Fresno County including Clovis. CDTFA mark-up audits on cash-intensive Old Town Clovis and Pollasky Avenue restaurants pull Z-tapes, point-of-sale reports, food and beverage purchase invoices, and observation-period data to build a projected sales figure that then gets compared against reported sales. Discrepancies generate an assessment under R&TC §6481. Defense work focuses on challenging the test-period sample, the mark-up percentage, and the audit period scaling before they freeze. We file a Petition for Redetermination, escalate to the CDTFA appeals conference at the Fresno District Office, and pursue the Office of Tax Appeals at the Fresno hearing room if needed. Dual-determinations against officers and LLC members under R&TC §6829 are a separate exposure that we head off in parallel. Old Town Clovis, Shaw Avenue, Herndon Avenue, and the Willow / Nees corridor all draw heightened CDTFA scrutiny on the restaurant and bar side.

H-2A wages are not subject to FICA (Social Security and Medicare) under IRC §3121(b)(1) or FUTA under §3306(c)(1)(B). Federal income-tax withholding is voluntary — the worker may request it on a W-4, but the employer is not required to withhold by default. Report H-2A wages on Form W-2 with Box 1 (federal wages) populated and Boxes 3 and 5 blank. The worker still owes federal income tax on the wages and files Form 1040 (or 1040-NR depending on substantial-presence under §7701(b)). Many H-2A workers need an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number under IRC §6109 on Form W-7, often best handled in person at the IRS Fresno TAC at 2525 Capitol Street. California layers state income-tax withholding under R&TC §18551 and a separate EDD framework for state UI / ETT / SDI. CDFA-registered Farm Labor Contractor structures under Cal. Lab. Code §1682 affect who EDD treats as the employer. We routinely structure compliance work and ITIN applications for Clovis-area citrus, stone-fruit, and table-grape operators.

A Notice of Federal Tax Lien recorded with the Fresno County Recorder at 2281 Tulare Street, Room 202, clouds title until released, subordinated, discharged, or withdrawn. For a Clovis refinance, the typical path is subordination under IRC §6325(d) — Form 14134 (Application for Certificate of Subordination of Federal Tax Lien) shows the IRS that the new senior lender's lien will help collection (refinance proceeds paying down the IRS balance, or the refinance enabling continued payment). If the underlying liability has been paid, request release on Form 668(Z). If you are on a streamlined IA under $25,000, lien withdrawal under Fresh Start (Form 12277) is available and clears title cleaner than release. The FTB State Tax Lien parallel under Cal. Gov. Code §7170 has its own release and subordination procedures. For a Clovis sale where the lien plus mortgage exceed sale proceeds, a Certificate of Discharge under §6325(b)(2)(B) may be available where the IRS receives all proceeds net of senior encumbrances and the seller's exempt portion.

California's worker-classification statute at Cal. Lab. Code §2775 (codifying Dynamex Operations W. Inc. v. Superior Court, 4 Cal. 5th 903 (2018)) imposes the ABC test for most workers. To classify a worker as a 1099 contractor, the hirer must show (A) freedom from control and direction, (B) the work falls outside the company's usual course of business, and (C) the worker is engaged in an independently established trade. AB 5's business-to-business exemption at §2776 requires twelve specific conditions, and the construction-trucking exemption at §2781 has its own carve-out structure. EDD reclassification produces back UI, ETT, SDI, and PIT withholding for three years plus penalties under UIC §1126. Federal-side TFRP exposure under IRC §6672 attaches to responsible persons who willfully failed to pay over the federal withholding piece. Clovis-area independent owner-operator truckers, ag-haul trucking outfits running raisins from Selma packers to the Clovis transload yards, and dump-truck operators on the Old Town and Shaw / Willow construction work all see audits. Defense includes verifying the §2776 B2B conditions in writing, FLC licensure where applicable under Cal. Lab. Code §1682, and protest filings at the EDD assessment level followed by Petition for Reassessment to OTA.

No. The firm is headquartered at 1100 S. Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles and represents clients across all 58 California counties. Clovis engagements run by phone, secure portal, and email; in-person meetings happen by appointment at the LA office for clients who prefer face-to-face. We appear at the FTB Fresno Field Office at 5050 N Palm Avenue, the CDTFA Fresno District Office at 8050 N Palm Avenue, the IRS Fresno Taxpayer Assistance Center at 2525 Capitol Street, U.S. Tax Court Fresno trial sessions and the U.S. District Court Eastern District of California Fresno Division at the Robert E. Coyle Courthouse at 2500 Tulare Street, the California Court of Appeal Fifth Appellate District at 2424 Ventura Street, the Fresno County Assessor and Assessment Appeals Board at 2281 Tulare Street, and Clovis City Hall at 1033 Fifth Street when business-tax matters require. The OTA Fresno hearing room handles San Joaquin Valley appeals so Clovis appellants do not travel to Sacramento or Los Angeles.