Tax Attorney in Indiana

Yes. Indiana imposes a flat-rate personal income tax under Indiana Code Title 6, Article 3. The state rate is 2.95% for tax year 2026 (down from 3.0% in 2025), with a further scheduled cut to 2.9% in 2027 and conditional reductions tied to revenue triggers beyond that under HEA 1002 (2022) and SB 451 (2025). A county Local Income Tax under IC 6-3.6 layers on top of the state rate; combined effective rates run roughly 3.45% to 6.33% depending on county of residence on January 1 of the tax year. Federal income tax on Form 1040 with the IRS applies separately and in addition.

Indianapolis is the only listed U.S. Tax Court place of trial in Indiana. The Tax Court does not have a permanent courtroom here; sessions are calendared in rented federal-courthouse facilities and the specific address is announced in each notice of trial. A petitioner designates Indianapolis as the preferred place of trial under Tax Court Rule 140 in the body of the petition. Cases from Fort Wayne, Evansville, South Bend, Bloomington, Lafayette, Gary, and Hammond generally route to Indianapolis. Petitioners in northwestern Indiana (Lake, Porter, LaPorte counties) sometimes choose Chicago as the preferred place of trial instead, given the proximity.

Indiana Code §6-8.1-5-2 generally gives the Department of Revenue three years from the date the return was filed (or the end of the calendar year containing the tax period, whichever is later) to issue a proposed assessment. The window extends to six years if the taxpayer understates income by at least 25%, and there is no time limit at all where the return is fraudulent, unsigned, substantially blank, or unfiled. Erroneous refunds may be recovered through assessment within two years of refund (five years where the refund was induced by fraud or misrepresentation). The federal IRS Collection Statute Expiration Date (10 years from assessment under IRC §6502) runs separately from any Indiana SOL.

Yes. The IRS examines federal income tax, federal employment tax, and federal excise tax. The Indiana DOR examines state personal income tax, county Local Income Tax (administered through the state return), the corporate Adjusted Gross Income Tax, sales-and-use tax, and several excise and special taxes. An Indiana resident or business can simultaneously face a federal IRS exam and a state audit. The two agencies share information through information-exchange agreements, and a federal adjustment must be reported to Indiana under IC 6-3-4-6 within 180 days of the final federal determination.

Yes. The Indiana DOR runs an Offer in Compromise program through its Taxpayer Advocate Office at P.O. Box 6155, Indianapolis, IN 46206-6155. The state OIC is available where doubt as to collectibility or economic hardship justifies settlement. Eligibility requires that all Indiana returns be filed and that the taxpayer not be in active bankruptcy. The DOR generally reviews OIC applications within 15 to 20 days and, on acceptance, expects payment of the agreed settlement within 60 days (longer in defined hardship cases). The mechanics differ from the federal IRS program under IRC §7122: the state offer does not require the federal 20% deposit and Form 656 package, but the state acceptance terms include a five-year compliance clause similar to the federal program.

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 days for any tolling events: pending OICs, CDP hearings, bankruptcy stays, Innocent Spouse claims, and so on. The IRS publishes the CSED date internally on its CC ACTRA transcript; we pull this for clients as part of every engagement. A debt assessed in 2016 may be approaching expiration in 2026, and aggressive enforcement near the CSED is common from the campus and Revenue Officer level alike.

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 FICA and federal income-tax withholding portion of Form 941, not the employer’s 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. On the Indiana side, unpaid state withholding under IC 6-3-4 carries similar personal-responsibility exposure for officers and employees, and the DOR can issue tax warrants in the names of individual responsible persons under IC 6-8.1-8.

Yes. IRC §7345 authorizes the IRS to certify "seriously delinquent" tax debt — roughly $62,000 in 2026, indexed for inflation — to the U.S. 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 Indiana executives at Eli Lilly, Cummins, Roche Diagnostics, Anthem Elevance, Berry Global, Steel Dynamics, and Salesforce’s Indianapolis hub who travel internationally, decertification is often urgent and can be processed in roughly 30 days.

Yes, almost certainly. Under Indiana Code Article 6-3.6, every one of Indiana’s 92 counties imposes a Local Income Tax on resident income. The LIT was created in 2017 by consolidating the legacy County Adjusted Gross Income Tax (CAGIT), County Option Income Tax (COIT), and County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) regimes into a single framework. Rates vary by county — from roughly 0.5% to more than 3% depending on county adoption decisions. The DOR administers LIT through the state IT-40 return and Schedule CT-40; the tax follows the county where you resided on January 1 of the tax year, not where you worked. Unpaid LIT carries the same DOR collection mechanisms as state-tax debt, including tax warrants recorded with the county clerk.

The Indiana Tax Court, established by IC 33-26, is a dedicated state-tax trial court — one of only a handful of such specialty courts nationally. Under IC 33-26-3, the Tax Court has exclusive jurisdiction over (1) original appeals of final determinations by the Indiana DOR, (2) original appeals of final determinations by the Indiana Board of Tax Review, and (3) certain matters from the Department of Local Government Finance. Indiana circuit and superior courts cannot hear initial state-tax appeals. The court sits in Indianapolis at 115 W. Washington Street and travels statewide for hearings. Decisions are reviewable only by petition to the Indiana Supreme Court. If your federal case has a state-tax overlap that needs Tax Court litigation, we coordinate with Indiana counsel.

Indiana sales tax is a uniform 7.0% under IC 6-2.5 with no local add-ons. Unpaid sales tax for an Indiana retailer or restaurant operator usually starts with a DOR proposed assessment, followed by a Demand for Payment. If the balance remains unpaid, the DOR issues a tax warrant under IC 6-8.1-8 and files it with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the taxpayer resides or does business. The warrant has the force of a civil judgment and becomes a lien on real and personal property in that county. The DOR routinely refers larger warrants to the Indiana Attorney General’s Collection Litigation Section or to private collection counsel. Personal liability for officers under the sales-tax responsible-person standard parallels federal TFRP under IRC §6672.

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 the 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. VTL provides a written fee quote after the free consultation. Cal Bar Rule 7.1 prohibits comparisons claiming we are cheaper or faster than competitors without verifiable substantiation, 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, etc.). The narrower federally-authorized tax practitioner privilege under IRC §7525 applies to non-attorney CPAs and EAs but does not extend to criminal-tax matters or to written communications promoting a tax shelter. An attorney handling your tax case retains the broader privilege that survives criminal investigation.

A Tax Court trial is a bench trial — no jury — before a Judge or Special Trial Judge of the U.S. Tax Court. In Indianapolis, sessions are held in a rented federal-courthouse facility announced in each notice of trial. The session opens with calendar call where the Court hears scheduling issues. Most cases on the calendar settle before trial; the IRS Office of Chief Counsel attorney for the case meets with petitioner’s counsel during the days before trial. If trial proceeds, the petitioner bears the burden of proof on most issues, presents evidence and witness testimony, and the Court issues a written opinion typically within several months of trial. Small-tax-case procedure under IRC §7463 applies to deficiencies of $50,000 or less per year and uses a simplified evidentiary standard.

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, and the 20% deposit and $205 application fee (with low-income waivers available) have to be in order.

For administrative protest at the Indiana DOR, taxpayers may represent themselves, be represented by an attorney, or be represented by a CPA or other authorized representative. For litigation in the Indiana Tax Court under IC 33-26 and any further review by the Indiana Supreme Court, an attorney admitted to the Indiana bar is required. VTL handles the federal side of overlapping matters — federal audit, federal collection, U.S. Tax Court — and coordinates with Indiana counsel where state-court litigation is necessary. Many DOR disputes resolve at the administrative protest stage without ever reaching the Tax Court.