Tax Attorney in Marin County

The U.S. Tax Court hears Marin County matters at its San Francisco trial sessions at the Phillip Burton Federal Building, 450 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco CA 94102. A Marin County petitioner designates "San Francisco, California" as the place of trial on the petition under Tax Court Rule 140. The trip across the Golden Gate Bridge from Sausalito or Mill Valley is about 15 to 20 minutes outside commute hours; San Rafael and Novato run 30 to 45 minutes depending on 101 traffic. Petitioners may also designate Los Angeles where travel and counsel logistics favor it.

The pattern is structural and BioMarin senior staff see it across the Lindaro and Bel Marin Keys campuses. Federal supplemental withholding on RSU vests defaults to 22 percent (37 percent above $1 million in supplemental wages). California's top bracket is 13.3 percent. The all-in marginal rate on a Marin BioMarin employee's RSU vest often crosses 50 percent once the Mental Health Services Act 1 percent surtax under Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §17043 kicks in above $1 million of taxable income. The shortfall lands on April 15 of the following year. Resolution paths: a federal Installment Agreement under IRC §6159, a FTB Form 3567 payment plan, supplemental withholding elections (W-4 Step 4(c)) for the rest of the current year, and estimated-tax payments under IRC §6654 to break the cycle going forward.

This is a solvable problem. Several paths: First, a Disqualifying Disposition in the same calendar year as exercise converts AMT preference treatment to regular ordinary income on the smaller post-decline spread, often a much smaller bill. Second, where the share price collapsed after exercise, the loss on sale generates a capital-loss carryforward that combines with the AMT credit under IRC §53 over time as regular tax exceeds tentative minimum tax. Third, payment of the AMT can be structured through an Installment Agreement under IRC §6159 or a Partial Pay IA where the cash side is constrained. Fourth, reasonable-cause penalty abatement is available where the AMT was unexpected and the underpayment was a good-faith estimate error. Fifth, where the company failed entirely, the worthless-stock deduction under IRC §165(g) may apply against ordinary or capital income depending on the structure. We model each path before recommending.

Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic executive compensation falls under Section 409A and the broader Disney executive-comp framework after the acquisition. Distributions from a Section 409A non-qualified deferred-compensation plan are ordinary income at distribution, subject to federal supplemental withholding at 22 percent (37 percent above $1 million in supplemental wages) and California withholding at standard rates — which often leaves a substantial California shortfall. Performance share units vesting on acquisition-era milestones and restricted stock units rolling over from Lucasfilm to Disney equity both have their own recognition rules. The defense in a bad-distribution-timing case starts with the original deferral election form: was it timely, was the distribution event correctly defined, and does the distribution schedule comply with the §409A six-month rule for specified employees? Penalty under §409A is steep — a 20 percent additional tax plus interest at the underpayment rate plus one percent — so the technical compliance review matters. From there we structure the cash side through Installment Agreement, withholding adjustments, and quarterly estimates.

Prop 19 (effective February 16, 2021) sharply narrowed the parent-child reassessment exclusion that had operated under Prop 58 since 1986. The exclusion now applies only if the child makes the property their principal residence within one year of transfer, files for the Homeowners' Exemption, and the property's value at transfer does not exceed the parent's taxable value plus $1 million. If the fair market value exceeds that ceiling, the excess is added to the assessed value. If the child does not make it their principal residence within one year, the property is reassessed to full market value — meaning a Tiburon home with a 1980s Prop 13 base of $200,000 reassessed to a $5 million market value flips annual property tax from roughly $2,500 to $55,000. Planning paths: intentionally defective grantor trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, family limited partnerships, and timing of the transfer relative to a planned sale all change the calculation. Coordinate with estate counsel; we work the tax side.

As a Marin resident, you are a California resident under Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §17014 and California taxes you on worldwide income. The work-location question matters less for residency than for source: if your San Francisco employer also has Marin residents working partly from home, California sources wages to where services are performed under FTB regulations. For a pure Marin-resident-SF-office employee, all wages are California-sourced and California-taxable. For a Marin resident working part-time at the SF office and part-time from home, the math is the same because both work locations are in California — the home and the office are both in California. The question changes if the employer is out-of-state (a New York or Texas company employing you remotely from Mill Valley) or if you become a non-resident: at that point, the FTB sourcing rules and the "convenience of the employer" doctrine become central. We document the days, apply the sourcing rules, and defend against residency or wage-source challenges.

California uses the domicile test at Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §17014 and FTB Publication 1031, weighing nine factors: physical-presence days, location of family, location of primary residence, driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration, banking, professional licenses, and business or social ties. Tiburon, Ross, Belvedere, and Kentfield sellers see some of the toughest FTB residency exams in the state because the typical fact pattern — sell after an IPO, an acquisition, or a major equity event, and move to Idaho, Nevada, or Texas — lines up exactly with the year the FTB most wants to claim. Retaining a Marin rental, a Tahoe second home with a California address, or a Kentfield equestrian property as a "weekend home" while claiming Idaho residency is the most common reason the audits fail. Sending children to Branson, Marin Catholic, Marin Country Day, or Stanford while claiming a Sun Valley move is another red flag. The defense is a documented clean break at the time of the move: new driver's license, new voter registration, sale or lease of the California home, transfer of professional licenses, and a careful physical-presence log under the 9-month presumption rule.

FTB suspension under Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code §23301 happens when an entity fails to pay the $800 minimum franchise tax, fails to file the annual return, or fails to file a Statement of Information with the California Secretary of State. A suspended entity loses the right to sue, defend a lawsuit, or contract in California courts. Contracts signed during suspension are voidable — including asset-purchase agreements, subscription agreements with new investors, and licensing deals. To revive, file the missing returns, pay the tax plus penalties and interest under §19131 and §19132, and submit FTB Form 3557 (revivor request). The SOS Statement of Information must also be brought current. Once both agencies confirm compliance, the FTB issues a Certificate of Revivor. We have closed this in days when a deal timeline demanded it.

Yes, in almost every case. FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) is required of any U.S. person with foreign financial accounts whose aggregate high balance exceeds $10,000 at any single point during the calendar year. London brokerage, Coutts, Barclays, HSBC, and Lloyds accounts count; Singapore DBS, UOB, and brokerage accounts count; Swiss UBS and Credit Suisse / Julius Baer accounts count; Hong Kong HSBC and bank-of-China accounts count. The form is filed separately from your 1040, electronically through the BSA E-Filing System, by April 15 with an automatic October 15 extension. Form 8938 under IRC §6038D is an additional layer with higher thresholds. Past non-filing is addressed through Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures for non-willful conduct, the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice where willfulness is in play, or the Delinquent FBAR Submission Procedures where no underlying tax was owed. Penalties for unaddressed FBAR exposure are severe: non-willful penalties run per-account (after Bittner v. United States), and willful penalties reach the greater of $100,000 inflation-adjusted or 50 percent of the high balance per year.

The IRS San Rafael Taxpayer Assistance Center is at 4000 Civic Center Drive, Suite 200, San Rafael CA 94903, on the same Civic Center campus as the Marin County Superior Court, the Tax Collector, and the Assessor-Recorder. From Tiburon, Mill Valley, or Sausalito, it is a 15 to 25-minute drive up the 101. From Novato, it is about 15 minutes south. Appointments are required and made through apps.irs.gov/app/office-locator or by calling 844-545-5640. For most resolution work, in-person visits are not required — we represent clients by Form 2848 PoA and route notices directly to counsel.

A Notice of Federal Tax Lien recorded with the Marin County Assessor-Recorder at 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael clouds title until released, subordinated, discharged, or withdrawn. For 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 refinance proceeds will pay down the tax debt or that subordination otherwise helps collection. 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 §7174 has its own release and subordination procedures. Tiburon, Ross, Belvedere, Kentfield, and Mill Valley property values mean substantial equity is often available to satisfy the lien on refinance, which strengthens the subordination case.

Likely yes, on both the federal and California sides. Under IRC §6672, the IRS asserts the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty against any person who is responsible for collecting, accounting for, and paying over withheld income and FICA taxes and who willfully fails to do so. The "responsible person" test reaches owners, officers, managers, bookkeepers, and anyone with check-signing authority. The "willfulness" test is satisfied by paying other creditors with funds that should have gone to trust-fund taxes. Form 4180 interviews establish both prongs. California asserts the parallel penalty under Cal. Unemp. Ins. Code §1735 for unpaid state withholding and SDI. Mitigation paths: get current on deposits going forward, file an Installment Agreement on the assessed TFRP and the underlying corporate balance, dispute responsible-person status where the facts allow, and consider an Offer in Compromise on the personal assessment if Reasonable Collection Potential is low. We have handled this for Mill Valley, Sausalito, Larkspur, and San Rafael restaurants repeatedly.

No. The firm is headquartered at 1100 S. Robertson Boulevard in Los Angeles, and we represent clients across all 58 California counties. Marin County 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 U.S. Tax Court San Francisco trial sessions at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, the IRS San Rafael TAC at 4000 Civic Center Drive, the U.S. District Court at 450 Golden Gate Avenue, the Marin County Superior Court at 3501 Civic Center Drive in San Rafael, and the FTB Bay Area field offices as case calendaring requires.