Tax Attorney in Metairie, LA

No. Federal IRS practice is governed by 31 CFR Part 10 (Treasury Circular 230). Any attorney admitted to practice in any U.S. jurisdiction may represent any taxpayer before the IRS in any state, including Louisiana, through a Form 2848 Power of Attorney. The U.S. Tax Court admits attorneys on a national basis and holds Louisiana trial sessions in New Orleans, which serves Metairie petitioners across the parish line. Louisiana-bar admission is required only for Louisiana state-court litigation and Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals proceedings — those pieces are referred to local LA counsel. The federal piece, which is the majority of tax-controversy work, does not require Louisiana admission.

Metairie is a census-designated place inside Jefferson Parish, not an incorporated municipality. There is no Metairie city council, no Metairie mayor, and no Metairie tax department. Jefferson Parish provides all local government services — the Sheriff bills property tax, the Assessor sets ad valorem values, and the General Government Building at 1221 Elmwood Park Boulevard administers parish sales tax. For federal tax purposes the CDP status is irrelevant; the IRS treats your address as Metairie, LA 70001 / 70002 / 70003 / 70005 / 70006 the same way it treats any other address. For state and local purposes, your tax obligations run to Jefferson Parish and to Louisiana, with no separate municipal layer.

Yes. Louisiana imposes a personal income tax under La. R.S. 47:32. The 2025 tax year transitioned from graduated brackets of 1.85%, 3.5%, and 4.25% to a flat 3% under HB 1 of the 2024 Third Extraordinary Session. Louisiana corporate income tax is a flat 3.5% under La. R.S. 47:287.12. Louisiana sales tax is 4.45% at the state level; Jefferson Parish adds 4.75% local plus other district add-ons, for a combined rate generally between 9.2% and 9.45% inside Metairie. Louisiana repealed its state inheritance tax effective July 1, 2008, so only federal estate tax applies at death — though Louisiana civil-law forced heirship and usufruct rules still affect how that federal estate tax is calculated.

New Orleans, roughly six miles east of central Metairie across the Orleans Parish line. The U.S. Tax Court calendars Louisiana trial sessions at the F. Edward Hebert Federal Building at 600 South Maestri Place and at the Lemann Federal Building at 600 Camp Street. A Metairie petitioner designates New Orleans as the preferred place of trial on the petition under Tax Court Rule 140. Pre-trial conferences and case-management work happen by phone or video; the only in-person appearance is calendar call and trial itself. Many Tax Court cases settle before reaching trial.

Louisiana is the only U.S. state operating under a civil-law system rooted in the Napoleonic Code rather than English common law. State substantive law determines property rights, which then plug into the federal tax framework. Three concepts come up repeatedly in Metairie tax cases: community property under La. R.S. 9:2334 means most income earned during marriage is jointly owned, which interacts with Innocent Spouse Relief under IRC §6015 and joint-and-several liability under IRC §6013(d)(3); usufruct and naked ownership split ownership in a way that affects who reports income from inherited property and how IRC §1014 step-up applies; and forced heirship under Civil Code article 1493 constrains testamentary planning and changes how the marital deduction under IRC §2056 is structured. Federal tax law applies the same in Louisiana as elsewhere, but the underlying property rights it attaches to are different.

Yes. The IRS audits federal income, federal employment, and federal excise tax. The Louisiana DOR audits state personal income tax under R.S. 47:32 (phasing to flat 3%), state corporate income tax under R.S. 47:287.12 at 3.5%, sales-and-use tax, and severance tax. The two agencies share information through information-exchange agreements, so an IRS Form 4549 adjustment frequently triggers an LDR notice within months. Federal adjustments must be reported to LDR within 180 days under La. R.S. 47:1565.1, with an extended state assessment window keyed to the federal change. A Metairie business can face simultaneous Form 941 IRS payroll exam and LDR sales-tax field audit.

Yes. Personal-use casualty losses are deductible under IRC §165(h) only when attributable to a federally declared disaster. Katrina (FEMA-1603-DR-LA, 2005), Rita (2005), Gustav (2008), Isaac (2012), Ida (FEMA-4611-DR-LA, 2021), and Francine (2024) all qualify. The deduction is the lesser of basis or fair-market-value decline, reduced by insurance and other recoveries, then by the $100 per casualty floor and the 10% of AGI floor. Some Metairie filers can amend prior-year returns under IRC §165(i) to claim the loss in the disaster year. Involuntary-conversion gain deferral under IRC §1033 is available where insurance proceeds exceed basis on damaged real property. Former IRC §1400N created Katrina-specific bonus depreciation and contribution limits that still echo through some older Metairie taxpayer accounts. The choice between disaster-year and following-year reporting changes the tax outcome materially.

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 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. Hurricane closures are an argument for reasonable cause on associated penalties, but the underlying trust-fund liability itself does not get a disaster pass. On the state side, Louisiana sales-tax responsible-person liability operates under similar principles for entities that collected state sales tax in trust and failed to remit.

Yes. IRC §7345 authorizes the IRS to certify "seriously delinquent" tax debt — currently $62,000 for 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 Offer in Compromise is in force, an active CDP hearing is pending, or Innocent Spouse Relief is in process. For Metairie airline crews flying international segments out of MSY, Schlumberger field engineers rotating to overseas projects, and Ochsner clinical-trial investigators with international research collaborations, decertification is often the most urgent step in the engagement.

For an Ochsner attending, Ochsner Cancer Institute principal investigator, or hospitalist working under a 1099-NEC contract, the tax stack is: federal income tax at progressive rates topping out at 37% (plus the 0.9% additional Medicare tax on wages and SE income above $200,000 single / $250,000 joint), plus 15.3% self-employment tax under IRC §1401 on the first $168,600 of net SE earnings (2024 figure; indexed), plus the 2.9% Medicare portion above that, plus Louisiana state income tax (transitioning to flat 3% under HB 1). Net effective rate frequently exceeds 43% before deductions. Quarterly estimates under IRC §6654 are mandatory; missing them triggers underpayment penalties. We routinely set up retirement-plan strategies (solo 401(k), SEP-IRA, defined-benefit plans where compensation supports it) and qualified-business-income deductions under IRC §199A where the specified-service-trade-or-business limits permit. Clinical-trial royalty income from Ochsner Cancer Institute trials reports separately on 1099-MISC.

For airline employees on aircraft moving in interstate or international commerce, 49 USC §40116(f) caps state income-tax sourcing at the state of residence and the state where the employee performs more than 50% of scheduled flight time. For a flight crew member based at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY) in Kenner who lives in Metairie, Louisiana generally taxes the full compensation as state of residence. For crew members who live out of state and pick up Metairie or Kenner trips, Louisiana taxes only the duty time clearly attributable to Louisiana under the 50% rule. Misallocation is a common audit issue for Delta, Southwest, United, and American crews at MSY. We coordinate with airline payroll departments to correct withholding and recover overpaid state tax across multiple years.

Two parallel federal regimes apply. FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) requires reporting if the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year. Form 8938 (FATCA) requires reporting on a Form 1040 attachment when asset thresholds are met — $50,000 for single filers living in the U.S., higher for joint filers and overseas residents. Income from foreign accounts (interest, dividends, capital gains) is taxable on Form 1040 even when not remitted to the U.S. For Vietnamese-American Metairie residents whose families relocated from Versailles in New Orleans East after Katrina — or from southern Vietnam in earlier resettlement waves — the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures provide a path to resolve non-willful past failures with reduced penalty exposure (generally 5% miscellaneous offshore penalty for U.S. residents; 0% for non-residents). Willful non-filing carries severe civil and criminal penalties. We handle Streamlined certifications and Form 8938 / FBAR back-filing as part of the federal engagement.

Louisiana is a community-property state under La. R.S. 9:2334 and Civil Code articles 2334 and following. Property acquired during marriage is presumed community unless one spouse can prove separate-property characterization (inheritance, donation, pre-marital acquisition). For Innocent Spouse Relief under IRC §6015, this matters two ways: first, the IRS evaluates whether the requesting spouse had "reason to know" of the understatement using state-property-law context; second, equitable-relief factors under IRC §6015(f) consider whether the requesting spouse benefited from the community income. A separation of property regime under La. C.C. art. 2370 can be filed to opt out of the community regime going forward, though it does not undo retroactive community characterization. We pull the relevant succession or matrimonial regime documents before drafting the Form 8857 narrative.

Possibly. Louisiana residency for tax purposes is a facts-and-circumstances determination, not just a day-count. LDR looks at where you maintain your homestead exemption, where your driver's license and vehicles are registered, where you vote, where your family doctor sits, where your children attend school, and where the family social and religious life centers. Moving to Texas or Florida to avoid Louisiana state income tax can succeed cleanly if the move is genuine — new homestead claimed in the new state, voter registration changed, driver's license updated, Louisiana homestead exemption released, social ties shifted. Hybrid moves where the spouse and children stay in Metairie while the working spouse takes a Texas address tend to fail residency audits. The reverse is true for California and New York transplants moving into Metairie — California Franchise Tax Board can keep claiming you for years after the move if you do not break ties cleanly. We coordinate the residency-break workpaper before LDR or FTB opens the file.

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 number of issues. A U.S. Tax Court petition with case workup and trial preparation generally starts at $6,000 and rises with complexity. We provide a written fee quote after the free consultation. Cal Bar Rule 7.1 prohibits price comparisons unless backed by verifiable substantiation, so we do not market on price — we market on the work product and the case files behind it.

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. An attorney handling your Metairie tax case retains the broader privilege that survives criminal investigation — a meaningful difference if the audit develops fraud indicators or if a referral to the IRS Criminal Investigation division becomes possible.

Yes, for Board litigation. The Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals operates under R.S. 47:1401 and following as an independent state-tax tribunal in Baton Rouge. Petitions to challenge a Louisiana Department of Revenue assessment must be filed within 30 days of the formal assessment under R.S. 47:1431. Representation before the Board generally requires Louisiana-licensed counsel or, for limited matters, an authorized representative under Board rules. Judicial review for Jefferson Parish cases proceeds in the 24th Judicial District Court in Gretna and requires Louisiana admission. VTL handles the federal side of overlapping Metairie matters and coordinates with Louisiana counsel for the Board piece. Many LDR disputes resolve at the protest stage with LDR's Litigation Division before any Board petition is filed.