Tax Attorney in Miami, FL

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 Miami, through a Form 2848 Power of Attorney. The U.S. Tax Court admits attorneys on a national basis and holds trial sessions in Miami at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse. Florida-Bar admission is required for Florida state-court litigation, which is uncommon in tax-resolution work because most federal tax cases never reach Florida state court.

No personal income tax. Florida is one of nine states with no state-level personal income tax, and the Florida Constitution prohibits a state income tax on natural persons. Florida does impose a 5.5% corporate income tax under Chapter 220 on most C corporations doing business in the state, a 6% state sales-and-use tax under Chapter 212 (plus the 1% Miami-Dade discretionary surtax, for a 7% effective rate in Miami), and Documentary Stamp Tax under Chapter 201 on deeds and mortgages. Miami individuals deal with federal IRS issues; Miami businesses deal with both federal IRS and Florida DOR exposure.

The U.S. Tax Court holds Miami trial sessions at the Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 400 N. Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33128. The Tax Court calendars Miami sessions throughout the year; specific session dates appear on the Court's published calendar at ustaxcourt.gov. A petitioner designates Miami as the preferred place of trial on the petition under Tax Court Rule 140. The Court also holds sessions in Tampa, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee for Florida petitioners closer to those metros.

Almost certainly yes. If the aggregate balance of all foreign financial accounts you own or have signature authority over exceeds $10,000 at any point during the year, you must file FinCEN Form 114 (the FBAR) under 31 USC §5314 by the federal income-tax filing deadline (automatic extension to October 15). If the year-end balance exceeds $50,000 for single filers or $100,000 for joint filers (higher thresholds for filers living abroad), you also file Form 8938 with your federal tax return under IRC §6038D. Brazilian, Venezuelan, Argentine, Colombian, Mexican, and Spanish accounts held by Miami residents make up the largest single component of our offshore-disclosure practice. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures or IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice resolve non-willful and willful prior failures, respectively.

Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures (SFCP) is an IRS program for taxpayers whose failure to report foreign income or file FBARs was non-willful. There are two tracks: Streamlined Domestic Offshore (for U.S. residents) requires three years of amended returns, six years of FBARs, and a 5% miscellaneous penalty calculated on the highest aggregate year-end balance of foreign assets across the covered period. Streamlined Foreign Offshore (for U.S. citizens living abroad meeting the non-residency test) requires the same filings but carries no Title 26 or Title 31 civil penalty at all. Eligibility turns on non-willfulness — a fact-specific determination that we evaluate during the consultation. Miami clients account for a substantial share of national SFCP volume given the city's Latin-American banking concentration.

Yes — they audit different taxes. The IRS examines federal income tax, federal employment tax, and federal excise tax. The Florida DOR examines state corporate income tax, sales-and-use tax, Documentary Stamp Tax, and reemployment tax. A Miami business can simultaneously face an IRS Form 941 payroll audit and a Florida DOR sales-tax audit on short-term-rental remittance. The two agencies share information through information-exchange agreements, and an adjustment in one forum often triggers a second look in the other.

Cryptocurrency is property for federal tax purposes (IRS Notice 2014-21). Every disposition — sale, exchange of one coin for another, payment for goods or services, hard-fork airdrop — is a taxable event under IRC §1001 and Rev. Rul. 2019-24. Gain or loss is the difference between the fair market value received and your basis in the coin. Short-term gains (held one year or less) are taxed at ordinary rates up to 37%; long-term gains at 0/15/20%. Net Investment Income Tax under IRC §1411 adds 3.8% above the threshold. Miami had no state income tax, so federal rates are the full picture for individuals. New broker reporting on Form 1099-DA begins in 2026 for dispositions, which will tighten the IRS matching loop substantially.

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. On the state side, Florida sales-tax responsible-person liability under Fla. Stat. §213.29 operates under similar principles for entities that collected sales tax in trust and failed to remit — with a penalty equal to 200% of the unpaid tax.

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 Miami business owners who travel frequently to Latin America, cruise-line executives, and dual-citizen households that commute between Miami and São Paulo, Caracas, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, or Mexico City, decertification is often the most urgent step in the engagement.

Employer withholding on RSU vests defaults to the 22% supplemental federal rate for income up to $1 million per year, then 37% above that threshold. The 22% rate frequently under-withholds the actual marginal rate of a high-earner Brickell finance professional at Citadel, Apollo, Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, or Millennium. Add the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax under IRC §1411 on portfolio gains, the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax under IRC §3101(b)(2) on wages above $200,000 single / $250,000 joint, and quarterly-estimate shortfalls under IRC §6654, and the April balance can hit six or seven figures. Florida's lack of a personal income tax helps relative to peers in New York or California, but the federal piece still needs precise quarterly-estimate planning.

The Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act (FIRPTA), codified at IRC §897 and §1445, treats a foreign person's gain on the sale of U.S. real property as effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business and therefore taxable. To enforce collection, §1445 requires the buyer to withhold 15% of the gross sales price (10% in some primary-residence sub-thresholds) and remit it to the IRS through Forms 8288 and 8288-A. The seller then files a U.S. return to true up the actual tax and claim any over-withholding as a refund. A §1445 Withholding Certificate application can reduce the withholding at closing if the actual liability is materially lower. Miami's foreign-buyer-heavy Brickell, South Beach, Aventura, and Sunny Isles condo markets generate the largest FIRPTA caseload in the country.

Yes. Personal-use casualty losses are deductible under IRC §165(h) only when attributable to a federally declared disaster. Hurricane Ian (FEMA-4673-DR-FL in 2022), Hurricane Idalia (FEMA-4734-DR-FL in 2023), Hurricane Helene (FEMA-4828-DR-FL in 2024), and Hurricane Milton (FEMA-4834-DR-FL in 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 Miami filers can still amend prior-year returns under IRC §165(i) to claim the loss in the disaster year. The choice between disaster-year and following-year reporting changes the tax outcome materially.

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. A Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures submission depends on the number of accounts and years involved, generally $5,000 to $12,000. 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 Miami tax case retains the broader privilege that survives criminal investigation — a meaningful difference if an FBAR audit or offshore-account exam develops willfulness indicators.

Yes, generally. IRC §6331(k)(1) suspends levy action while a processable 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 your Miami bank account or wages while the Offer is being evaluated. However, the IRS may still file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien during the OIC pendency to protect its position in your Miami-Dade real estate or other assets. The CSED is also tolled during the pendency. A poorly-prepared OIC that gets returned (not rejected) does not provide the same protection — processability is the key threshold.

For administrative protests within the Florida DOR and informal conferences, taxpayers may represent themselves or be represented by an attorney, a CPA, or another authorized representative. For formal proceedings at the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings under Fla. Stat. Chapter 120, the same flexibility generally applies. For judicial review proceeding in Florida circuit court, an attorney admitted in Florida is required. VTL handles the federal side of overlapping Miami matters under Form 2848 and coordinates with Florida counsel where state-court litigation is necessary. Most DOR disputes resolve at the administrative-protest or DOAH stage without ever reaching circuit court.

A Miami Tax Court trial is a bench trial — no jury — before a Judge or Special Trial Judge of the U.S. Tax Court. 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 simplified evidentiary standards.