Tax Attorney in Mississippi

Yes, but it is now a flat-rate tax that is in active phase-down. Mississippi imposes a flat 4.7% personal income tax for the 2024 tax year on taxable income above the standard-deduction-plus-personal-exemption floor under Miss. Code Title 27, Chapter 7. The flat rate replaces the prior 0%/3%/4%/5% bracketed structure under HB 531 (2022), HB 1733 (2024), and HB 1647 (2025). The rate is scheduled to step down further in subsequent years toward a longer-term policy goal of elimination; current taxpayers should verify the current-year rate with the Mississippi Department of Revenue or their preparer because the schedule has been amended several times. Federal income tax on Form 1040 with the IRS applies separately and in addition. Mississippi does not impose a local-option city or county income tax.

The U.S. Tax Court designates Jackson as the Mississippi place of trial. Jackson does not have a permanent courtroom; the specific session address is published with each notice of trial. A petitioner designates the preferred place of trial under Tax Court Rule 140; cases from Gulfport, Biloxi, Hattiesburg, Tupelo, Meridian, Greenville, Pascagoula, and elsewhere in the state route to Jackson when no closer session is available. Gulf Coast petitioners sometimes elect a New Orleans place of trial when the calendar timing favors that session over Jackson — the Tax Court permits a petitioner to designate any place of trial under Rule 140, though the Court retains discretion to schedule the case where the docket allows.

Under Miss. Code §27-7-49, the Department of Revenue generally has three years from the date the return was due or filed (whichever is later) to assess additional income tax. Fraud, false returns, omissions exceeding 25% of gross income, and unfiled returns leave the assessment period open indefinitely. Once a Notice of Final Assessment is entered, the Department generally has seven years from the date the assessment becomes final to collect under Miss. Code §27-7-55. Sales-and-use tax follows the same three-year assessment window under Miss. Code §27-65-42. The Mississippi seven-year collection window is shorter than the federal ten-year CSED under IRC §6502.

Yes. The IRS examines federal income, employment, and excise tax. The Mississippi Department of Revenue examines state personal income tax, the Corporate Income Tax, the Corporate Franchise Tax (during the phase-out), and state sales-and-use tax. A Mississippi resident or business can simultaneously face a federal IRS exam and a state audit. The two agencies share information through the federal-state information-exchange program, and a federal adjustment is reportable to Mississippi within a fixed window after the federal determination becomes final under Miss. Code §27-7-51.

Yes. The Mississippi Department of Revenue accepts Offers in Compromise under Miss. Code §27-75-16 and the corresponding administrative rules. The state OIC is available where doubt as to liability exists, doubt as to collectibility exists, or where collection in full would create economic hardship — tracking the three IRC §7122 grounds. The application requires the Department's offer form and supporting financial disclosure. Acceptance is discretionary with the Commissioner of Revenue and is generally cross-checked against any active or accepted federal OIC for the same taxpayer. The federal IRS OIC remains the principal mechanism for resolving a federal balance, and the state OIC is most often used to mop up the parallel state liability after a federal acceptance.

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 the days for any tolling events: pending OICs, CDP hearings, bankruptcy stays, and so on. The IRS publishes the CSED 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 collection enforcement near the CSED is common.

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 Mississippi side, unpaid state withholding under Miss. Code §27-7-345 carries similar personal-responsibility exposure for officers, members, and managers. Coast hospitality closures, Tunica casino-vendor failures, Delta catfish-processing wind-downs, and Tier-2 auto-supplier shutdowns around Nissan Canton produce a recurring stream of TFRP cases.

Yes. IRC §7345 authorizes the IRS to certify "seriously delinquent" tax debt — $62,000 for 2026, indexed for inflation — to the State Department, which may then deny passport renewal or revoke an active passport. The certification reverses when the debt is paid, an IA is in place, an accepted OIC is in force, an active CDP hearing is pending, or Innocent Spouse Relief is in process. Mississippi Ingalls Shipbuilding international engineering staff, Nissan Canton personnel rotating to Japan, Mississippi State and Ole Miss faculty with overseas research, and Gulf Coast casino executives with Asian-market gaming responsibilities face material exposure. Decertification can be processed in 30 days or less in many cases.

Mississippi imposes a 7% state sales tax under Miss. Code §27-65-17 — the highest state-only sales-tax rate in the United States. Unlike Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee, Mississippi limits local add-ons. The City of Jackson imposes a 1% capital-improvement sales tax under Miss. Code §27-65-241, and Tupelo and certain other municipalities impose narrow tourism-and-convention taxes, but most of the state runs at the flat 7%. The combined statewide retail sales tax generally falls between 7% and 8%. Personal liability for unpaid Mississippi sales tax under Miss. Code §27-65-55 attaches to officers, members, and managers in a manner that parallels the federal Trust Fund Recovery Penalty under IRC §6672.

The Corporate Franchise Tax, codified at Miss. Code Title 27, Chapter 13, is an annual tax on the privilege of doing business in Mississippi as a corporation or other taxable entity. It is being phased out under HB 1733, dropping from the historical $2.50 per $1,000 of taxable capital toward $0.25 per $1,000 by 2028, with full elimination contemplated thereafter. The tax has not been eliminated yet, and inactive Mississippi corporations and LLCs that remain in good standing with the Secretary of State continue to owe annual franchise tax until they formally dissolve. We routinely uncover several years of unpaid franchise tax when winding down dormant Mississippi entities, often paired with unfiled federal returns. Filing for formal dissolution with the Mississippi Secretary of State, plus a final franchise-tax return, is what stops the meter.

The Mississippi Board of Tax Appeals is an independent state agency, codified at Miss. Code Title 27, Chapter 4 and Chapter 77, that functions as Mississippi's tax appeals tribunal. A taxpayer dissatisfied with a Department of Revenue final assessment first goes through the Department's internal Board of Review, then files an appeal with the BTA. The BTA hears state income tax, Corporate Franchise Tax, sales-and-use tax, and other state-tax matters. Appeals from BTA decisions go to Hinds County Chancery Court under Miss. Code §27-77-7, then to the Mississippi Court of Appeals and Mississippi Supreme Court. The BTA does not hear federal IRS matters — those go to the U.S. Tax Court.

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. An attorney handling your tax case retains the broader privilege that survives criminal investigation.

Insurance proceeds on a federally declared disaster are not automatically excluded from federal income. The general rule is that proceeds in excess of the property's adjusted basis create gain. IRC §1033 permits deferral of that gain if the proceeds are reinvested in similar property within a two-year window (extended to four years for principal residences in federally declared disaster areas, and to five years under certain disaster-relief acts). Gulf Coast clients with Hurricane Katrina, Zeta, or Ida insurance settlements who rebuilt timely qualified for §1033 deferral; those who took cash and did not rebuild within the window faced current-year capital gains. Casualty-loss deductions for the unrecovered portion are available under IRC §165(h) but only for federally declared disasters since the 2017 TCJA. We resolve the federal-tax treatment of insurance settlements, gain deferral, and the interaction with prior depreciation recapture on rental and commercial property.

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.

For the Mississippi Board of Tax Appeals, taxpayers may represent themselves or be represented by an attorney admitted in Mississippi (or, for certain matters, by a CPA or other qualified representative under BTA procedural rules). Appeals from the BTA to Hinds County Chancery Court and then the Mississippi appellate courts generally require an attorney admitted to the Mississippi Bar. VTL handles the federal side of any overlapping matter and coordinates with Mississippi counsel where BTA litigation or state-court appeal is necessary. Many Mississippi Department of Revenue matters resolve at the Board of Review administrative stage without ever reaching the BTA, and many of those resolutions are driven by what is happening in the parallel federal IRS case.