Tax Attorney in Nashville, TN

No. Tennessee repealed the Hall Income Tax effective January 1, 2021, becoming the last U.S. state to eliminate its dedicated investment-income tax on individuals. There is no Tennessee personal income tax on wages, no Tennessee capital-gains tax, and no Tennessee state-level wage withholding. Tennessee businesses still face Franchise Tax under Tenn. Code §67-4-2105 ($0.25 per $100 of net worth), Excise Tax under Tenn. Code §67-4-2007 (6.5% of net earnings), Business Tax under Tenn. Code §67-4-708 on gross receipts, sales-and-use tax of 9.25% combined in Davidson County, and Realty Transfer Tax of $0.37 per $100 under Tenn. Code §67-4-409. Federal income tax filed on Form 1040 with the IRS applies in full.

The U.S. Tax Court holds Nashville trial sessions at the Estes Kefauver Federal Building at 801 Broadway, Nashville TN 37203. A petitioner designates Nashville as the preferred place of trial on the petition under Tax Court Rule 140. Sessions are scheduled on rotation rather than monthly. Small-tax-case procedure under IRC §7463 is available for deficiencies of $50,000 or less per year per period and uses simplified evidentiary rules. The same building houses the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center and the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.

Performing-rights organization distributions arrive on Form 1099-MISC, generally Box 2 (royalties) for songwriter and publisher payments. The IRS treats songwriter royalty income as ordinary income from the trade or business of music creation, reported on Schedule E or on Schedule C for active self-publishers. A loan-out S-corporation holding the copyrights routes the income through Form 1120-S, K-1, and Form 1040 with W-2 reasonable compensation to the songwriter-shareholder. Mechanical royalties paid by Sony Music Nashville, Warner Music Nashville, Universal Music Nashville Group, Big Machine, or Curb show on a separate label 1099. The IRS Automated Underreporter program runs PRO-and-label totals against Schedule E and Schedule C lines on a recurring basis — mismatches generate CP2000 notices that can be expensive to ignore.

Almost always taxable in the year received under the constructive-receipt doctrine in IRC §451 and the cash-method rules in Treas. Reg. §1.451-1. A recoupable advance that the label reports on Form 1099-MISC is treated as taxable income; the "recoupment" is an offset against future royalties, not a loan. Some narrow situations — a true loan documented with bona fide repayment terms, a refundable advance with a clear repayment clock, or a deferred-comp arrangement structured under IRC §409A — can defer recognition, but those structures must be in place at the time of payment and rarely apply to standard Music Row songwriter deals. The IRS frequently audits this exact pattern.

Two recurring issues. First, default supplemental withholding on RSU vests is 22% (federal) plus 1.45% Medicare and an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% above income thresholds. For an HCA executive in the top federal bracket, 22% withholding under-collects the actual rate and the April balance can run six figures. Second, broker 1099-B basis reporting on RSU sales frequently understates basis — the broker reports cost basis equal to the exercise or vest payment only, leaving out the ordinary-income amount already in Form W-2 Box 12 V codes. Filing Schedule D without adjusting the basis effectively double-counts the income. We pull the supplemental statement, the vest history, and the W-2 alongside the 1099-B to fix the reporting before the IRS Automated Underreporter system flags it.

If you are a U.S. person (citizen, lawful permanent resident, or substantial-presence-test resident) and the aggregate value of your foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year, yes — FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) is required, filed separately from your Form 1040 via the BSA E-Filing System. Japanese accounts that count include Mizuho, MUFG, SMBC, Japan Post Bank (Yucho), Nomura, Rakuten, and most other Japanese banks and brokerages. FATCA Form 8938 is filed with the Form 1040 if higher thresholds are met. Penalties for willful non-filing under 31 USC §5321(a)(5) reach the greater of $10,000 or 50% of account balance per year, and the post-Bittner Supreme Court ruling clarified that non-willful penalties run per form, not per account. Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures are sometimes available for taxpayers who can certify non-willful conduct.

Three federal items recur on Davidson County STR audits. First, IRC §280A limits deductions when personal use exceeds the greater of 14 days or 10% of rental days — many Nashville owners trip the personal-use clock during CMA Fest, the Fourth of July, or Predators playoff runs. Second, if the average rental period is seven days or less, the activity is not "rental" for passive-loss purposes — it is a trade or business under Treas. Reg. §1.469-1T(e)(3), which means material-participation testing under IRC §469 controls whether losses are deductible. Third, schedule and depreciation classification — furniture, fixtures, and the 27.5-year residential schedule versus cost-segregation acceleration under IRC §168 — is frequently mishandled on the original return and reopened on audit. On top of the federal layer, Metro Nashville STR registration under Title 17 of the Metro Code and the combined 15.25% occupancy-tax rate (state, county, city, and Metro Convention Center tax) create their own compliance exposure.

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. 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 — founders, head-of-finance, even an outside bookkeeper in narrow fact patterns. For Lower Broadway venues and Music Row studios, this often catches multiple people because operating authority and check-signing authority overlap. On the state side, Tenn. Code §67-6-538 imposes personal liability on persons responsible for unpaid Tennessee sales tax, which Lower Broadway honky-tonks frequently face alongside the federal exposure.

Yes. IRC §7345 authorizes the IRS to certify "seriously delinquent" tax debt — currently $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. Touring musicians with international dates, Japanese expat engineers rotating back to Tokyo or Yokohama, HCA Healthcare physicians on overseas medical assignments, and Vanderbilt research staff attending European conferences all face real revocation exposure. Decertification typically processes within 30 days once a qualifying resolution is in place.

Tennessee is one of a small number of states without a dedicated tax court. A contested assessment first goes through informal conference at the Tennessee Department of Revenue Hearing Office at 500 Deaderick Street. The Department issues a written determination. Taxpayers dissatisfied with the determination file suit in Davidson County Chancery Court under Tenn. Code §67-1-1801, which is the standard venue for judicial review of TN DOR decisions. Pay-then-sue and pay-under-protest options exist depending on the tax type. VTL handles the administrative-conference stage remotely under a Tennessee DOR power of attorney. If the case proceeds to Chancery Court litigation, we coordinate with Tennessee-admitted counsel and stay engaged on parallel federal issues.

Almost certainly yes. Tennessee imposes a combined Franchise Tax under Tenn. Code §67-4-2105 at $0.25 per $100 of net worth (minimum $100) plus an Excise Tax under Tenn. Code §67-4-2007 at 6.5% of net earnings on virtually every entity doing business in Tennessee — LLCs, S-corps, C-corps, and most LLPs. The combined return is filed on Form FAE 170 with the Tennessee Department of Revenue. A loan-out S-corp earning royalty income through Music Row publishing deals is doing business in Tennessee for franchise-and-excise purposes and owes both taxes. The federal pass-through treatment of S-corp income does not save you at the Tennessee state-tax level — Tennessee taxes the S-corp itself on its earnings, not the shareholder. Some narrow entities (general partnerships, sole proprietorships, certain non-business entities) are exempt; we evaluate the structure before assuming.

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 case complexity. A combined federal-plus-FBAR Streamlined Offshore filing for a Japanese expat or Kurdish-American family runs higher because it involves multiple years and a non-willful certification narrative. 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, third-party presence). 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 tax-shelter communications. An attorney handling your tax case retains the broader privilege that survives a Criminal Investigation Division referral, which matters significantly if a civil audit shifts to a criminal track — a common concern in offshore-account and music-industry cash-economy matters.

Yes, generally. IRC §6331(k)(1) suspends levy action while an offer is pending and for 30 days after a rejection, plus 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 — the lien is not a levy. CSED is also tolled during pendency, which can matter when the original ten-year clock is close to expiring. A poorly-prepared OIC that gets returned (not rejected) does not provide the same protection — processability matters, and Forms 433-A(OIC) and 433-B(OIC) must be technically complete.

For informal administrative conference at the Tennessee Department of Revenue Hearing Office, taxpayers may be represented by an attorney, a CPA, or another authorized representative who holds a valid TN DOR power of attorney. No Tennessee bar admission is required for that stage. VTL handles the agency-side work remotely. For judicial review in Davidson County Chancery Court under Tenn. Code §67-1-1801, an attorney admitted in Tennessee is required. Many TN DOR disputes resolve at the administrative stage without ever reaching Chancery Court. When a case does proceed to litigation, we coordinate with Tennessee counsel and remain engaged on the federal track and on the strategic side of the state matter.