Tax Attorney in Plano, TX

No to both. Texas has no personal income tax — the Texas Constitution requires a statewide voter referendum to impose one. Plano has no city wage tax either. What the city and county do levy is ad valorem property tax (collected by the Collin County Tax Assessor-Collector at 2300 Bloomdale Road in McKinney) and a 1% local sales tax that combines with the 6.25% state rate plus 1% Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) for an 8.25% Plano combined rate. Federal income tax under IRC Subtitle A still applies in full to Plano residents through Form 1040 filings with the IRS.

Yes. The California Franchise Tax Board applies the nine-factor residency test from FTB Publication 1031 and routinely audits former Californians for years after a Texas move — particularly where the taxpayer kept a California home, family ties, professional licenses, voter registration, or vehicle registration in California. Plano is the single largest receiving suburb for California departures, so the FTB watches the corridor closely. The departing-resident audit can reach the year of departure and any year the taxpayer maintained meaningful California contacts. Cal. R&T §19255 gives the FTB twenty years to collect any assessed liability. VTL is admitted to the California bar and handles these residency audits directly, which is a credential most Texas-based federal tax counsel cannot offer.

RSU vesting is taxed as ordinary income under IRC §83 when the shares vest, with employer supplemental withholding capped at 22% for the first $1M of supplemental wages and 37% above that — which leaves a gap if your marginal rate is higher. The standard playbook: (1) confirm the vested-share basis on the W-2 and the broker 1099-B match (this is where most CP2000 notices originate); (2) file the return on time even if you cannot pay; (3) request a Streamlined Installment Agreement if the balance is under $50,000 or a Non-Streamlined IA above that; (4) consider a partial-pay structure if the balance and your runway justify it. If the RSU grant traces to California services from before your Plano arrival, watch the FTB sourcing question under Cal. R&T §17041 in parallel.

It depends on the case type. U.S. Tax Court trial sessions for Texas are held in Dallas at the Earle Cabell Federal Building, 1100 Commerce Street — that is where a Plano deficiency petition is calendared after the 90-day filing window under IRC §6213(a). Refund suits, federal-tax-lien foreclosures, and criminal-tax matters proceed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, at 101 E Pecan Street, Sherman, TX. This is a frequent point of confusion because Plano is metropolitan Dallas but Collin County sits in the Eastern District, not the Northern District. The IRS Appeals office covering Plano is the Dallas-Fort Worth Appeals function, which is administrative and not affected by the district boundary.

IRC §911 lets a U.S. citizen or resident alien who meets either the bona-fide residence test or the physical-presence test (330 full days in a foreign country during a 12-month period) exclude up to an inflation-indexed amount of foreign earned income ($126,500 for 2024, indexed). Toyota's tax-equalization program complicates this because the corporate gross-up is treated as additional U.S.-source wages, and the interaction with the U.S.-Japan tax treaty resourcing rules can change the answer year to year. We file Form 2555 and coordinate with the foreign tax credit position under IRC §901 where the §911 exclusion does not cover the full amount. Japan-side bank accounts also trigger FBAR (FinCEN 114) reporting at $10,000 aggregate.

Under Tex. Tax Code §111.201, the Comptroller generally has four years from the date a tax becomes due to assess the deficiency. The period is extended where the return was not filed, where fraud is found, or where the taxpayer signs a written waiver. Texas has no state PIT, so there is no individual-income-tax SOL to worry about. The federal IRS Collection Statute Expiration Date (10 years from assessment under IRC §6502) runs independently from any state SOL. Plano residents with California audit exposure should also track Cal. R&T §19255, which gives the FTB twenty years to collect.

Probably yes. FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) applies to U.S. persons with signature authority or financial interest in foreign accounts whose aggregate value exceeded $10,000 at any point during the calendar year. Form 8938 under IRC §6038D applies above higher thresholds ($50,000 single / $100,000 joint at year-end for U.S. residents, more for foreign residents). NRE and NRO accounts in India both count. If you missed prior years and the failure is non-willful, the IRS Streamlined Domestic Offshore Procedures (5% miscellaneous offshore penalty on the highest aggregate balance) or Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures (0% penalty) can bring you current with three years of returns and six years of FBARs. Willful non-filing under 31 U.S.C. §5321(a)(5) reaches 50% of the highest balance per account per year, with no statute on willful conduct.

Texas does not operate a formal OIC program in the way the federal IRS does under IRC §7122. The Texas Comptroller may negotiate settlements of disputed liabilities, accept payment plans, and waive penalties for reasonable cause under Tex. Tax Code §111.103. For the federal side, the IRS OIC remains the standard mechanism for resolving a balance for less than the full amount when collectibility or liability is genuinely in doubt. The state and federal processes proceed on parallel tracks when both balances exist.

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, Innocent Spouse claims, and continuous absences from the United States. The IRS publishes the CSED date internally on its CC ACTRA transcript; we pull this for clients as part of every Plano engagement. The practical impact is significant — a debt assessed in 2016 may be approaching expiration in 2026, and aggressive 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 employee 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. The Texas Workforce Commission state-unemployment side is separate. The Texas Comptroller sales-tax responsible-person liability operates under similar principles for entities that collect sales tax in trust.

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 Installment Agreement is in place, an accepted OIC is in force, an active CDP hearing is pending, or Innocent Spouse Relief is in process. For Toyota North America executives rotating to Aichi, JPMorgan Legacy West staff with overseas desks, Indian H-1B/L-1 professionals visiting family abroad, and FedEx Office leadership traveling globally, decertification is often urgent and can be processed in 30 days or less once the right vehicle is in place.

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 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. A California departing-resident audit on the FTB side is quoted separately because the workup, the residency-factor analysis, and the OTA path are distinct work product. VTL provides a written fee quote after the free consultation. Cal Bar Rule 7.1 limits comparative claims, 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 Enrolled Agents but does not extend to criminal-tax matters. An attorney handling your federal tax case retains the broader privilege that survives a criminal-investigation transition.

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 administrative redetermination at the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings, taxpayers may represent themselves or be represented by an attorney, a CPA, or another authorized representative under Comptroller rules — Texas-bar admission is not required at SOAH. For judicial review proceeding in Travis County district court, an attorney admitted in Texas is required. VTL handles the federal side of overlapping matters and coordinates with Texas counsel where state-court litigation is necessary. Many Comptroller franchise-tax and sales-tax disputes resolve at the SOAH stage without ever reaching state court.