Tax Court Appeals

This is the place of last resort. You have exhausted the time-wasting office or field audit appeal and this is the end of the road. An appeal to this level is something I always look forward to [nervously]. In all of my Tax Court appeals, I have always been treated professionally and have won all appeals.

The Tax Court is a distinctly separate level of government, not directly connected to the IRS to achieve true independence. They sometimes wear neckties with little baby eagles on them [Treasury Department birds] which tells you who they work for. The people at this level are the best [promoted] of the auditors from office and field. They are to be respected for their endurance with the ever-expanding tax code. Remember always, the IRS does not create the tax laws, the people you elect in Congress do.

They are the enforcers of the tax code for better or worse. In years past they would digest a lot of small data during the presentation. In my last Tax Court case we bluntly discussed the tax code numbers and merits of both sides of the case. At this level, there is a lot of pressure to settle the case before it actually goes to trial and everybody suffers the expense and experience of the hazards of litigation.

The process can take many months depending on the complexity of the case. My last case was one year from the initial audit to the Tax Court appeal settlement. Oh, I forgot to mention that I will not take a frivolous case to Tax Court.

We have handled hundreds of audits from payroll taxes, workmen’s compensation, sales tax, IRS federal and state income taxes.

A recent office audit by the small business task force in San Bernardino was with "no change" audit results.

• Office audits, field audits, SC2000 audits, mail audits, and tax court audit appeals.

• Phil has a 100% success rate winning in tax court.

• Complete understanding of what causes audit probability and DIF scores.

* Phillip B Chute is an Enrolled Agent, tested, licensed and appointed by the IRS directly. He has prepared or supervised over 25,000 tax returns over 30 years.