The RegistryPractice Area · Statewide
Find Tax Lawyers in California
Counsel for the IRS and the FTB: audits, liens, and negotiated resolutions. This is the statewide record for tax in California: every attorney on the State Bar of California's official roll whose published practice reaches this area, shown in neutral directory order.
Californians search this field under many names · tax attorney, tax lawyer, irs audit lawyer, irs tax attorney, tax debt attorney · and the registry answers all of them from the same source. Below: the governing deadline with its citation, what to weigh as you read the record, the questions Californians ask with the code sections that answer them, and tax coverage county by county, from Del Norte to San Diego.
The clock & the craft
The IRS generally has three years from filing to assess additional tax; the FTB has four (Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 19057).
26 U.S.C. § 6501
Substantial omissions double the federal window to six years (26 U.S.C. § 6501(e)); no return or fraud means no limit. A Tax Court petition must follow a notice of deficiency within 90 days (26 U.S.C. § 6213).
Reading the roster
Tax controversy is a paper-and-deadline practice: bring every notice, with dates, to a first consultation, because appeal windows (90 days for Tax Court, 60 for an FTB protest) drive everything. Look for attorneys who practice before the IRS, FTB, EDD, and CDTFA regularly, ask whether your matter is an audit defense, a collection resolution, or litigation, and confirm who (attorney, CPA, or enrolled agent) will handle each stage. Attorney-client privilege is a genuine differentiator when fraud exposure is possible.
Tax · statewide roster
4,308 attorneys on the official State Bar of California roll list tax among their practice areas, with an address of record in 48 of California's 58 counties.
4,088 of them hold an active licence; the remainder are recorded as inactive and are not currently eligible to practise.
The largest county rosters are Los Angeles (1,215), San Francisco (578), Orange (467), San Diego (451) and Santa Clara (302).
325 hold a State Bar Certified Legal Specialist designation, a certification issued by the State Bar's Board of Legal Specialization, and not a rating or a ranking.
203 are recorded as taking client work in a language other than English.
Tax matters in California
The matters this field covers, as Californians search for them. Each attorney's own profile states which of these they take.
- IRS and FTB audits
- tax debt and installment agreements
- offers in compromise
- unfiled tax returns
- payroll tax problems
- sales tax (CDTFA) audits
- tax liens and levies
- innocent spouse relief
- tax court litigation
- cryptocurrency and foreign account reporting
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Tax questions, cited
How far back can the IRS or the California FTB audit me?
The IRS generally has three years from the return's filing to assess more tax (26 U.S.C. § 6501), extended to six years when income is understated by more than 25% (§ 6501(e)) and unlimited for fraud or unfiled returns. The California Franchise Tax Board has four years (Cal. Rev. & Tax. Code § 19057), and California has no collection-barring statute comparable to the IRS's ten-year rule until 20 years after assessment (§ 19255).
What can I do if I cannot pay my tax debt?
Both agencies offer structured resolutions: installment agreements (26 U.S.C. § 6159), offers in compromise settling the debt for less than owed where collection potential is limited (26 U.S.C. § 7122; FTB equivalent under Rev. & Tax. Code § 19443), and currently-not-collectible status. Penalty abatement for reasonable cause is separately available. Ignoring notices forfeits appeal rights that are often the real leverage.
What is the deadline to challenge an IRS notice of deficiency?
Ninety days from the notice date to petition the U.S. Tax Court (26 U.S.C. § 6213), the only forum where you can litigate before paying. Miss it, and the tax is assessed; challenge then requires paying first and suing for a refund (26 U.S.C. § 7422). California FTB deficiency protests run 60 days (Rev. & Tax. Code § 19041), with appeals to the Office of Tax Appeals.
Am I responsible for my spouse's tax debt?
Joint filers are jointly and severally liable (26 U.S.C. § 6013(d)(3)), but innocent spouse relief under 26 U.S.C. § 6015 can relieve a spouse who did not know of understatements and for whom liability would be inequitable; California mirrors this in Rev. & Tax. Code § 18533. Community property rules complicate separate filings in California, which is one reason these cases benefit from counsel.
When does unpaid payroll tax become personal liability?
When the business fails to remit withheld taxes, the IRS can assess the trust fund recovery penalty, 100% of the unremitted amount, personally against any "responsible person" who willfully failed to pay (26 U.S.C. § 6672). California's EDD imposes similar personal liability (Cal. Unemp. Ins. Code § 1735). Owners, officers, and even bookkeepers with check-signing authority can be reached.
Legal information, not legal advice.
From the answer files
Tax in all 58 counties
Tax by city
Adjacent shelves of the law
Full Tax rosters, by surname
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Find Your Counsel278,688 attorneys · 58 counties · Official State Bar records