Welcome to the tax law website for Riverside and the surrounding cities, brought to you by Dennis M. Sandoval, A Professional Law Corporation. Under the guidance of Dennis Sandoval, the only attorney in California who holds three certifications in the areas of Estate Planning, Taxation and Elder Law, our firm has established itself as one of the premier tax controversy law firms serving the Inland Empire. This website, as well as our firm’s other websites, contain a wealth of information for consumers and financial professionals.

Taxpayers Have Rights!

One of the most dreaded experiences for most people is seeing a communication from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or another taxing authority in your mailbox. The thought of the IRS, California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), State Board of Equalization (SBE), or the California Employment Development Department (EDD) chasing after you sends shivers down your spine.

When you have a tax debt, the IRS, FTB, SBE or EDD have many weapons at their disposal. For example, they can:

• File a tax lien
• Levy on a bank account or your brokerage account
• Levy on your wages
• Hire a private debt collector on commission to collect your tax debt
• Seize tax refunds to satisfy your tax debts, or
• Seize and sell your other assets

Any of these actions can devastate both your financial and emotional well being. If the IRS or state taxing authority serves a tax levy or tax seizure on your employer, your employer would be required to begin paying a portion of your salary to the taxing authority. Depending on the number of dependants you have you could be left with only a small portion of your salary to live on. An employer that does not comply with an levy or seizure can be held personally liable for your tax debt.

A taxing authority can take some or all of your bank or brokerage account to pay your tax debt. The can even levy on your IRA or pension. If you own a business, the taxing authority can even contact your customers, inform them of your tax debt and seize your accounts receivable.

However, as a taxpayer, you have rights, including the right to consult a tax controversy attorney.

As the leading tax controversy law firm headquartered in Riverside, we understand that dealing with a tax problem, whether it is a tax audit by the IRS, a California sales tax audit by the SBE, or a payroll tax problem with the EDD, can be a very stressful experience. Therefore, our tax lawyers work not only to minimize the taxes our clients owe, but also to reduce their stress by taking the weight of dealing with the IRS on a day-to-day basis off their shoulders.

There are many excellent California tax attorneys. However, there are very few attorneys who are Certified Taxation Law Specialists certified by the California Bar Board of Legal Specialization. Dennis Sandoval is the only Certified Taxation Law Specialist in Riverside, one of only three such attorneys in Riverside County and one of only eight Certified Taxation Law Specialists in the entire Inland Empire. Most tax attorneys can help you with tax planning. They can tell you how to most efficiently plan your affairs to lower your taxes, and how to prevent tax problems from occurring. However, relatively few lawyers are tax controversy attorneys. Tax controversy attorneys represent clients who have tax problems with the IRS or state taxing agencies. For example, if you or your company undergoes a tax audit, one of our attorneys can represent you at that audit, or in any tax appeal from that tax audit. Our attorneys can also represent you in the United States Tax Court, or any other appropriate court which may include the United States District Court, the Court of Federal Claims, or even the Bankruptcy Court. If you have a tax problem with a California tax agency, we can represent you in California Superior Court or before the Franchise Tax Board, the Employment Development Department, or the State Board of Equalization.

Dennis M. Sandoval, A Professional Law Corporation can also represent you if you have a tax collection problem, and would like to make an offer in compromise or enter into an installment agreement to pay your taxes. In addition a tax controversy attorney can represent you in a wide range of tax problems including the abatement of tax penalties.

Have You Been Contacted by the Government?

When you call our office to schedule your free initial one-hour tax consultation, you will be sent a package of information including directions to our office as well as a list of information of what we would like you to bring to your appointment. Having this information available for the attorney you will be meeting with will make your free consultation much more productive. If you would prefer to download the directions to our office and the list of information we need you to bring, click here.

Mr. Sandoval Gives Presentation at California Association of Enrolled Agents Annual Conference

Dennis was a featured presenter on June 23, 2009 at the California Association of Enrolled Agent Annual Conference in Torrance, California. The conference was attended by more than 500 Enrolled Agents, Certified Public Accountants and Tax Preparers from throughout California.

Dennis Teaches Tax Course for Chapman University School of Law Master of Tax Law Program

During the Winter 2009 session, Mr. Sandoval taught the Income Taxation of Estates, Trusts and Beneficiaries course for the Master of taxation Law (LL.M.) Program at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California.

Mailing Lists and Events

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Visit Our Firm’s Other Websites

We have several other websites that might be of interest to you:

http://www.protect-your-wealth.com is our estate planning website. There you will find information about all aspects of estate planning, probate and trust administration, and trust and estate litigation. The site also contains some special information about Legacy Wealth Planning, estate planning for persons with large retirement assets and estate planning for Gay; Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Trans-Gender individuals and couples.

http://www.cal-elder-lawyer.com is our elder law planning website. There you will find information about planning for receipt of Medi-Cal benefits, planning for receipt of Veterans Aid and Attendance benefits, conservatorships, durable powers of attorney for property, advance health care directives, and HIPAA authorization forms.

http://www.cal-special-needs-attorney.com is our website devoted exclusively to estate planning for your special needs loved one. Our law firm is the “go-to” firm to plan for your child or grandchild with special needs.

http://www.life-care-planning.com is our life care planning website. There you will find resources for caregivers, and information about caring for the frail elderly in their homes, in assisted living facilities and RCFEs, and in Skilled Nursing Facilities. You will find out how a life care planning attorney is what you need to relief from those sleepless nights worrying about how you will provide care for your elder loved one.

http://www.cal-special-needs-trustee.com is our website dealing with our trustee services. The selection of the person or entity you choose to serve as trustee is a very serious matter. This website contains valuable information about the complexity of administering a trust, a discussion of fiduciary duties and the special rules regarding distributions from and administration of a special needs trust. The website contains a discussion of why you might want to consider hiring the professionals at your law firm to serve as the trustee of your trust after you are gone. Our law firm specializes in administering special needs trusts and smaller trusts, estates and conservatorships that banks, trust companies and other professional fiduciaries consider too small or too complex to handle.