Various taxes are imposed upon individuals and companies in any country. These taxes serve as finance sources for providing various services by a government such as building schools, roads, national defense, and social services. But individuals or companies try different ways to evade or avoid taxes to increase their profit margins with the help of a professional who is familiar with numbers. An accountant and an attorney do the same work; the difference is that an accountant helps to deal with numbers and an attorney helps you deal with laws along with the numbers. Tax attorneys are lawyers who specialize in handling legal issues related to taxes that are complex and technical. The expertise of tax attorneys is not related to saving dollars on taxes but more focused on handling legal implications from tax situations. The basic qualifications to look for in a tax attorney are as follows:

• Tax attorneys must possess a JD or the Juris Doctor degree.
• He should be a member of the state bar.
• He should have an advanced degree in tax law preferably a master of laws (LL.M.).
• A lawyer may also be a certified public accountant (CPA) as well.

There is a very fine difference between a tax attorney and an accountant. Hence, the below points should be able to help one decide when an attorney needs to be hired or approached.

• For new business start-ups: There is no one size that fits all tax structure types for forming a business type. Consulting a tax attorney before starting a business might give an insight into the type of business entity that needs to be set up, check whether the type of business incorporated will be functional under a sole proprietor or not, the different types of tax ramifications involved in the nature of the chosen business type, etc. Consulting an attorney well in advance to seek advice on the various possible legal disputes related to tax structure, and the treatment of the business might help you avoid problems rather than call an attorney to step in after a legal issue comes up.
• For international diversification of existing business: A tax attorney can help with understanding the implications related to contracts, tax treatment, and other legal matters for each country involved in this business.
• For introducing compensation packages in a company: It requires to have a tax attorney who has a sufficient knowledge of corporate and securities laws, ERISA, Tax Code Section 409A, and other sections related to the tax aspects of executive compensation programs. These programs depend on various factors like equity sharing, existing benefit programs and compensation structure, industry practice, and strategic plan for the business etc. which an attorney would be able to guide through.
• For fighting the summons issued by the IRS or a State Tax Authority: The IRS or a state tax authority may want to conduct some civil or criminal audits to confirm if certain fraudulent activities are involved related to the tax matters of the company. Dealing with these bodies can be very challenging when these audits have a strong backing of complex and sophisticated services of a CPA. Just a summons, an information request, a phone call, a letter or a visit by these investigators seeking for verification of certain documents and information related to them can be a hidden trap that could lead to a fraud or criminal charge. An attorney will be able to handle and protect private and confidential information in such situations.
• For estate planning of an existing business: Distribution of an established business among the children, spouse or others related to the business owner is called estate planning. The laws in each state are slightly different, and these are very specific about certain things like what has to be or must not be in a will, trust, or power of attorney (both medical or financial). This also includes the eligibility to serve as a personal representative, trustee, health care surrogate or attorney, eligibility to be a witness to a will, trust or a power of attorney, and all the related formalities that needs be followed at the time of signing a document related to estate planning. This needs to be discussed a more elaborately with a tax attorney during the time of document drafting as a small error or a wrong word or a missing signature in the document can make a very big issue or change the real intention of the document itself.
• For filing a suit against the IRS: One might want to seek an independent review of his criminal case registered by the IRS before the U.S. Tax Court. Especially when there is a fraud involved and needs to be covered up for; someone familiar with the tax laws and debating in the courtroom would be required to help in claiming deductions or credits which the business was not actually entitled to. An attorney has no legal obligation or duty to divulge any such confidential information to the court thereby protecting the business which is not always true in case of accountants.
• For protection planning of the assets: An unexpected lawsuit or tragedy that was not covered under an insurance might lead to losing much of what they have been created by the company. Consulting a tax lawyer for advice on various asset protection approaches like self-settled trusts, spendthrift trust, life insurance trusts, family limited partnerships, and dynasty trusts can be critical for those with who possess significant assets, complex investments or other unique requirements.
• For business succession planning: Proper pre-transaction planning could help to reduce the tax burden which is over 50% of the proceedings that goes to the IRS and state taxing authorities at the time of sale of a business. Proper structuring of an organization with the right use of trusts, the establishment of an employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”), charitable lead or remainder trusts, etc. will allow the business to save a significant amount of the value they have created.

While tax attorneys working privately can help individuals or business owners in the above areas, government tax attorneys work for the U.S. Department for justice to handle a wide range of tax issues that are civil, criminal, and appellate. They represent the IRS or the state courts when there are tax suits filed by or against the government. These attorneys play an important role in assuring the citizen that all taxes are paid or collected by the law. The roles of government attorneys working at different levels are discussed below:

• Tax disputes in federal district courts, bankruptcy courts, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Courts of Appeal and sometimes, the state courts are handled by the Civil attorneys.
• All decisions related to federal tax crimes by the criminal prosecutors along with attorneys in United States Attorneys’ Offices.