California Tax Defense — La Mesa, San Diego County
La Mesa Tax Attorney
I represent clients from La Mesa from my office in San Diego. Whether the issue is an IRS audit, an FTB collection notice, an EDD payroll tax audit, or something more serious with criminal exposure, these are legal matters that respond to legal representation. Brotman Law has handled over 2,500 tax matters for individuals and businesses across San Diego County. If you’re looking for a straight answer about where you stand, book a free 15-minute call.
Tax Problems in La Mesa: What We Actually See
La Mesa has a strong small-business community — restaurants, retail, professional services, home-based businesses — and the tax issues that come from that landscape are specific. Payroll tax problems are common, particularly among businesses that mixed W-2 employees with 1099 contractors. Sales tax audits from the CDTFA hit food service and retail hard. And FTB income tax disputes are a consistent source of calls from anyone who has moved in or out of California in recent years.
The short version is that most of these cases are manageable if you get legal representation early enough. The ones that get difficult are the ones that were ignored for a year or two while the penalties and interest compounded.
I’m Sam Brotman — J.D., LL.M. in Taxation, California Bar No. 274966. More about Brotman Law’s San Diego tax practice.
IRS Matters We Handle for La Mesa Clients
An IRS audit is a legal dispute, not an accounting review. When you receive a Form 4549 (examination report) proposing additional tax, you’re in a negotiation with the federal government over what you owe. That negotiation has specific rules, specific timelines, and specific procedural rights — and the response strategy matters from the first communication.
We handle the full range of IRS issues:
- Correspondence audits and CP2000 automated underreporter responses
- Field examinations — business and individual
- IRS collections: federal tax liens, levies, wage garnishments, bank seizures
- Collection Due Process (CDP) hearings
- Installment agreements and Offers in Compromise
- Innocent spouse relief under IRC § 6015
- Trust fund recovery penalty (TFRP) assessments and protests
- IRS appeals and Tax Court petitions
If you have a 90-day letter (Notice of Deficiency) sitting on your desk, that is a hard deadline to file a Tax Court petition. Call us now if you’re in that window — that’s not something you want to let expire.
FTB, EDD, and CDTFA — California State Tax Defense
California has four separate tax agencies, each with its own audit and collection authority. The Franchise Tax Board handles income taxes. The Employment Development Department handles payroll taxes. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration handles sales and use taxes. And EDD, FTB, and CDTFA can each run independent audits of the same business in the same year.
We represent La Mesa clients in:
- FTB income tax audits and desk audits
- FTB collections, liens, and protest hearings
- FTB Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) representation
- EDD payroll tax audits and worker reclassification disputes
- CDTFA sales and use tax audits and petitions for redetermination
California’s FTB is particularly aggressive with residency audits. If you’ve left California and the FTB is asserting you remained a California resident for tax purposes, that requires a different kind of defense — one built around domicile analysis, the 546-day safe harbor rule, and income sourcing. We handle those.
Criminal Tax Defense
If an IRS special agent has contacted you, that is not a civil matter. IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) agents investigate potential criminal violations — tax evasion under IRC § 7201, filing false returns under IRC § 7206, unreported income, and related conduct. If a special agent has shown up or called, speak with an attorney before speaking with anyone else.
I hold an LL.M. in Taxation and have worked criminal tax defense. The privilege that protects your communications runs through your attorney, not your accountant. Let’s talk before you respond to anyone.
Getting Started from La Mesa
The first call is 15 minutes, free, no commitment. You describe what’s happening, I tell you what I think it means and what the realistic options are. My office is at 12636 High Bluff Drive, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92130. Phone: 619-378-3138.
Most client work — document review, strategy sessions, agency communication — is handled remotely. La Mesa clients don’t need to make a trip to get solid legal representation.