California Tax Defense — Lemon Grove, San Diego County
Lemon Grove Tax Attorney
I represent clients from Lemon Grove from my office in San Diego. Lemon Grove is a small, tight-knit community with a mix of working families, small businesses, and residents who’ve built equity in their homes over decades. When a tax problem lands — an IRS collection notice, an FTB assessment, an EDD audit — it’s not abstract. It can threaten property, income, and financial security that took years to build. Brotman Law has handled over 2,500 tax matters. If something’s come up and you want a direct conversation about it, book a free 15-minute call.
Tax Issues That Show Up in the Lemon Grove Community
The tax problems I see from Lemon Grove clients tend to involve IRS collection debt — often from years of unfiled or underreported returns — FTB income tax disputes, and EDD payroll tax issues for small business owners. Many clients come in after the IRS has already assessed a substitute for return (SFR) under IRC § 6020(b) and the balance has been compounding for years.
The short version is that the longer these problems sit, the harder they get to resolve. But even old tax debt has options. Penalty abatement can reduce the balance. Installment agreements can spread payments. Offers in Compromise can settle the debt for less than you owe, in the right circumstances. The first step is understanding exactly what’s on the account — which starts with pulling transcripts. Learn more about Brotman Law’s San Diego tax practice.
IRS Audits and Collections — What We Handle for Lemon Grove Clients
The IRS Collection Statute Expiration Date (CSED) gives the IRS 10 years from assessment to collect. That clock runs from the date the tax was assessed — not the due date of the return. On old accounts, the CSED analysis can be strategically important: sometimes the right move is to wait out the statute rather than file an Offer. An attorney can pull the transcripts, calculate the CSED for each assessed year, and tell you honestly what that means for your options.
We handle:
- IRS correspondence audits and field examinations
- CP2000 automated underreporter notices
- Substitute for return (SFR) challenges and superseding return filings
- IRS collections — liens, levies, wage garnishments, bank seizures
- Collection Due Process (CDP) hearings
- Installment agreements and Offers in Compromise
- Currently not collectible (CNC) status
- Penalty abatement — first-time abatement and reasonable cause
- CSED analysis and strategy
- Trust fund recovery penalty (TFRP) defense under IRC § 6672
- IRS Appeals and Tax Court petitions
If there’s a 90-day letter (Notice of Deficiency) involved, you have 90 days from the notice date to file a Tax Court petition. Call us if you’re in that window — that deadline matters.
FTB, EDD, and CDTFA — California State Tax Defense
California runs its own independent tax system — separate from the IRS, with its own audit and collection authority. The FTB handles income taxes. EDD handles payroll taxes. CDTFA handles sales and use taxes. Each can audit and collect independently, and the FTB in particular has collection tools that operate without court involvement.
For Lemon Grove clients, we handle:
- FTB income tax audits and protests
- FTB collections — wage garnishments, bank levies, lien releases
- FTB Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) representation
- FTB installment agreements and FTB Offer in Compromise
- EDD payroll tax audits and worker classification disputes
- CDTFA sales and use tax audits and redetermination petitions
If you have unfiled California returns, the FTB has its own substitute for return process and can assess estimated tax based on information returns. Those assessments tend to be significantly higher than actual liability, and disputing them requires filing the actual returns and going through the protest process.
Criminal Tax Defense
If a special agent from IRS Criminal Investigation has reached out to you, or to your accountant, that is a criminal investigation. CI does not contact people about math errors. If you’re in that situation, the right call is to speak with a tax attorney before responding to anything — before you call CI back, before you talk to your accountant, and before you produce any documents.
Attorney-client privilege protects what you tell me. Nothing else offers that protection. I hold an LL.M. in Taxation. Let’s talk before you respond to anyone.
Getting Started from Lemon Grove
The first call is 15 minutes, free, no commitment. My office is at 12636 High Bluff Drive, Suite 300, San Diego, CA 92130. Phone: 619-378-3138. Most client work happens by phone and secure document exchange — no need to travel unless you’d prefer to meet in person.