Brotman Law is a San Diego tax firm that represents businesses and individuals against the IRS, the FTB, the EDD, and the CDTFA — audits, collections, criminal exposure, and refund litigation. More than 2,500 tax matters handled since 2013 from our Del Mar Heights office.
A tax dispute is a legal matter, not an accounting one. If an agency has sent you an audit notice, an assessment, or a collection letter, the questions that matter are procedural: what the agency can do next, what your deadlines are, and which of your options actually fits the numbers. That is the work we do all day.
The four agencies San Diego taxpayers actually face
IRS. Audits from correspondence exams up through field exams and eggshell audits with criminal exposure, and the full collections sequence — liens, levies, revenue officers, and the collection alternatives that resolve them. We have represented 400+ clients in audits and eliminated more than $100M in penalties and interest. Federal litigation for San Diego taxpayers runs through the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and the U.S. Tax Court, both of which sit in San Diego.
CDTFA (sales tax). Sales and use tax audits are where San Diego restaurants, contractors, and retailers get hurt — markup tests, sampling disputes, successor liability, and personal liability for owners. We handle the audit, the petition for redetermination, Office of Tax Appeals review, and CDTFA criminal referrals when the file heads that direction.
EDD (payroll tax). Worker-classification audits, benefit-audit crossovers, assessments with personal exposure for officers, petitions for reassessment before the CUIAB, and EDD criminal investigations. If your business uses independent contractors, this is the agency most likely to knock.
FTB (income tax). Residency audits — the California exit cases — income sourcing disputes, and FTB collections, through protest, appeal, and settlement. Start with multi-state residency if the fight is about whether California can tax you at all, and FTB criminal investigation if the letter came from their investigations unit.
San Diego practice pages
Deeper San Diego-specific pages, each connected to the statewide practice behind it: IRS audit defense · CDTFA and sales tax audits · EDD and payroll tax · criminal tax defense · IRS collections.
Who we represent in San Diego
Mostly business owners and the businesses themselves: restaurant groups, construction and specialty contractors, property managers, professional practices — law firms, dental corporations, insurance agencies, financial advisors — and companies caught in the ERC enforcement wave. The pattern across all of them is the same: people who built something real, got a letter from an agency, and want the problem handled by the numbers, without urgency theater.
The ERC side deserves its own sentence: we manage one of the larger ERC disallowance and litigation dockets in the country — $160M+ in ERC claims handled — and publish our docket research publicly.
How much does a tax attorney cost in San Diego?
It depends on the matter, and you will know before you sign — we quote fees upfront, with flat-fee and monthly engagement options for most audit, collections, and agency work, and hourly only where a matter genuinely requires it. The first 15-minute call is free and usually tells you what kind of matter you have, what it is likely to involve, and whether you need us at all.
Do you need a local attorney for a tax problem?
The short answer is: for the IRS, less than you think; for California agencies, more than you think. Federal practice is national — any competent tax lawyer can represent you before the IRS from anywhere. But FTB, EDD, and CDTFA matters run on California procedure, California personnel, and California forums — and when a dispute reaches the Southern District of California or an OTA hearing, working those forums regularly is a practical advantage, not a marketing line. Our office is at 12636 High Bluff Drive in Del Mar Heights, and yes, you can come in.
Talk to a San Diego tax attorney
Tell us what the agency sent you or what you are trying to solve. We respond to new inquiries within one business day.
Not ready to talk? Start with the letter you received — our notice library explains what each IRS notice means, and the agency pages above walk through each process. When you want the direct answer on your facts, book a free 15-minute call.
By Sam Brotman, JD, LLM, MBA — founder and managing attorney, Brotman Law. CA Bar No. 274966. Last updated August 29, 2026.
