Tax Court Lawyers in Clifton Forge

Tax courts execute roughly the same function as any other court: they present a forum to resolve legal disputes in an orderly, fair, and efficient manner. The only difference with tax courts is that they specialize in solving disagreements that have to do with tax law.

At the federal level, there is the United States Tax Court, which has courthouses all over the country, containing one in or near Clifton Forge, Virginia.

The U.S. Tax Court is where disagreements arising under federal tax law are resolved, if the tax debt in question has not already been paid. The U.S. District Court, which is the federal court of general jurisdiction, can only hear tax cases after the tax has been paid. This rule is meant to guarantee that as many tax issues as possible are actually decided in tax court, rather than the overworked District Courts.

Tax Court Procedure in Clifton Forge, Virginia

Claims dealing with tax law can come from any disagreement that has to do with one's duty to pay taxes in Clifton Forge, Virginia. This usually happens when the state or federal tax authorities allege that someone has failed to pay their taxes, and therefore owes the government money. If the taxpayer disagrees, a tax court has to resolve the issue.

In the U.S., tax court judges are assigned by the President of the United States. Unlike judges on most other federal courts, who usually serve for life (or until they retire), tax court judges serve terms of 15 years. But, there is no limit to the number of terms that they are permitted to serve. If a tax court judge has been doing his or her job competently, the President will usually re-appoint them whenever their term expires, effectively giving them life tenure.

Tax courts in the U.S. have a few distinct features. Perhaps most notably, people who are not admitted to practice law in Virginia, or in any other jurisdiction, are allowed to represent clients in tax court. However, non-lawyers must take, and pass, a fairly challenging exam to demonstrate that they have an in-depth understanding of U.S. tax law. If someone is already a lawyer, however, they can practice before a tax court without taking this exam.

Typically, when the IRS sends a taxpayer in Clifton Forge, Virginia a notice of deficiency, indicating that they owe back taxes, the taxpayer has 90 days to file a claim in federal tax court to dispute this notice. If a claim is not filed in a timely manner, the taxpayer could lose his or her right to contest the tax bill at issue.

Do I Need a Clifton Forge, Virginia Tax Attorney?

Although the law lets certain non-lawyers represent parties before tax court, tax law is very complex and often challenging to understand - to the point that almost all attorneys who practice tax law practice it exclusively, simply because maintaining competence leaves little time to learn any other area.

If you are going to tax court, it should be evident by now that you should seek the advice and assistance of a good Clifton Forge, Virginia tax lawyer. This is not a knock against the non-lawyers who are licensed to practice before tax court; the vast majority of them are perfectly competent. However, if a licensed attorney seriously mishandles your case, you will have a great deal of legal recourse against them, more so than with a non-attorney.