What should I do if I receive an IRS notice?

Read it carefully and note any deadlines, and avoid setting it aside. Many notices ask for specific information or propose a change to your return. If you are unsure how to respond, we can review the notice with you and help you decide on the right next step.

How long does it take to resolve a tax matter?

It depends on the issue. A straightforward notice may be resolved in a few weeks, while an audit, collection matter, or litigation can take several months or longer. After reviewing your situation, we can give you a clearer sense of the likely timeline.

What happens during an initial consultation?

We listen to your situation, review any notices or documents you have, and talk through your options and the possible paths forward. The goal is for you to leave with a clear understanding of where you stand and what the next steps could be.

Do you work with clients in other states?

Yes. Much of our work involves federal tax matters before the IRS and the U.S. Tax Court, which are handled at the federal level. Kathryn Meyer is licensed in California and the District of Columbia and works with clients on federal tax issues regardless of where they are located.

What types of tax matters does the firm handle?

We focus on complex federal tax matters, including IRS audits and examinations, IRS collections and enforcement, tax litigation, and strategic tax counsel. If you are not sure whether your issue is a fit, we are glad to talk it through.

Practice Area

Tax Planning for Law Firms

Most lawyers spend their careers protecting other people's interests and never get the same attention paid to their own firm. As a former IRS litigator, I help solo and small law firms make sure the business behind the practice is set up to keep taxes low and stay on the right side of both the IRS and their state.

Whether you are just opening your doors or you have been practicing for years, the questions are the same. Are you in the right entity? Are you leaving money on the table at tax time? Are the things you assume are handled actually handled? Let's find out together.

Who this is for

Solo attorneys and small firms (ten lawyers or fewer)
Any revenue range, any state
New firms that want to be set up well from the very beginning
Established firms that have grown and never went back to check whether their structure kept up with them

A newer firm can be built right from the start. A firm that has been running for a while usually needs a tune-up, because needs change as a practice grows and it is easy to fall behind on your own.

Why your CPA or bookkeeper may not be enough

Most law firms are advised by professionals whose job is compliance: keeping the books, filing the return, meeting the deadline. That work matters, but it is a different job from planning.

A compliance-focused CPA or bookkeeper does not always step back and look at every option to lower your taxes, and they are not necessarily reviewing whether your firm is meeting its ethical obligations if the IRS ever audits you. That is the gap I help fill.

Common mistakes I see in law firms

No entity, or the wrong one. The first question is always whether you are in an entity at all, and if so, whether it is the structure that gets you the lowest taxes.
Paying self-employment tax on everything. An LLC owner pays self-employment tax on all of their profit. Once that profit reaches around $100,000, that is roughly 15 percent going out the door in self-employment tax alone, when an S corporation election may let you pay less.
An S corp election that is not done cleanly. Deciding whether to make the S corp election is one conversation. Actually dotting the i's and crossing the t's afterward is another, and it is where firms get into trouble.
S corp owners not paying themselves a proper salary. I have spoken with S corp owners who were not paying themselves any salary at all, let alone a reasonable one. That is a serious problem, and it cuts both ways: too low a salary is as much of a red flag as no salary.

Red flags you can spot on your own return

You do not need me to notice a few of these:

A large self-employment tax line. If you are paying self-employment tax on $100,000 or more of profit, that is real money, and an S corporation may bring it down.
An S corp with no W-2. If your firm is an S corp, ask a simple question: did you issue yourself a W-2 this year? If the answer is no, that needs attention.

The things firms assume are fine, but are not

One of the quietest risks is your annual filing with the state. Miss it, and your entity can be suspended. A suspended entity can create a cascade of problems, including limiting your ability to defend yourself in court. There are real cases that were dismissed from Tax Court because the state had suspended the entity for failing to file or pay. It is the kind of thing that feels handled until the moment it is not.

What it can cost you

The exposure is on two sides.

On the tax side, falling behind can add up quickly once penalties start stacking. A firm with profits of around $100,000 can already benefit meaningfully from planning.

On the risk side:

IOLTA accounts draw attention. If you are audited, the IRS will want to see your trust account, which makes protecting your clients' information an important part of getting through an audit the right way.
Not paying an S corp owner a salary is likely to invite an audit. Paying an unreasonably low one is the flip side of the same issue. A reasonable salary needs to be documented, which means being able to show how the number was calculated.

How I help: the Law Firm Health Check-Up

We start with a flat-rate Law Firm Health Check-Up. It includes:

A review of your federal, state, and local tax returns and accounts
A review of your entity's status with the state
A 60-minute review together to walk through what I found

From there, I make recommendations about what else could be put in place to lower your taxes and keep your firm in good standing.

What you receive

A written report reviewing your firm's current status, along with clear recommendations for ways to lower your taxes and address anything that needs attention.

A note on timing

Some changes can be put in place quickly. Others follow the IRS calendar. If we decide to request an S corporation election, the IRS generally takes four to six weeks to process it, and there are limits on when you are allowed to switch in. That is why planning ahead matters, so we can position your firm for the year you actually want the change to take effect.

If any of this sounds familiar, you do not have to sort it out alone. Please reach out to my office and we can talk through whether the Health Check-Up is a good fit for your firm.