For referring professionals
A tax specialist you can refer to without losing anything.
I’m an Enrolled Agent who handles the tax work sitting inside other people’s matters — the 1041 after the trust is drafted, the FIRPTA certificate holding up a closing, the dischargeability question nobody wants to answer in writing. I take that piece and hand them back.
I don’t practice law, I sell no products, and I have no interest in the rest of your client’s business. Referring to me should be low-risk for you, which is the entire point of this page.
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Estate & probate · Business & M&A · Immigration · Real estate · Family law · Bankruptcy · Kovel engagements · Other preparers · Get in touch
What I handle, by practice area
Estate planning and probate
Fiduciary income tax returns (1041) for testamentary and inter vivos trusts, including grantor trust reporting and the 65-day election. Estate tax returns (706), including portability-only filings to preserve DSUE where no tax is owed — the filing most commonly missed, and the one that costs a surviving spouse the most. Gift tax returns (709), with adequate disclosure to start the statute running.
Also: basis step-up analysis and the consequences of gifting appreciated property during life instead, income in respect of a decedent, the decedent’s final 1040, and the income tax consequences of a structure while it is still in draft.
Business and M&A
Asset sale versus stock sale modelling, with the after-tax number for each side rather than the headline price. Purchase price allocation and Form 8594. Installment treatment under §453 and when electing out is the better answer. Qualified small business stock under §1202, including whether the holding period and original issuance requirements actually survive scrutiny.
Also: F-reorganisations, 338(h)(10) elections, earnout characterisation, allocation of consideration to non-competes and consulting agreements, and entity structuring before formation. Bring me the deal before the letter of intent — by the time it’s signed, most of the tax outcome is already decided.
Immigration
Residency determination under the substantial presence test, first-year residency elections, and treaty tie-breaker positions with Form 8833. Expatriation and the §877A exit tax, including covered expatriate determination and the mark-to-market computation. Tax compliance for clients whose applications depend on it, including catch-up filings under the streamlined procedures.
Information reporting is where these clients get hurt. Forms 5471, 8938, 3520 and FBAR carry penalties starting at $10,000 per form per year and are largely non-abatable once assessed. If your client has a foreign entity, a foreign trust, or unreported accounts, that is worth a conversation before anything is filed.
Real estate
FIRPTA withholding on dispositions by foreign sellers — 15% of the gross sales price, not the gain, which is what kills closings. I prepare Form 8288-B withholding certificate applications to reduce or eliminate the withholding where the real liability is lower, which it usually is.
Also: 1031 exchanges and the 45- and 180-day mechanics, boot and partial exchanges, cost segregation coordination, passive activity loss limitations and real estate professional status, short sales and foreclosures with cancellation of debt income, and opportunity zone deferrals.
Family law
Innocent spouse relief under §6015 — all three subsections, including equitable relief where the two-year window has closed. Allocation of joint liability. Tax consequences of a proposed settlement split, modelled before it is signed rather than explained afterwards.
Also: basis and holding period in divided assets, the §121 exclusion on the marital residence and its timing traps, retirement account divisions and the tax treatment of QDRO transfers, dependency and filing status after separation, and income reconstruction where reported income and lifestyle don’t reconcile.
Bankruptcy
Dischargeability analysis on income tax liabilities — the three-year, two-year and 240-day rules, and the tolling events that quietly move all of them. This needs a full transcript pull and a timeline, and it is the kind of question that gets answered wrongly from memory more often than anyone would like.
Also: cancellation of debt income and the §108 exclusions, insolvency computations, post-petition and trustee returns, and what to do when the liability turns out not to be dischargeable — which is where these usually become full representation engagements.
Kovel engagements
I am available for engagement under United States v. Kovel, retained by counsel so that privilege extends to the accounting work. Relevant to eggshell audits, voluntary disclosures, and any examination where the facts may develop in an uncomfortable direction.
If you are considering one, engage me before your client speaks to the IRS rather than after. The protection depends on the structure being right from the start.
Other preparers, CPAs and bookkeepers
Representation only. If your client gets an examination letter, a CP2000, a levy notice, or a collections case you would rather not run, send me the notice and keep the return work. I hand the client back when it is resolved, and I do not solicit their preparation business. That isn’t a courtesy — it’s the arrangement.
Bookkeepers: the same principle in reverse. If your client needs returns and you don’t prepare them, I’m glad to take that piece and leave the books with you.
I’ll come and teach your firm
Thirty minutes for your team, over video or in person if you’re within reach of Tallahassee. No fee and no pitch at the end. I’ll send the slides and a written summary afterwards so your associates have something to refer back to.
Five tax mistakes that show up in trust drafting — and what they cost the beneficiaries a decade later.
What happens to basis in a divorce settlement — why an equal split of assets is frequently an unequal split of value.
FIRPTA: the 15% that kills your closing — how a withholding certificate fixes it, and the timeline you have to hit.
When is a tax debt actually dischargeable? — the three rules, the tolling events, and why the transcripts always have to be pulled.
If there’s something else your team keeps running into, ask and I’ll prepare it.
If the tax at stake is smaller than the cost of the analysis, or the answer is one your client can handle without me, that’s what you’ll hear.
Tell me what you’re looking at
A couple of lines is plenty. I read these myself and reply within one business day.
Please don’t include client-identifying details or documents here. Describe the situation in general terms and we’ll move to a secure channel once we’re talking.
Michael Jones, EA & CFP® — Enrolled Agent, licensed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all fifty states. Tallahassee, Florida. Working remotely nationwide. 999-999-9999