Akopchikyan Tax Law, P.C. is a tax controversy law firm that represents businesses and high-net-worth individuals in matters involving the IRS and California state and local tax agencies. The firm handles tax audits, appeals, and settlements; tax litigation in California state and U.S. federal courts; sensitive examinations and criminal tax investigations; domestic and offshore voluntary disclosures; formal tax opinions; and tax debt collection matters. Attorneys, CPAs, and other professionals also engage the firm as co-counsel and as a resource on complex and novel tax issues. The firm is led by Ovsep Akopchikyan, a former Administrative Law Judge at the California Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) and a Certified Specialist in Taxation Law, State Bar of California.
IRS Audits, Appeals, and Tax Court Litigation
The firm represents taxpayers in IRS examinations of every kind — including audits by the Large Business and International (LB&I), Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE), and Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE), as well as correspondence audits and Automated Underreporter (CP2000) notices — and in proceedings before the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, the U.S. Tax Court, and federal courts. Common issues include:
- Material participation in an activity
- Whether an activity is engaged in for profit (Section 183)
- Employee retention tax credits (ERC) and research and development (R&D) tax credits
- Substantiating cost of goods sold, business aircraft, and other business expenses
- Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) centralized partnership audits
- Distributions in excess of basis, and the at-risk rules
- Forms 1042/1042-S withholding on payments to foreign persons
- Foreign earned income exclusion and expatriation
- High-income non-filers
FTB Audits, Appeals, and Litigation
The firm represents individuals and businesses in FTB franchise and income tax audits, protests, settlements, appeals to the OTA, and California court litigation. Common issues include:
- State tax residency for individuals moving to or from California
- Allocation and apportionment of income for businesses operating in multiple states
- Sourcing of personal income earned in other states, and credits for taxes paid to other states
- State tax nexus and Public Law 86-272 protection
- Unitary business determinations, and business versus nonbusiness classification of income
- Federal audit adjustments, the duty to report federal changes to the FTB, and FTB assessments that piggy-back on IRS results
- Taxation of trusts and estates
- IRC Section 1031 like-kind exchanges
California Residency Audits and Exit Planning
The firm represents individuals in FTB residency audits and advises on residency planning before a move — particularly ahead of a business sale, stock option exercise, or other liquidity event. Residency cases turn on a fact-intensive analysis of domicile and closest connections: time in and out of California, homes, family, and business ties. Ovsep decided residency appeals as a Judge at the Office of Tax Appeals.
Penalty Defense and Abatement
The firm defends taxpayers against civil tax penalties, including accuracy-related and fraud penalties, information return penalties, FBAR and international information return penalties, and California penalties such as the large corporate understatement penalty. The firm pursues abatement based on reasonable cause, first-time abatement, and other grounds — during the audit, on appeal, and in refund litigation.
CDTFA Sales, Use, and Special Tax Matters
The firm defends taxpayers against civil tax penalties, including accuracy-related and fraud penalties, information return penalties, FBAR and international information return penalties, and California penalties such as the large corporate understatement penalty. The firm pursues abatement based on reasonable cause, first-time abatement, and other grounds — during the audit, on appeal, and in refund litigation.
EDD Employment Tax and Worker Classification
The firm represents businesses and individuals in EDD payroll tax audits, petitions for reassessment before the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB), settlements, and court litigation. Matters cover all four California payroll taxes — unemployment insurance (UI), employment training tax (ETT), state disability insurance (SDI), and personal income tax (PIT) withholding. Common issues include:
- Worker classification — audits seeking to reclassify independent contractors as employees, including the ABC test under AB 5 and the Borello factors
- Personal liability assessments against corporate officers and responsible persons under CUIC Section 1735
- Trust fund recovery penalty investigations (IRC Section 6672 and California equivalents)
- Unreported or misreported wages, and late or unfiled payroll tax returns
- Penalty abatement and installment agreements for payroll tax debt
- Coordinating parallel IRS and EDD employment tax examinations
Property Tax Audits, Appeals, and Litigation
The firm represents taxpayers in property tax matters involving change-in-ownership and valuation issues before county assessors, assessment appeals boards, and the courts.
Local Business Tax Matters
The firm represents taxpayers before local agencies such as the City of Los Angeles Office of Finance and the San Francisco Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector, including disputes over the correct methodology for apportioning gross receipts under the Los Angeles Municipal Code and City Clerk’s Ruling No. 15.
Refund Claims and Return Review
The firm reviews tax returns to identify overpayments — such as non-taxable income reported as taxable, or receipts sourced to the wrong jurisdiction — and pursues claims for refund. During audits and appeals, the firm also reviews returns for favorable reporting errors that may offset a proposed assessment.
Tax Opinions and Tax Advice
The firm provides well-researched tax advice, with supporting analysis, to taxpayers and their accounting professionals on complex and novel tax issues — including whether one-off income and expense items are taxable or deductible, state tax residency planning, and property tax change-in-ownership planning. The firm also drafts Circular 230 tax opinions that may support a return position and, in certain cases, protect against penalties if a tax agency later challenges the position. Attorneys and CPAs regularly engage the firm as co-counsel in tax matters and as an outside resource on novel issues.
Sensitive Examinations and Criminal Tax Matters
The firm represents taxpayers in sensitive (“eggshell”) examinations where potential fraud issues lurk beneath a civil audit, responds to IRS Criminal Investigation and state investigators, and works with criminal defense counsel on tax issues arising in criminal cases, including determining the correct amount of tax for restitution.
Unfiled Returns and Voluntary Disclosures
The firm helps taxpayers who have not filed U.S., California, or local tax returns get back into compliance before an agency finds them first. The firm handles domestic and offshore voluntary disclosures to the IRS and California agencies — including unreported foreign bank accounts and foreign entities, IRS Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, delinquent FBAR and international information return submissions, and unreported business activities in a state or city.
Tax Issues in Bankruptcy
The firm advises clients, bankruptcy attorneys, and other professionals on whether tax debt is dischargeable in bankruptcy, and litigates the amount and dischargeability of tax liabilities in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
Tax Debt Collection Matters
The firm defends taxpayers against IRS and California collection actions — liens, levies, wage garnishments, and property seizures — and negotiates resolutions of unpaid tax debt. Matters include:
- Installment agreements with the IRS, FTB, CDTFA, and EDD
- Offers in compromise, including doubt as to liability
- Collection due process (CDP) hearings and equivalent hearings
- Currently-not-collectible status and collection statute analysis
- Innocent spouse relief
- Lien withdrawals, subordinations, and releases — including lien removals needed to close real estate transactions
- Refunds of wrongful levies
Tax Agencies, Courts, and Tribunals
- The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB)
- The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) — sales, use, and special taxes
- The California Office of Tax Appeals (OTA) — where Ovsep served as a Tax Judge
- The California Employment Development Department (EDD) — employment tax
- The California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (CUIAB) — for EDD appeals
- The California State Board of Equalization (SBE)
- County assessors, such as the Los Angeles County Assessor — property tax
- Local tax agencies, such as the City of Los Angeles Office of Finance and the San Francisco Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector — business license and gross receipts tax
- The United States Tax Court, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, and all levels of California state and U.S. federal courts
