Tom Ryder is an experienced Tax Court attorney with nearly fourteen years’ experience settling Tax Court cases. While 99% of Tax Court cases settle without trial, but Mr. Ryder is ready and able to litigate if needed.

Case study: Taxpayer had not filed income taxes for several years and received a statutory notice of deficiency for one of the years. The taxpayer prepared and filed the missing tax returns, which were accepted by the IRS. The only issue was whether the taxpayer should be held liable for late penalties by Tax Court. The IRS attorney wanted to meet the taxpayer to determine whether reasonable cause existed for non-assessment of the penalties. Attorney Tom Ryder accompanied the taxpayer to meet with the IRS attorney.   

Things were disclosed by the taxpayer during the meeting that hadn’t been known previously. The IRS attorney wasn’t sure whether the Tax Court judge would find in favor or against the taxpayer since the case could go either way. He proposed to assess one half of the penalties and split the difference. The taxpayer accepted the proposal resulting in nearly $5,000 penalty savings. Based on the taxpayer’s subsequent installment agreement of $500 per month, he shaved nearly a year off his payment plan via attorney Tom Ryder’s Tax Court negotiation.

Case study: Taxpayer worked for a small travel agency as an employee. Somehow the taxpayer’s social security number became the recipient of Form 1099-MISC income attributable to his employer. The taxpayer’s employer contacted the issuing agency and obtained revised Forms 1099 issued in the name of the travel agency’s EIN number, rather than the taxpayer’s SSN.

Meanwhile, the taxpayer had received a statutory Notice of Deficiency with regards to the allegedly under-reported income. Tom Ryder filed a Tax Court petition to contest the IRS proposed additional tax assessment. Half way through the Tax Court proceeding, the taxpayer ended up filing personal bankruptcy to resolve other financial matters. The bankruptcy proceedings temporarily halted the Tax Court proceeding.

After the bankruptcy was completed, the Tax Court case was re-docketed and amicably settled for zero additional tax assessment against the taxpayer.