Adam Brewer of AB Tax Law joins Main Street Living to answer tax questions.

Valerie Tuson
Welcome back to Main Street life. April brings us many wonderful signs of warmer spring days, tiny bright green new leaves and flowers popping up everywhere.

Danielle Alvari
Yes, but it also brings something that many of us aren’t looking forward to – tax day, but fear not. We have a tax expert here to simplify even the most complicated tax questions

Danielle Alvari
And now we welcome Mainstreet’s living tax attorney, Adam Brewer. Adam, thank you very much for giving us the time. Oh yes,

Adam Brewer
Yeah, no problem. Glad to be here.

Danielle Alvari
You know, this is the time of year when taxes are on our minds whether we like it or not. But Adam, you’re a tax controversy lawyer. So taxes are probably on your mind all the time. What is a tax litigation lawyer?

Adam Brewer
Yeah, there’s no tax loophole for me. So Tax Controversy Attorney basically I’m not so involved with the annual filings, the quarterly filings that some companies have to do, I step in when things between the taxpayer and the IRS or the state taxpayer get a little messy . So whenever things get out of hand for a taxpayer, I step in and help represent the taxpayer before the IRS or the state.

Danielle Alvari
Well, clearly nobody wants to get in trouble with the IRS or the state or anything. And, and right now, we have tax filing deadlines right around the corner. What advice would you give people to avoid some of these problems?

Adam Brewer
Yeah, so this year it really highlighted four key types of issues. Some of these are a continuation of focus areas from previous years, and others, again, are a bit unique to the pandemic. So the first thing we’re really focusing on is the stimulus credits, making sure that if taxpayers have already received the stimulus credits, that they report that on their tax return if they haven’t receipts, and we want to make sure they claim this as a credit so you know that in the end, they either owe less money or get bigger refunds. On top of that, again, cryptocurrency, it seems you know, you can’t really go a day without hearing about cryptocurrency. The IRS is obviously aware of this, so they are kind of stepping up their enforcement of cryptocurrency. All taxpayers who have sold cryptocurrency, mined cryptocurrency, or traded cryptocurrency, there will be a reporting and disclosure requirement for those transactions. So anyone that this might apply to, we just want to make sure they report it on their tax return. For the past decade or so, foreign bank accounts have been the focus of the IRS. So anyone with what we call a foreign financial account, but most of the time it’s either a bank or an investment account held offshore. The IRS expects you to disclose that you own this account. And then they expect you to pay tax on any taxable transaction. So if taxpayers have a foreign financial account, or even have a signatory on a foreign financial account, they need to make sure that’s disclosed. And then the last one, I think, probably brings in a lot of taxpayers, it’s like work and the sharing economy. So anyone who drives an Uber for Lyft, Postmates, rents a place on Airbnb, rents a car on Toro, whatever, there will be a tax reporting requirement there. So you just want to make sure that those taxpayers, if they’re involved in this, you know, gig economy or shared economy, make those disclosures. So, don’t just report the income, but you also want to report the expenses you incurred to generate that income. So I would say between stimulus money, foreign cryptocurrency accounts, and then gigs or shared economy, those are, I would say, the four areas that taxpayers want to be wary of this reporting season of income.

Danielle Alvari
I also want to ask you something really quick, because I know a lot of people are working from home. Is this something people like to take tax deductions for if they work from home?

Adam Brewer
Yeah, I mean it’s hard because the tax cut and the Jobs Act of 2017. It eliminated an itemized deduction which was unreimbursed employee expenses. So this is probably the third or fourth filing with these new roles. But yeah, a really bad time for the pandemic. So some states tend to be the blue states, they don’t comply with these tax cuts and jobs law changes. So, you know, you could claim that deduction on the state side, but it’s not really going to make a difference for you on the federal side.

Danielle Alvari
But it’s at least good to know. It seems like a lot of people use an app or software to prepare their taxes. When do you think it’s beneficial for someone to have a professional help with their tax return?

Adam Brewer
Yeah, I mean, app software, I mean, it can be great, it can save you money, it’s convenient. So if you have like a fairly simple tax return, just you know, reporting wages, and w2 , nothing too complex, then yes, absolutely. Dark. You know, just follow the instructions. Make sure, you know, that you answer them accurately. And you shouldn’t have any problems. I would say if you have self-employment income, any of those issues I mentioned above, except credit. So if your tax filings get a little more complicated, if you have self-employment income, you’ve sold cryptocurrency or mining cryptocurrency, you have foreign accounts. If you’ve sold your house or sold a lot of stock, it’s probably worth paying a professional to do the return, just have peace of mind. If it saves you from an audit in a year or two, it will definitely be worth the money spent.

Valerie Tuson
And I always think about it for sure. And we’ve talked about the kinds of things the tax controversy lawyer does, but what are the most common things you provide?

Adam Brewer
Yes, so most of my day-to-day hours are spent with my clients who either owe the IRS a large amount of money or who sometimes both declare to solve audits, so the audit activities are really slowing down because of the pandemic, just because the IRS or the state, they can’t say, hey, come to our office with all your records on this date. But we still do audits. Again, foreign income, sorry to come back to that. But that’s just a huge area of ​​focus. So mostly where I am, I practice in California, mostly Hawaii. So we have a lot of taxpayers who, you know, may have been born or lived in other countries. So we see a lot of these foreign accounts, disclosures. And then finally, just people who haven’t filed their tax returns, I know, it’s kind of, you know, an embarrassing topic for a lot of people, but it happens when you just miss a tax year , then before you know it , it’s April again, one year becomes two two becomes 10 or 30 years, you know, so I’m doing a lot of what I call like the tax cleanup case , get people back on track, track overdue returns, manage any outstanding balances they have, and then really get them back on track when it comes to taxes.

Danielle Alvari
Well, Adam, you’ve found a way to make this conversation less taxing. So it’s very, very successful on your side. How can viewers get in touch and get more tax help from you?

Adam Brewer
Yeah absolutely. If anyone needs help or is looking for more tax information, they can visit my website TriumphOverTax.com, or feel free to call me at the office. 619-591-9500.

Danielle Alvari
Very cool. Well, thank you very much for joining us, Adam. But I’m sure we’ll see you here soon.

Adam Brewer
Yes, thank you for inviting me. It was a pleasure.