ABOUT ME

I specialize in resolving tax problems

If you have to deal with a tax agency it is important to have an experienced professional on your side who knows the tax collection and audit processes and what is likely to occur at each stage. The prospect of incurring additional taxes, penalties and interest can be upsetting and stressful. The process is also time-consuming, costly and can even seem threatening.

I have spent the last 40 years learning (and continue to learn) a lot about how the IRS collection processes work, what their jargon means, how to ask the right questions, how to understand what the agents' responses are and how to follow up.

As a taxpayer's representative my role is also as a buffer between the taxpayer and the taxing authority to minimize those issues as well as obtain an outcome that gets the taxpayer's problems under control.

New Mexico gross receipts tax

One of my specialties is helping businesses deal with New Mexico gross receipts tax. The name alone can be confusing because GRT is really sales tax.

All businesses doing business in NM are subject to GRT. Even a business located outside of NM is doing business in NM if, within certain criteria, they sell to customers in NM.

What trips up many businesses who don't think GRT applies to them is that GRT applies to income from the sale of services, not just things, as is common in other states. This means independent contractors, sometimes called 1099 employees, are subject to GRT. Audits are common when businesses don't register with and report their total gross receipts to the NM Taxation & Revenue Dept.

All gross receipts must be reported even though some are not taxable. Those are known as exemptions and deductions. The word “deductions” is another source of confusion because it doesn’t mean the same thing as business expense deductions on an income tax return. The non-taxable gross receipts are handled on the GRT report so that they are not taxed.

My professional and business background

Bachelor of Science in Economics, The Wharton School of Finance, University of Pennsylvania 1965
Auditor, Touche, Ross, Bailey & Smart (now Deloitte), Atlanta, GA, 1965--1970
Certified Public Accountant, licensed by the State of New Mexico (License #2292 issued 1982)
Member, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
Member, New Mexico Society of Certified Public Accountants (NMSCPA)
Member, Board of Directors, NMSCPA 2005--2009
NMSCPA liaison to IRS & New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Dept.
Speaker at Continuing Professional Education events
Presenter of IRS New Business & New Employer Workshops
Volunteer, N.M. Legal Aid Low Income Taxpayer Clinic Pro Bono Panel