Tax Lawyer In Ypsilanti Township, MI

Before you hire anyone, sort the problem. Two very different things send people searching for a tax lawyer in Ypsilanti Township, and they go to two different places. If the problem is the IRS or the Michigan Treasury, a levy, unfiled returns, an audit, or unpaid payroll tax, that is our lane. Austin & Larson Tax Resolution is a Michigan tax law firm. We put an attorney and a CPA on the same file, and our Ann Arbor office is the closest of our four locations, a short drive west of the township.

This is the firm’s actual work. If the IRS or the Michigan Treasury is the problem, here is what we handle for people and businesses in Ypsilanti Township.

Levies and wage garnishment

A levy or garnishment is the emergency. We file Form 2848, contact the IRS levy unit, show the hardship the garnishment causes under the IRS standards, and propose an alternative such as an installment agreement or Currently Not Collectible status. Most releases land within 24 to 72 hours. The moment a levy notice shows up is the moment to call, because the window is short.

Unfiled returns

You file before anyone can negotiate. No payment path is open to a non-filer, not an Offer in Compromise, not an installment agreement, not Currently Not Collectible status. Ignore it long enough and the IRS files a Substitute for Return for you, which leaves out deductions and credits and almost always produces a larger bill. Six years of back returns is the usual minimum to get into compliance. We prepare the returns first, then open the resolution.

Payment paths once you are compliant

For most balances the realistic outcomes are an installment agreement the budget can actually carry, Currently Not Collectible status when there is genuine hardship, or an Offer in Compromise where the numbers support one. Which path fits depends on what your transcripts and financial disclosures show, not on a sales pitch.

Payroll tax, Form 941, and the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty

This is the case type that hurts a small business most. Unpaid 941 payroll tax carries personal liability for owners, officers, and bookkeepers through the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty, which the IRS can assess against you individually even after the business closes. We defend Trust Fund Recovery Penalty assessments and negotiate business installment agreements that keep the doors open. The Willow Run area and the small shops around Eastern Michigan University throw off plenty of these cases.

Audits and IRS Appeals

We represent you at the examination and escalate an unreasonable assessment to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals. Your accountant or office manager should not be the one across the table from a Revenue Agent.

Michigan Department of Treasury cases

State debt is a parallel problem, not a smaller one. We file Michigan Form 151, the state authorized representative declaration, and work the Treasury case alongside the federal one under a single plan. Michigan collection can move faster than the IRS in some ways, including refund interception, license actions, and liens. Most clients owe both authorities, which is exactly why we keep both on one engagement instead of sending half the case elsewhere.

For a Door 2 debt, hiring counsel usually produces a better outcome for one reason: the IRS runs on procedures, deadlines, and disclosure forms that reward technical accuracy and punish error. The Revenue Officer or Settlement Officer on your case does this full time. You do not.

Most first-time clients do not know that:

• Form 433-A allows some expenses and disallows others against fixed national and local standards, and the IRS updates those allowed amounts every year. List your actual spending instead of the allowed figures and the proposal usually gets rejected.
• Calling the IRS without representation puts everything you say into the case file, including statements that can open more tax years or extend the collection clock.
• The IRS sometimes bills a balance that a transcript review does not support, so paying a notice as printed is occasionally the worst move.
• Penalty abatement needs the right theory, first-time, reasonable cause, or a statutory exception, framed against IRS guidelines, not a general request to remove it.

What changes when a tax lawyer In Ypsilanti Township, MI is on the file: Form 2848 shifts every IRS conversation to your representative, so collection calls stop and notices route to us. We pull your full IRS account transcripts before negotiating, which often surfaces misapplied payments, errors, or assessments already past the 10-year collection statute that you would never have known to challenge. Then we structure the disclosure to support a path you can actually live with.

A tax attorney and a CPA on the same file, under one engagement that covers both the IRS and the Michigan Treasury.

Bridgette Austin, JD, EA, Vice President. Bridgette is a licensed attorney and an IRS Enrolled Agent. The law degree lets her represent clients in U.S. Tax Court when a case cannot be settled administratively, and lets attorney-client privilege protect sensitive conversations, which matters when there is Trust Fund Recovery Penalty exposure, possible fraud risk, or years of unfiled returns. The Enrolled Agent credential gives her unlimited representation rights before the IRS on collection, audit, and appeals.

Dustin Larson, EA, CPA. Dustin is an IRS Enrolled Agent and a licensed CPA who came up through the accounting program at Ferris State University. The CPA work brings the precision IRS financial disclosures demand, which is what cleans up mixed personal and business finances before any resolution path can open.

Most tax resolution outfits staff one credential or the other. Routing a case across two firms, an attorney for the legal side and a CPA for the numbers, adds review cycles and slows everything down. Same firm, same case, same file.

From the day you retain us, we are your point of contact with the IRS and the Michigan Treasury.

1. Free consultation. We review your notices and your situation and tell you which door you are in and the realistic paths.
2. Power of attorney filed. We file Form 2848, and Michigan Form 151 where the state is involved, within 24 hours of retention. IRS contact shifts to us.
3. Transcripts pulled. We read your full IRS account transcripts before negotiating, which often changes the strategy.
4. Resolution. We build and file the path your numbers support, then carry it through with the IRS or the state.
5. Monitoring. We track the case to close and keep you updated, so you are never guessing where it stands.

Do I need a tax lawyer in Ypsilanti Township, MIto appeal my Township property assessment?

Often, no. For a straightforward over-assessment, you can present your own case to the Township Board of Review, and many owners do. Bring recent comparable sales or proof of a defect that lowers value. You would want a representative when the dollars are large, when the property is commercial or income-producing, or when the assessment problem sits on top of an IRS or state tax debt. We do not file property assessment appeals. Our work is IRS and Michigan Department of Treasury debt and audits. We tell you this so you do not pay anyone for something you can start with a phone call.

What is the deadline to challenge my Ypsilanti Township assessment in 2026?

Michigan sets the 2026 Board of Review to open the week of March 9. Ypsilanti Township runs its own Assessment Department, separate from the City of Ypsilanti, and posts its own hours that week. Appointments are first-come, first-served, so call the Assessment Department at 734.544.4000 extension 3 to confirm the dates and book a time as soon as your notice arrives. You will need the Michigan Board of Review petition form and a short letter. If someone represents you, the owner has to sign an authorization letter. If the Board denies you, the next step is the Michigan Tax Tribunal, which has its own deadlines.

Does Austin & Larson Tax Resolution have an office in Ypsilanti Township?

No. Our four Michigan offices are Brighton, Saginaw, Lansing, and Ann Arbor. The Ann Arbor office on East Liberty Street is the closest, a short drive west of the township. Most clients work with us remotely because tax resolution is document heavy and time sensitive, and same-day digital exchange usually beats a scheduled meeting. We represent Michigan clients wherever you are.

The IRS sent me a notice. What should I do first?

Read the deadline, and do not call the IRS yourself first. A CP504 is a loud warning, but it does not start your appeal clock. The letter that does is the LT11 or Letter 1058, the final notice of intent to levy, which gives you 30 days to request a Collection Due Process hearing on Form 12153. A Notice of Deficiency gives you 90 days to petition the U.S. Tax Court. The right first moves are to pull your IRS account transcripts to see what is actually on file, then file Form 2848 so the IRS contacts your representative instead of you.

What if I haven’t filed federal or Michigan returns in years?

You file before anyone can negotiate. No payment path, Offer in Compromise, installment agreement, or Currently Not Collectible status, is open to a non-filer. If you keep ignoring it, the IRS can file a Substitute for Return for you, which usually leaves out deductions and credits and produces a larger bill. Six years of back returns is the usual minimum to get into compliance. We prepare the returns first, then open the resolution.

Can you help with Michigan Department of Treasury debt, not just the IRS?

Yes. We file Michigan Form 151, the state authorized representative declaration, and work the state case alongside the federal one under a single plan. Michigan collection can move faster than the IRS in some ways, including refund interception, license actions, and liens. Most clients owe both authorities, which is the reason we handle both in parallel rather than sending half the case elsewhere.

Does IRS tax debt ever expire?

Yes. Each tax year carries a 10-year Collection Statute Expiration Date, measured from the date the tax was assessed. After that, the IRS can no longer collect on that year. Some events pause the clock, including a pending Offer in Compromise, certain appeals, bankruptcy, and time spent outside the country. We pull your transcripts and read the exact expiration date for each year you owe, which sometimes changes the whole strategy.