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Houston Tax Litigation Attorneys

You probably found us by searching for “tax litigation attorney,” “tax court attorney,” or “Houston tax court lawyer.” You are in the right place. Mitchell Tax Law is a Houston tax law firm that represents individuals and businesses in tax litigation — tax court petitions, refund suits in district court and the Court of Federal Claims, and the procedural fights that decide most tax cases before trial.

Tax litigation is a specialty. The forum matters, the deadlines are strict, and the IRS gets the home-court advantage in most settings. Knowing which courthouse to file in, which arguments to lead with, and which procedural levers to pull is the difference between a clean win and a slow loss.

When tax litigation is the right move

Most tax disputes settle. They settle in exam, they settle at the IRS Office of Appeals, and many of the cases that get docketed in Tax Court settle before trial. Litigation makes sense when the IRS will not move off a wrong position, when the legal issue is novel, when the dollars justify the cost, or when a settlement at Appeals would foreclose better outcomes elsewhere.

The reverse is also true: litigation is the wrong move when the facts are bad, when the cost outruns the exposure, or when the case can be resolved through audit reconsideration or an IRS closing agreement. Part of our job is telling clients which case they actually have.

Choice of forum: Tax Court, district court, and the Court of Federal Claims

Three federal courts hear most tax cases. The U.S. Tax Court is the only court where the taxpayer can litigate a deficiency without paying it first. The U.S. District Courts and the Court of Federal Claims hear refund cases, where the taxpayer pays the tax and sues for it back. Bankruptcy courts can resolve tax claims in a pending bankruptcy. The tax court system page walks through the differences in more detail.

Forum choice is not just procedural. Different courts apply different evidentiary standards, different jury rules, and different precedent. The Tax Court applies its own caselaw, the district court applies its circuit, and the Court of Federal Claims applies Federal Circuit law. Some issues we would never bring in Tax Court — jury trial for an IRS penalty, for example, is only available in district court. Others would never go anywhere else.

Tax Court petitions and the 90-day window

Most Tax Court cases start with a statutory Notice of Deficiency — the 90-day letter. The petition has to be filed within 90 days of the notice (150 days if the taxpayer is abroad). The deadline is jurisdictional. A petition filed 11 seconds late has been held untimely. The Supreme Court’s Boechler decision opened a narrow path for equitable tolling in CDP cases, and in some cases the petition can be filed late — but the safer course is always to file on time.

The validity of the underlying Notice of Deficiency is also fair game. Whether the IRS’s automated system can issue a valid Notice of Deficiency is a live question that we test on cases where the notice does not bear a real signature or proper authority.

Refund litigation and the full-payment rule

Refund cases require the taxpayer to pay the tax first, file a refund claim, wait six months (or get a denial), and then sue. The substantial variance doctrine limits what arguments can be raised at trial — the suit cannot meaningfully vary from the refund claim filed with the IRS. Drafting the refund claim is itself a litigation decision.

The full-payment rule has wrinkles. Divisible taxes (employment taxes, certain penalties) often allow partial-payment refund suits. Some assessments can be challenged in injunction or quiet-title actions even without payment. Knowing which doctrine fits which case is part of the strategy work we do before any complaint gets filed.

Collection Due Process and CDP appeals to Tax Court

If the case is in collections rather than examination, the Tax Court still has a role. A Collection Due Process (CDP) hearing produces a notice of determination, and that determination can be appealed to Tax Court within 30 days. The CDP appeal can raise the underlying liability if the taxpayer did not have a prior opportunity, plus collection alternatives like installment agreements and offers in compromise. Failing to show up to the CDP hearing can forfeit the appeal rights, and whether the IRS can deny an installment agreement based on home equity is the kind of issue that gets litigated.

For more on collection alternatives that can be raised in CDP, see our IRS collections page.

Pre-trial work: pleadings, discovery, and motions

Most tax cases are won or lost before trial. Pleadings frame the issues. Discovery in Tax Court is limited and informal but still produces the documents and admissions that drive the case. Motions for summary judgment, motions in limine, and dispositive procedural motions resolve more cases than trials do.

Jurisdictional motions are particularly important. Whether corporate suspension can foreclose U.S. Tax Court review is the kind of pre-trial issue we look at on entity petitioners. Whether the IRS’s timeline for partnership adjustments holds up matters for BBA cases.

Trial, evidence, and expert testimony

Tax trials are bench trials in Tax Court, jury-eligible in district court. The rules of evidence apply — puffery and exaggeration are not evidence, and the court will weigh credibility carefully. We prepare witnesses, narrow the issues, and stipulate everything that should be stipulated so the actual trial focuses on the real fight.

Expert testimony often drives the result on valuation, accounting method, and reasonable compensation cases. Whether a forensic accountant can testify as an expert depends on the qualifications and the reliability of the methodology. Choosing the right expert and framing the right question is as much a part of the case as the cross-examination.

Attorney fees: getting the IRS to pay

Section 7430 allows a prevailing taxpayer to recover attorney’s fees from the IRS when the government’s position was not substantially justified. The threshold is real, but achievable in the right case. A tax attorney can recover fees from the IRS for their own case, and getting the IRS to pay for your tax attorney is sometimes the leverage that drives a fair pre-trial settlement.

Not everything is recoverable. Some litigation costs — attorney travel, for instance — cannot be recouped. We scope fee petitions carefully so we are not chasing recovery that the statute will not allow.

Settlement, non-suits, and ending the case

A case can end many ways. Most end by stipulated decision after settlement. Some end by summary judgment. A few go to trial. And occasionally the right move is to non-suit the case in Tax Court — an option that exists in narrower circumstances than most lawyers realize, and that has real strategic consequences for any related refund claim.

Appeals to the circuit courts

Tax Court decisions are appealable to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit where the taxpayer resides (with some exceptions). District court decisions go to that district’s circuit. Court of Federal Claims decisions go to the Federal Circuit. Issue preservation at the trial level is critical — arguments not raised below are usually waived on appeal. We try cases with the appellate record in mind from the first filing.

How we work with Houston tax litigation clients

Tax litigation is attorney work end to end. The same Houston tax attorney who scopes the case drafts the petition, argues the motions, and tries the case if it gets there. We do not staff trial work to junior associates we have not seen at counsel table. We give written engagement scopes, budgets pegged to phases of the case, and frank assessments of the litigation risk before any filing fee is paid.

We also tell clients when the right answer is to settle. Most cases should settle, and the firms that try every case until it goes badly are not doing their clients any favors. Our job is to know the difference and to do the work that gets the client to the right answer.

Please call us at (713) 909-4906 or schedule an appointment to discuss your tax litigation case.