Tax Controversies & Litigation

Tax Controversies & Litigation

Ruder Ware’s litigators represent individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations in all phases of state and federal tax controversies.

Areas where the attorneys provide counsel include audits, administrative appeals, tax court, state and federal courts, collection actions, and dispute resolution through mediation, litigation and collection actions.  We have extensive experience resolving controversies before they reach litigation and pursuing matters through the dispute process including:

  • Income tax issues
  • State income tax withholding and reporting issues including worker classification reviews
  • Corporate income and franchise taxes
  • Occupation and sales and use taxes
  • Voluntary disclosure agreements
  • Collection matters including penalty abatement requests, liens, and reviews
  • Personal liability for trust fund taxes

We also counsel clients on tax procedures, including reporting and disclosure requirements, avoiding or abating tax penalties, privileges, and summons enforcement proceedings.  We keep abreast of IRS rulings and their impact on our clients, sharing important updates via our Tax Deductions blog.

Should legal disputes extend beyond Wisconsin, Ruder Ware’s affiliation with Meritas®, an international alliance of law firms, means our network of lawyers can provide counsel for clients anywhere in this country or around the world.

Founded in 1920, Ruder Ware provides business, employment, estate planning, and litigation services. A full-service law firm, over 45 attorneys provide clients with a one-stop approach to their legal needs. Ruder Ware, Business Attorneys for Business Success.

Resolving Business Disputes

Posted on May 10, 2022 by

In a perfect world, business owners could spend all of their time and money focusing on a singular task:  running their business.  Despite the best laid plans, however, at some point ancillary concerns will arise and require—at least to some extent—that a business divert its resources to address and correct an issue.  One area of […]

Breaking News: Social Security Administration Announces 5.9% Benefit Increase for 2022

Posted on October 13, 2021 by

Today, the Social Security Administration announced in a press release that approximately seventy million Americans who receive Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) will receive a cost-of-living adjustment (“COLA”) seeing an increase in their benefits of 5.9% in 2022. Sixty-four million Social Security beneficiaries will see their 5.9% COLA increase in January 2022. Eight […]

Matthew J. Shin Joins Ruder Ware

Posted on April 23, 2021 by

Matthew Shin’s intellectual property and business transactions practice has supported the development and commercialization of new technologies, products, and services in laboratories, factories, and computing systems around the world.      

Attorney Andrew Lorenz Joins Ruder Ware

Posted on April 23, 2021 by

Ruder Ware is pleased to announce the addition of Andrew Lorenz to our Eau Claire attorney team. An Eau Claire native,  Andrew is a 2018 magna cum laude graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School.  Prior to beginning his legal career he served four years with the United States Marine Corps.  At Ruder Ware, […]

Supreme Court of Wisconsin Ends State Mask Mandate on March 31

Posted on March 31, 2021 by

Today, March 31, 2021, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin ended the state-wide mask mandate after finding Executive Order (EO) #105 to be unlawful, ending it immediately.  Governor Tony Evers issued EO #105 shortly after the Wisconsin Legislature revoked EO #104. This decision also blocks Governor Evers from issuing further emergency orders under Wis. Stat. § 323.10 […]

IRS Re-Affirms PPP Expenses are Not Tax Deductible

Posted on November 19, 2020 by and

Through the release of a Revenue Ruling and a Revenue Procedure, the IRS re-affirmed its stance that taxpayers may not deduct payments for otherwise deductible business expenses (i.e., payroll, rent, covered utility payments, etc.) if those payments are made using Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds and the company “reasonably expects” to have their PPP loan […]

New Guidance Regarding Deferral of Withholding of Employees’ Social Security Taxes

Posted on September 2, 2020 by

On August 8, 2020, President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled “Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster.”  The order directed the Secretary of the Treasury to use its authority to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of certain payroll tax obligations. On August 28, 2020 the U.S. […]

BREAKING NEWS – SBA Releases PPP Info

Posted on April 2, 2020 by and

The SBA released the Interim Final Rule announcing more information on the Paycheck Protection Program.  The Interim Final Rule provides some program clarifications, but also provides some program changes. Note, the applicable interest rate is now 1%.  There is also more information on how to calculate payroll costs to determine the maximum loan amount including examples. […]

Breaking News: IRS Releases FFCRA Tax Guidance

Posted on April 1, 2020 by and

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) provides certain eligible employers with refundable tax credits that reimburse those employers for the cost of paying the paid sick and family leave wages as required by FFCRA. After almost two weeks, the IRS has released extensive guidance on the refundable tax credits, including 66 FAQ questions. […]

Refundable Tax Credits Under The Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Posted on March 20, 2020 by and

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201) (the “FFCRA”) (signed into law on March 18) and generally effective April 2, 2020 provides refundable tax credits for employers to offset the costs associated with the paid public health emergency leave (provided under an amendment to the federal Family and Medical Leave law) and paid sick […]

More Insights...