Defense Tax Partners

Focus and practice areas

The firm handles tax law in Chicago, and its work stays inside one field: disputes with the IRS and the Illinois Department of Revenue. Most matters it names involve a balance the government says is owed, or a return the government wants to examine. That single subject gives a reader a clear read on what the firm does day to day.

The client base runs in two directions, individuals and businesses, and both appear across the firm's material. In my opinion, that split is worth noting early, because personal tax trouble and business tax trouble follow different rules even when they share a name. The pages keep the two tracks visible, which helps a reader place their own situation.

Collection pressure and audits

For individuals, the firm handles back taxes, IRS audits, wage garnishment, bank levies, and tax liens. These are the points where a tax problem stops being paperwork and starts affecting a paycheck or a bank account. A lien attaches to property and signals other creditors. A levy and a wage garnishment go further and take funds or a share of wages directly.

An audit sits earlier in that chain. The IRS reviews a return, asks for records, and proposes changes if the numbers do not match. A taxpayer can agree, provide more documentation, or dispute the result through the agency's appeals process. The firm represents clients at each of these stages: collection actions, audits, and appeals inside the IRS.

How tax debt gets resolved

The firm lists several ways to reduce or restructure what a taxpayer owes. These include offers in compromise, installment agreements, and penalty abatement. It also challenges assessments a taxpayer believes are wrong, and it takes on unfiled returns and innocent spouse relief.

Each option follows its own track with the IRS. An offer in compromise asks the agency to accept less than the full balance, and approval turns on documented income, expenses, and assets. An installment agreement spreads the balance across monthly payments. Penalty abatement asks the IRS to drop penalties when the taxpayer shows reasonable cause, such as illness or reliance on bad advice.

Disputing the amount owed

A challenge to an assessment works differently again. Here the firm disputes the amount the IRS calculated, often by producing records the agency did not have or correcting how a figure was applied. The IRS can adjust the balance, hold it, or send the matter to appeals. Getting the number right early can shrink the penalties and interest that build on top of it.

Sequence matters here. Unfiled returns usually come first, because the IRS wants a filing history before it will discuss most settlement options. Innocent spouse relief runs on a separate question: whether one person should carry a joint tax debt the other spouse created. The firm names both, which covers a common starting problem and a narrower one that turns up in divorces and estates.

Work for businesses

Companies bring their own tax exposure, and the firm names three areas: payroll tax liabilities, sales tax audits, and corporate income tax disputes. Payroll tax problems carry real weight, because the IRS treats withheld employee taxes as trust funds and can pursue the people responsible for paying them. A sales tax audit often runs through the state government, which puts the Illinois Department of Revenue back in the picture.

Corporate income tax disputes tend to turn on how a business reported income and deductions. These cases can involve federal and state examiners at the same time. The firm's mix of IRS and Illinois tax work fits that reality, because a company under audit often answers to both at once.

Criminal and fraud matters

The firm also covers tax fraud defense and criminal tax matters. These carry higher stakes than a civil audit, because the government has to prove intent. Criminal tax cases can involve the IRS Criminal Investigation division and, in some files, the Department of Justice.

Defense at this level can mean protecting a client during an IRS interview or answering a Criminal Investigation referral before charges are filed. The firm places this work next to its civil tax practice, so a client whose audit turns serious can stay with the same team. As a reviewer, I see that pairing as the useful part, because civil and criminal tax questions often live in the same set of facts.

What the record shows

The firm states its core areas plainly: IRS representation, tax levy defense, tax fraud defense, and criminal tax matters. It represents clients during IRS collection actions, audits, and appeals inside the agency. Its reach is statewide, and it covers Illinois clients in Chicago and the surrounding communities.

The site names the firm and its areas of work, though it does not list individual attorneys. Readers who want named credentials or a stated founding year will want to ask the firm directly. What the pages do make clear is the scope of the work: tax controversy, handled on both the federal and the Illinois state level. The firm represents individuals and businesses, and it works across Illinois, with clients in Chicago and nearby communities.