What is a tax lawyer?

A tax lawyer is a lawyer who has specialised in the field of taxation. Lawyers are normally univeristy trained professionals who have studied the field of law that they practice in and have reached a certain level of proficiency which allows them to say that they are a lawyer. There is also a system of professional regulation which relates to tax lawyers like any other form of lawyer. This means that they constantly need to update their knowledge and skills and show a continued commitment to legal education as well as the code of professional ethics of the legal profession and the courts in which they are admitted.

What can a tax lawyer do for me?

Tax lawyers normally perform two major functions. The first that of advice. The taxation law can be extremely complicated and it is often necessary, even when an accountant is available to obtain the advice of a taxation lawyer who is an expert in the field of the law which you need to apply to your taxation problem. The second major function which taxation lawyers can play which is something that is solely the domain of a taxation lawyer is the conduct of litigation in relation to revenue authorities. There is a very large amount of litigation between revenue authorities and taxpayers because of various issues. In Australia, the applicaiton of the GST is one of the most litigious aspects of the taxation system. There are generally two parts of taxation enforce which are debt litigation which is where the debt is not disputed and Part 4(C) which usually relates to a disputed liability. Normally a case of disputed liability can have more far reaching impacts in terms of the how the interpretation of the tax law occurs in relation to most tax payers as the tax law can be changed by a juducial precendent or interpretation of a taxation rule or regulation. Debt litigation conducted by the Taxation Office is more likely a clear cut affiair where a certain amount of money is definitely owed by a tax payer. Tax lawyers often assist wither the Taxation Office or the Taxpayer in these cases with representation and advice. If you need assistance taxation related legal matter, you can contact us using the contact form the the right or by chatting to one of our lawyers online now. We are more than happy to help.