A notice from the IRS or the Oregon Department of Revenue, an audit, a lien, or a tax bill you can't explain — these matters run on strict deadlines, and the sooner you act, the more options you keep. We plan ahead to lower what you owe, and we step in to defend your position when the state or the federal government questions it.
Tax law has two sides, and we work on both. Planning is the work you do in advance — structuring your income, your business, and your estate so you are not surprised at filing time. Controversy is what happens after a tax agency acts — an audit, a deficiency notice, an assessment, a lien, or a levy that needs a careful, on-time response. Based in Medford, we help individuals and businesses across Oregon on both fronts, before the IRS and before the Oregon Department of Revenue.
One thing to know up front: a lawyer is not the same as a return preparer. Plenty of capable accountants, enrolled agents, and licensed preparers can file your returns and handle routine matters. What an attorney adds is legal judgment — interpreting the statutes, building a contested-case strategy, structuring an estate or a business with legal effect, and litigating in court when a dispute can't be settled. That is the work we focus on.
When a tax agency questions your return or moves to collect, the response is time-sensitive and the rules are technical. We represent taxpayers through the full arc of a dispute:
Because Oregon income tax begins with your federal taxable income, a federal audit adjustment often flows through to your Oregon return — so federal and state problems are frequently best handled together. We coordinate both.
Oregon has a specialized, statewide Oregon Tax Court that hears tax disputes. The administration of state tax law and the appeal process are governed by ORS chapter 305. The path generally runs in stages, and each stage has its own clock:
In Oregon, an appeal from a Notice of Assessment or refund denial generally must reach the Tax Court's Magistrate Division within 90 days of the notice (ORS 305.280); a magistrate's decision is then appealed to the Regular Division within 60 days (ORS 305.501); and certain property-tax appeals run on a 30-day clock. Read the deadline on your specific notice and call us as soon as it arrives — the window can close quickly, and a missed deadline can forfeit the appeal entirely.
Oregon imposes an estate transfer tax under ORS chapter 118. The tax applies to the transfer of property of every Oregon resident decedent, and to a nonresident's Oregon real or tangible property (ORS 118.010). What surprises most families is the threshold: Oregon taxes estates with a gross estate of $1,000,000 or more, with graduated rates from 10% to 16% — and that $1,000,000 figure is not indexed for inflation. Because it sits far below the federal estate-tax exemption, many estates that owe nothing to the federal government still owe Oregon estate tax. Oregon has no separate inheritance tax.
That gap is exactly why planning matters for ordinary families, not just the wealthy. We help you understand your exposure and use the tools available under Oregon law — coordinated with your overall estate plan — so more of what you've built passes to the people you choose. This work ties directly into our wills, trusts, and probate practice.
How you structure and run a business changes its Oregon tax footprint. We help owners think through the legal side of that, including:
Oregon's Corporate Activity Tax (ORS chapter 317A) requires a business to register within 30 days of realizing $750,000 in Oregon commercial activity in a year — and that registration duty kicks in before any tax is owed, which is generally only once taxable Oregon commercial activity tops $1,000,000. Growing companies often hit the registration threshold without realizing it. If your Oregon receipts are approaching that range, it's worth a conversation before the deadline rather than after.
Two features make Oregon's system distinctive. First, Oregon has no general sales tax — one of only a handful of states without one. Second, the state leans heavily on the personal income tax, imposed under ORS chapter 316. The statute sets four progressive brackets, with the top 9.9% rate applying to taxable income above $125,000 for a single filer (ORS 316.037). Oregon residents are taxed on income from all sources; nonresidents are taxed only on Oregon-source income; and part-year residents fall somewhere in between. Because Oregon starts from your federal taxable income and then applies its own additions and subtractions, federal and state planning go hand in hand.
We start with a confidential consultation: tell us what's going on, bring the notice or the question, and we'll tell you honestly whether and how we can help. From there we map your options, the deadlines that govern, and a clearly-scoped fee, so you know what's ahead before you commit. Tax outcomes depend on each person's facts — we don't promise results, but we do promise careful preparation, plain-English explanations, and deadlines that get tracked so nothing slips.
This page is general information, not legal or tax advice. Tax laws, rates, and deadlines change and apply differently to every situation. Contact us to talk through your specific circumstances.
Tax deadlines are strict and often unforgiving. Whether you're planning ahead or responding to a notice, the earlier we talk, the more we can do.
