Solo Attorney Recovers $41,000 in Missed Professional Deductions
I am a solo practitioner attorney, and my old tax preparer was missing deductions that are standard for any lawyer in private practice. No home office deduction for the dedicated office in my house. No deduction for bar association dues -- state bar, local bar, and specialty sections. No deduction for continuing legal education courses and seminars. No deduction for Westlaw and LexisNexis subscriptions. No deduction for client development meals and events.
When AE Tax Advisors reviewed my prior three years of returns, they were honestly shocked at how much had been missed. These are not exotic deductions -- they are standard expenses that every solo attorney incurs and every competent tax professional should capture.
They went through three years of bank and credit card statements line by line, identified every deductible expense that had been missed, and amended all three returns. The recovered taxes totaled $41,000. That number would have been even higher if I had better records for the earliest year, but AE Tax worked with what was available and still produced significant results.
Going forward, they set up a chart of accounts specifically designed for a solo law practice, with categories for every common legal expense. They also restructured my practice as an S-Corp and set up a Solo 401k. The annual tax savings going forward will be even larger than the amendment recovery.
The attention to detail was remarkable. AE Tax found deductions I did not even know existed, including professional liability insurance, process server fees, court filing costs, and expert witness expenses that had been lumped into generic categories.
For any attorney in solo or small practice, AE Tax Advisors is the team to trust with your taxes. The deductions they found were hiding in plain sight.