A. Brian Phillips

As a former Assistant United States Attorney and U.S. Department of Justice Trial Attorney (Tax Division), Mr. Phillips has substantial experience, training, and resources for handling complex, high-impact civil tax controversy and criminal tax defense litigation cases. While serving as a United States Department of Justice Trial Attorney in the Tax Division (Honors Program) and as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Middle District of Florida, Mr. Phillips handled numerous civil and criminal tax matters and served as the lead Asset Forfeiture attorney in the Orlando office of the United States Attorney where he also prosecuted a large number of white collar criminal cases.

As a top rated Florida white collar criminal defense attorney, Mr. Phillips has represented numerous clients throughout the U.S. When your matter impacts your freedom, life-time accomplishments and reputation, you need an attorney with the ability to navigate every challenge.

Mr. Phillips is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Florida in the acclaimed L.L.M. in Taxation program (Procedures in Tax Fraud Course) and at Barry University (White Collar Crime and Income Tax courses).

Some of Brian's reported cases include: U.S. v. Kowalik, 809 F.Supp. 1571 (S.D.Fla. 1992); Boca Airport, Inc. v. U.S., 838 F.Supp 576 (S.D. Fla. 1993); Boca Airport, Inc., v. U.S., 840 F.Supp. 120 (S.D.Fla. 1992); Macks v. Clinton, 843 F.Supp. 1440 (M.D.Fla. 1993); United Petro/Energy Corp. v. U.S., 846 F.Supp. 993 (S.D.Fla. 1994); U.S. v. Stoecklin 848 F.Supp. 1521 (M.D.Fla. 1994); Kowalik v. Morris, 1993, WL,484949, 72 A.F.T.R.2d 93-5888, 93-2 USTC P 50, 575 (S.D.Fla., Aug 23, 1993) (No. 92-7209-CIV-MARCUS); Macks v. Clinton, 1993 WL 597112, 72 F.R.T.R.2d 93-6046 (M.D.Fla., Sep 01, 1993 No. 91-1069-CIV-J-20); In re Wines, 122 B.R. 804 (Bankr.S.D.Fla., 1991 modified, 1992 WL 200602, Bankr.L.Rep. P 74, 674 (S.D.Fla., Apr 08, 1992)(No. 91-0433-CIV-MARCUS); and quite a few others.

University of Florida Levin College of Law

LL.M. (1990) | Taxation

1990 - 1990

University of Tennessee College of Law

J.D. and MBA (1989) | Law

1986 - 1989

Activities: Served as Executive Research Editor of the Tennessee Law Review.

Vanderbilt University

B.S. (1985) | Accounting

1981 - 1985

Managing Attorney

Tax Workout Group, P.A.

2023 - Current

Criminal Tax Defense and Complex Civil Tax Litigation Practice group Leader.

Adjunct Professor of Law - Procedures in Tax Fraud Cases

University of Florida - Levin College of Law (LLM Taxation Program)

2006 - Current

Adjunct Professor

Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law

2005 - Current

Teaches white collar crime and income tax courses.

Managing Partner

A. Brian Phillips, P.A.

1999 - Current

Assistant United States Attorney

United States Attorneys Office (Middle District of Florida)

1994 - 1999

Mr. Phillips handled numerous civil and criminal tax matters and served as the lead Asset Forfeiture attorney in the Orlando office of the United States Attorney. Prosecuted a large number of white collar criminal cases.

Trial Attorney

United States Department of Justice (Tax Division)

1990 - 1994

Honors Program. During his tenure, Mr. Phillips handled numerous civil and criminal tax cases.

Adjunct Professor, Barry College of Law, Income Tax I, Corporate Tax, Tax Fraud, & White Collar Crime

Adjunct Professor, Levin College of Law, LLM Program - Taxation

University of Florida

Procedures in Tax Fraud Cases

Outstanding Attorney Award

United States Department of Justice, Tax Division

1994

Orlando Shakespeare Theatre

Director and fmr. President

Current

Orlando Opera

Director

Current

University Club of Orlando

Director, fmr. President

Current

University Club of Orlando Foundation

President, fmr.

Current

Florida State Bar

Attorney

1995 - Current

Activities: The Florida Bar (Co-Chair, Criminal Tax Procedure Committee, Federal Tax Division, Tax Section).

Tennessee State Bar

Member

1990 - Current

Activities: Tax Law Section Criminal Justice Section Litigation Section

U.S. Court of Appeals - 11th Circuit

U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida

U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida

U.S. Supreme Court

ID Number: U.S. Court of Appeals

United States Tax Court

• Free Consultation
  Free Tax Case Evaluations.
• Credit Cards Accepted
• Contingent Fees
  If permissible.
• Rates, Retainers and Additional Information
  Virtual Video Meetings available.

Q. Can I get a substantial underpayment penalty abated based on incorrect advice given to me by my accountant?

April 11, 2023

A: You will need to protest the 30-day letter's proposed adjustments. Generally, a taxpayer who can show "reasonable cause" has a good chance of securing penalty relief. Fully informed advice from a competent tax advisor is a solid ground for showing reasonable cause and obtaining such relief. Taxpayers are eligible for relief when they rely on actual advice from a tax professional (professional judgment or analysis of a tax advisor) as compared to the “tax preparation” or clerical tasks that are carried out in the preparation of the return itself.

If you in fact relied upon the erroneous advice from a tax professional, you must generally make the following showings: that the advisor was a competent tax professional who had sufficient expertise to justify reliance on such advice, you accurately provided all the necessary information to the advisor, the advisor must be a person other than yourself in which you reasonably relied in good faith on the advice rendered from such individual, and that such individual actually rendered the advice (the advice regarding the analysis and conclusion was in fact communicated to you).

This determination must consider all pertinent facts and circumstances. Some additional factors that will be relevant to this analysis include: whether the tax advisor was competent with respect to the specific tax matter at issue, whether the advisor was furnished with all relevant and necessary information to make a determination/conclusion, whether your reliance on the tax advice was reasonable (taking into account your education, sophistication with tax law, etc.) and whether the advice was based on reasonable factual or legal assumptions. One last important consideration is whether the position a tax advisor is recommending is “too good to be true” in the sense that the tax benefits proposed far outweigh the cost. When a tax benefit is too good to be true, you should be asking additional questions.

Remember, accountant and CPA are not the same thing! The protest process does require some finesse (and some additional facts), but I would say the prognosis is positive. ... Read More

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