Ignoring Tax Advice and then Suing the Attorney who Gave the Advice Isn’t Brilliant

Let’s assume you talk to your attorney, and he advises you that you should create a reserve fund for taxes. Usually, it’s a good idea to listen to your attorney. If you don’t like his opinion, perhaps get a second opinion.

Of course, there’s also the Bozo method. The Miccosukee Tribe runs a successful casino near Miami, Florida. The tribe is exempt from taxes (it’s a sovereign nation). However, its members must pay taxes. They decided that they knew better than their attorney, and didn’t report distributions to its members or create a reserve fund in case their opinion was wrong. The Miccosukees filed a malpractice suit against their longtime attorney in a Florida court. The attorney had copies of his advice which pretty much (to this layman’s eyes) throws the malpractice case in the trash can.

Taxdood has more. Hint: The Miccosukee Tribe is the first nominee for the Bozo Tax Offender of the Year.

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 16th, 2012 at 5:21 am and is filed under Florida, Gambling. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Responses to “Ignoring Tax Advice and then Suing the Attorney who Gave the Advice Isn’t Brilliant”

  1. Mike Corbin says:
    January 23, 2012 at 9:02 am

    I’d add that if you don’t like the attorney that you’ve hired, fire him and find another one. It is always important to do your research when looking for tax help. There are many companies out there who have unethical practices.

    http://www.consumertaxreports.org
    This website exposes many of the large TAX companies – JK Harris, Tax Masters, Blue Tax, US Tax Shield…

    Mike

  2. Miccosukees Definitely in the Running for Tax Offender of the Year says:
    May 22, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    […] When I last reported on the Miccoskees (a South Florida Indian tribe that runs a casino), the tribe decided to apparently ignore the advice of their then-attorney and not withhold taxes on earnings of their members. They now have been accused of not remitting taxes they withheld from patrons. […]