The law office of Silas I. Harrington is dedicated to providing exceptional tax, benefits, and estate planning services to small businesses and individuals. Firm clients are provided personal, prompt, and comprehensive legal solutions to their individual circumstances—from a legal professional focused on solving problems instead of complicating client's lives.

The firm offers comprehensive estate planning and probate services for both simple and complex estates. While many people think of an estate plan as something simply focused on the transfer of their property when they are gone, a proper estate plan considers much more than the simple distribution of assets at death. For instance, a proper estate plan includes an Advance Health Care Directive to inform their loved ones regarding their health care wishes. Without such a document, families can be torn apart attempting to determine the wishes of an incapacitated loved one. Many clients can significantly reduce or eliminate the loss of their hard earned property to estate taxes by engaging in the estate planning process today. Too often clients or their beneficiaries fail to consider possible estate tax exposure until the very end of life. At that point, it can be difficult or impossible to protect the family’s assets from being lost to avoidable estate taxes.

Small business owners and professionals can be exceptional in their vocation—but blind to the opportunities that are available to help shield them from liability and mitigate their income tax exposure. The firm offers risk analysis services that can help the small business owner identify and implement the appropriate entity structure for conducting the business—including implementation and ongoing compliance services for regular taxable corporations (C corporations), pass-through corporations (S corporations), limited and general partnerships, and limited liability companies (LLCs taxable as C or S corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships depending on the circumstances and election filed with the IRS).

Any business that generates income in excess of what is needed by the owner to cover expenses should review whether a retirement plan could help the owner or owners shield assets and save money on taxes. Retirement plans that include a single unrelated rank and file employee offer creditor protection under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) that protects plan assets of almost all creditors. In addition to outstanding creditor protection, retirement plans offer significant current income tax savings. Many small business owners are unaware that tax law changes in 2001 and 2006 have expanded the savings available and that annual, deductible contributions in excess of $200,000 are available for qualifying business owners. The firm can review your qualifications for these savings programs and work with your financial professionals to help you save more of what you earn.

While most people do not look for a fight with the IRS, in today’s challenging financial environment, the government is aggressively pursuing taxpayers, even taxpayers that have tried to do everything possible to properly account for their tax liability. Silas Harrington has represented dozens of taxpayers before the IRS and can help you resolve IRS disputes; directly or in concert with your CPA or other tax professional. The IRS is not always correct in the positions they take against taxpayers, and if you have an IRS issue related to your business or retirement plan, the firm is dedicated to helping you resolve it quickly, fairly, and at a reasonable cost.