John Pontius
N/A
N/A
Law Degree
Awards
Primary Practice Area
Tax Law
Language
English
About
John Pontius is the founder of Pontius Tax Law, PLLC, with offices in Washington, DC and in Rockville, Maryland. Mr. Pontius represents individual and business clients with sensitive and serious tax matters before the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities. His client base is local, national and international. Mr. Pontius has been licensed to practice law since 2005. He is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia and before federal courts, including the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland and the U.S. Tax Court. Mr. Pontius focuses on international tax and tax controversy. He was selected as a Rising Star in tax by Super Lawyers from 2015-2020. Mr. Pontius regularly advises clients on the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, Streamlined Domestic and Foreign Offshore Procedures, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts ("FBAR") and Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act ("FATCA"). He has international tax compliance experience reviewing various informational and income tax forms. Mr. Pontius has extensive examination experience with federal and state audits, protests of proposed adjustments and audit reconsideration. He represents clients on tax liens and levies, collection due process hearings, offers in compromises and requests for penalty abatement. He has experience with employment tax issues such as worker classification and the trust fund recover penalty. From 2012-2019, Mr. Pontius served as the Co-Chair of the Tax Section of the Bar Association of Montgomery County Maryland. Mr. Pontius writes articles for the newsletter on recent tax developments. He leads meetings on tax topics and coordinates Continuing Legal Education (CLE) classes on technical tax topics. John also guest lectured on the topic of Collection Due Process Hearings for the tax practice and procedure litigation class at the Georgetown University Law Center. Mr. Pontius was a co-panelist at a DC Bar New Tax Practitioner Committee meeting on the topic of Collection Due Process procedures and practice tips. Mr. Pontius spoke about employment taxes at the MSBA Leadership Academy's Pro Bono Small Business Boot Camp.Prior to joining the firm he practiced at tax law firms in Rockville, Maryland and Annapolis, Maryland. Mr. Pontius has two years experience in the international corporate tax group at KPMG in Tysons Corner, Virginia where he researched and analyzed a wide range of complex tax matters in the areas of compliance, provision, planning and restructuring. At the accounting firm, John worked with a broad range of U.S. multi-national and foreign owned clients doing business as corporations and partnerships in the communications, financial services and defense contractor industries.Mr. Pontius started practicing law in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps with the 1st Armored Division in Wiesbaden, Germany and deployed to Tikrit, Iraq. As the supervisor of the IRS-sponsored military Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program in Wiesbaden, Germany, Mr. Pontius managed a staff of eight and ensured quality control in connection with more than 2,000 federal and 700 state tax returns for members of the military community.Mr. Pontius received his Tax LL.M. from the Georgetown University Law Center, and he was a student extern to Judge Paris of the U.S. Tax Court. He received his J.D. from the Widener University School of Law, and he was a member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society. He received his B.A. in Economics from Gettysburg College, and he was member of the Federal Reserve Challenge Team that won first place at the Baltimore branch in 2001. He is licensed in Maryland and in the District of Columbia.
Language
English
Contact
Pontius Tax Law, PLLC199 East Montgomery Ave, Suite 100Rockville, MD, 20850
Office: N/A
Website: N/AReviews
I owned a house in the United States and as a Profesional of an International Organization I move from country of residence from time to time. When I returned to the United States in 2016, I decided to sell a house I owned in Fairfax. As a G-4 visa holder, the IRS withholds a percentage of the home's value (10%). The challenge began when the accountant I hired for the required paperwork recommended that my wife and I should proceed with separate claims since the property was in both or our names. This procedure appears to have created confusion with IRS officials. In short, they returned my 50% very fast but did not return the 50% claimed in my wife's name (which was a very important sum on money). We fought hard for almost three years submitting the information the IRS required. Every time we sent a refund request, the IRS send it back indicating either that something is missing or that it is not the correct procedure. We even went personally to the IRS, and surprisingly it seemed that no one knew how t do it. When we were about to lose the money withheld (any application seems to expire after three years), we happened to meet Mr. Pontius and his firm because of a course on FIRPTA offered to members of the Credit Union to which I belong. After a video conference with him, Mr Pontius took my case and surprisingly in about a month, I received the check form IRS. His work is fantastic, and he sure knows the exact procedures perfectly, so I highly recommend him and his firm with 100% of certainty
The IRS believed my 10 year old business tax filing was in erroe because the status of employees was "wrongly stated". John suggested an elegant filing--- a simple revision of the old filing wiyh new categorization. IT worked! The IRS ceased a levy they had implemented
I owned a house in the United States and as a Profesional of an International Organization I move from country of residence from time to time. When I returned to the United States in 2016, I decided to sell a house I owned in Fairfax. As a G-4 visa holder, the IRS withholds a percentage of the home's value (10%). The challenge began when the accountant I hired for the required paperwork recommended that my wife and I should proceed with separate claims since the property was in both or our names. This procedure appears to have created confusion with IRS officials. In short, they returned my 50% very fast but did not return the 50% claimed in my wife's name (which was a very important sum on money). We fought hard for almost three years submitting the information the IRS required. Every time we sent a refund request, the IRS send it back indicating either that something is missing or that it is not the correct procedure. We even went personally to the IRS, and surprisingly it seemed that no one knew how t do it. When we were about to lose the money withheld (any application seems to expire after three years), we happened to meet Mr. Pontius and his firm because of a course on FIRPTA offered to members of the Credit Union to which I belong. After a video conference with him, Mr Pontius took my case and surprisingly in about a month, I received the check form IRS. His work is fantastic, and he sure knows the exact procedures perfectly, so I highly recommend him and his firm with 100% of certainty
The IRS believed my 10 year old business tax filing was in erroe because the status of employees was "wrongly stated". John suggested an elegant filing--- a simple revision of the old filing wiyh new categorization. IT worked! The IRS ceased a levy they had implemented
I owned a house in the United States and as a Profesional of an International Organization I move from country of residence from time to time. When I returned to the United States in 2016, I decided to sell a house I owned in Fairfax. As a G-4 visa holder, the IRS withholds a percentage of the home's value (10%). The challenge began when the accountant I hired for the required paperwork recommended that my wife and I should proceed with separate claims since the property was in both or our names. This procedure appears to have created confusion with IRS officials. In short, they returned my 50% very fast but did not return the 50% claimed in my wife's name (which was a very important sum on money). We fought hard for almost three years submitting the information the IRS required. Every time we sent a refund request, the IRS send it back indicating either that something is missing or that it is not the correct procedure. We even went personally to the IRS, and surprisingly it seemed that no one knew how t do it. When we were about to lose the money withheld (any application seems to expire after three years), we happened to meet Mr. Pontius and his firm because of a course on FIRPTA offered to members of the Credit Union to which I belong. After a video conference with him, Mr Pontius took my case and surprisingly in about a month, I received the check form IRS. His work is fantastic, and he sure knows the exact procedures perfectly, so I highly recommend him and his firm with 100% of certainty
The IRS believed my 10 year old business tax filing was in erroe because the status of employees was "wrongly stated". John suggested an elegant filing--- a simple revision of the old filing wiyh new categorization. IT worked! The IRS ceased a levy they had implemented
I owned a house in the United States and as a Profesional of an International Organization I move from country of residence from time to time. When I returned to the United States in 2016, I decided to sell a house I owned in Fairfax. As a G-4 visa holder, the IRS withholds a percentage of the home's value (10%). The challenge began when the accountant I hired for the required paperwork recommended that my wife and I should proceed with separate claims since the property was in both or our names. This procedure appears to have created confusion with IRS officials. In short, they returned my 50% very fast but did not return the 50% claimed in my wife's name (which was a very important sum on money). We fought hard for almost three years submitting the information the IRS required. Every time we sent a refund request, the IRS send it back indicating either that something is missing or that it is not the correct procedure. We even went personally to the IRS, and surprisingly it seemed that no one knew how t do it. When we were about to lose the money withheld (any application seems to expire after three years), we happened to meet Mr. Pontius and his firm because of a course on FIRPTA offered to members of the Credit Union to which I belong. After a video conference with him, Mr Pontius took my case and surprisingly in about a month, I received the check form IRS. His work is fantastic, and he sure knows the exact procedures perfectly, so I highly recommend him and his firm with 100% of certainty
The IRS believed my 10 year old business tax filing was in erroe because the status of employees was "wrongly stated". John suggested an elegant filing--- a simple revision of the old filing wiyh new categorization. IT worked! The IRS ceased a levy they had implemented