Reviews

I called John as I had a problems with my tax return. John went above and beyond to provide me with all the necessary information to be able to address these problems with the IRS. The phone consult was followed with an email with all the information that we discussed.

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

John is THE lawyer for DC state tax issues. He knows the law and how to handle the bureaucracy to get the job done properly with grace. He got us a complete tax refund for one year and convinced DC to not bill us for another.

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

John was very easy to talk to and explain our situation with international assets and bank accounts. He knew exactly what needed to be done in order to file prior year FBARs on our behalf and ensure that we didn't face any penalties for non-filing. John and Bill, his in-house CPA, are a great team and although I hope to never need their services again, I wouldn't hesitate to call them if I do.

I had a foreign bank accounts reporting (FBAR) issue that John and his team was able to provide clear guidance on and ultimately was able to resolve for me in addition to guidance on the incompatibility of US tax law and typical foreign estate planning practices.

The best thing is can say about John Pontius is that he answers his phone. He is responsive on the telephone, but slow to do actual work. I sent his retainer on a Friday and I waited until the following Thursday to contact him to see if he had had a chance to look at anything. Nothing had been looked at. All i needed was a basic petition to tax court and rather than doing it myself (which courts allow petitioners to do) I wanted a lawyer's expertise, I did not receive that. He had another person to assist him who in turn needed to look things up and research information which was already online and easy for any novice to research.) The day after I called him he called me back having apparently spent half that day reviewing my file. One afternoon's work used up the majority of my retainer on research i would have thought a top rated tax attorney would have known. Anyway, he used up $1800 of my $2500 retainer and wanted more money. I asked him to complete the work i had originally wanted done (a petition) with the remaining funds and he agreed by telephone to do that on a Friday afternoon. But something better must have come up over the weekend because he called to advise me on Monday that his assistant had forgotten to bill something (in the one day of work the assistant had done on my case) and sorry but the retainer was all used up so the remaining 2-3 hours of work typing the petition which he had already agreed to do could not be done now. In addition to not being able to provide a court petition for $2500 he was not aware of a new deadline extension by IRS which a former tax adviser kindly advised me about. Foolishly, I sent it to him in an effort to speed things along. (I am sure he billed another customer $300 for that bit of "research.") He is only $375/hour but my advice to anyone needing help is to spend $600 and get someone who can work more efficiently. I am very surprised he is rated as a top lawyer.

I received a fee from the IRS because of an error I made filing my taxes. I consulted John and he gave me advice on my next steps, first time penalty abatement. I am so glad I went to him because it worked and he saved me lots of money.