Alexander Olsen Powell

Alexander Powell is a Washington, DC tax attorney who represents clients in IRS disputes and U.S. Tax Court cases. The Law Office of Alexander Powell, PLLC represents individuals and closely held businesses in IRS examinations, collections, penalty disputes, matters involving unfiled returns, and U.S. Tax Court cases. Mr. Powell handles federal tax matters nationwide from 1629 K Street NW, Suite 300 in Washington, DC.

The federal practice covers examinations, responses, and the administrative record; liens, levies, payment options, offers, and penalty defenses; options for addressing past return-filing failures; and Tax Court petitions, case development, settlement, and trial. The practice also includes the trust fund recovery penalty, the personal penalty for unpaid payroll trust fund taxes, with the Form 4180 interview and Letter 1153 appeal.

In the District of Columbia and Maryland, the firm handles disputes with the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue and disputes with the Comptroller of Maryland. District of Columbia and Maryland tax disputes are disputes with those tax authorities. They are not IRS examinations, IRS collection notices, or United States Tax Court cases, and the deadlines printed on state and federal notices run independently of each other.

The international reporting practice covers disputes involving foreign accounts, FBAR penalties, and international information returns, and options for addressing past filing and reporting failures, including the IRS Voluntary Disclosure Practice and Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures.

The firm also files consumer Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases in Maryland, including tax debt that meets the discharge tests and plans that pay IRS and state tax claims. We are a debt relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.

A tax matter begins with a document. Read what the agency actually says, identify the date printed on it, and take the step that date requires. An IRS examination usually opens with a letter such as Letter 525 or an information document request on Form 4564. A collection case usually opens with a balance notice and then a final notice of intent to levy, LT11 or Letter 1058, which carries a 30-day hearing right. A Notice of Deficiency, Letter 3219, starts the Internal Revenue Code section 6213(a) petition period. For each matter, Mr. Powell identifies the deadline, explains the available options, and prepares the response for the IRS, tax authority, or court.

Mr. Powell first-chaired more than 75 cases to verdict as a Maryland prosecutor. He later drafted more than 100 appellate opinions as a staff attorney at the Appellate Court of Maryland, and clerked at the Court of Appeals of Maryland, now the Supreme Court of Maryland. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Baltimore School of Law. He is admitted in the District of Columbia and Maryland, and before the United States District Court for the District of Maryland and the United States Tax Court. He writes and speaks through the American Bar Association Tax Section's Civil and Criminal Tax Penalties Committee, serves through The Barristers and the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service Tax Controversy Panel, and has been cited in Law360 Tax Authority for tax controversy analysis. He was named a 2026 Elite Lawyer in Tax Law.

Federal IRS and U.S. Tax Court representation may extend nationwide. State-law matters are limited to the District of Columbia and Maryland. Bankruptcy representation is in Maryland.