John Pontius

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.