Most taxpayers hope to interact with tax authorities as little as possible—a call to ask a quick question, a click on the IRS website, or a scrawled note on a tax bill popped in the mail. That’s why, when the tax authorities come calling, taxpayers often seek out professional help.
That’s exactly the sort of work that Jason Wiggam, a founding partner of Wiggam Law in Atlanta, Georgia, does. Jason focuses his practice on tax resolution—assisting taxpayers to resolve their tax matters.
Helping taxpayers has long been on Jason’s radar. While in law school, Jason worked for a year and a half at the Philip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic of the Georgia State University College of Law. There, he helped taxpayers who could not afford legal representation with their federal tax controversy and collection issues, including responding to IRS audit letters and CP2000 notices, working to settle IRS debt, and releasing an IRS levy or IRS wage garnishments.
His work at the clinic earned him the Highest Pro Bono Distinction at graduation, which was awarded for working more than 150 extra pro bono hours above the normal course requirements of the clinic. Jason continues to serve the Philip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic as a current Advisory Board memberand by funding the Jason and Allyson Wiggam Fellowship for current clinic students.
Today, Jason represents individuals and businesses in disputes with the IRS and state tax authorities, with a focus on high-stakes liabilities and strategic resolutions in complex cases. Outside the office, Jason is a proud husband and dad, a devoted Clemson football fan and an avid traveler.
Here’s what else Jason had to say:
Where are you now? I’m in Atlanta, Georgia, where I run Wiggam Law, a boutique law firm focused exclusively on tax controversy and resolution. We help individuals, families and business owners navigate disputes with the IRS and state tax agencies—from audits and litigation to resolving unpaid tax liabilities, liens and levies.
What’s your job title, and what does it mean? I’m the founding partner of Wiggam Law. I started the firm almost ten years ago with just an assistant. We now have a team of forty, including sixteen attorneys, four enrolled agents and seven paralegals. I currently act as the firm’s “visionary,” focusing primarily on business development, marketing and sales, and I also lead one of our legal teams.
Tax, law, and accounting are such broad topics. What’s your area of special interest? I focus on tax resolution, a term I use to cover tax collections and tax controversy work. Most clients come to me because they want their issue resolved, so I find that “tax resolution attorney” better reflects what I do and what clients care about.
On the collections side, I help individuals and businesses that owe the IRS or state but can’t pay in full. I started this work in a low-income taxpayer clinic during law school and have stuck with it ever since because I genuinely enjoy working one-on-one with clients to solve tough financial problems.
On the controversy side, I represent clients in audits, appeals and litigation. That part of my practice involves a mix of legal strategy, negotiation and creative problem-solving, which makes every case unique and keeps the work engaging.
What’s the first thing you typically do while at work? I like to arrive early to work before everyone else. It’s a great uninterrupted quiet time where I can focus. I spend that first hour enjoying a cup of coffee, and then I review my calendar, prepare for all my daily meetings, and focus on whatever to-dos I have from the prior day.
If you had an extra couple of hours open up in your day—outside of work—what would you do? I would spend that time with my family, either going to a Braves or Atlanta United game, seeing a movie or maybe trying out a new restaurant.
What’s one tool or resource that you couldn’t live without at work? I have an executive assistant. I’m not naturally organized, and there are constant distractions. She keeps me on track and always makes me much more productive. She even handles 90% of my emails, which used to be the bane of my existence.
If you weren’t working in the tax profession, what would your dream job be? That’s a tough one because I love being self-employed and love what I do. But, I would have to say being a travel influencer or a financial advisor. Travel influencer because I love to travel—our family takes two or three big trips every year, and if I did it for a living, I could write it off as a business expense! Seriously, though, I really enjoy personal finance, and in another life, I think I would have made an awesome financial advisor.
What’s the best tax or financial advice that anyone ever gave you? One of the best pieces of advice I received is that even if you cannot pay your taxes, you should still file them on time to avoid late filing penalties. Now, I frequently share this advice when talking to prospective clients who thought they shouldn’t file because they could not pay, and, unfortunately, they ended up with an unnecessary 25% late filing penalty!
What books or magazines are on your nightstand?
The honest answer is one of the books that my boys left behind. I have a seven and a ten-year-old boy who are really into different kids’ book series, and I read to them most nights in bed. If I am pleasure reading, it is usually fantasy or science fiction. I recently finished “Dune.”
Who has been the biggest influence on your career? My parents were a huge influence; they owned and ran small businesses while I was growing up and instilled a strong work ethic and an entrepreneurial mindset that ultimately inspired me to start my own firm. I also had the benefit of great mentors early in my career. Ron Blasi, the director of the tax clinic where I got my start, and Bill Timm, the assistant director, played a significant role in shaping how I approach client service and problem-solving in tax law.
What would I be surprised to know about you? My family has taken three-week vacations for the past five summers to different parts of the U.S. and other countries. You only have so many summers before your kids leave you, and my wife, Ally, and I wanted to take advantage of that and have as much quality time with them as possible. We always travel somewhere new. This summer, we explored Slovenia and Croatia, and next summer we’re heading to the Seychelles, Kenya, and Rwanda to explore parts of Africa.
If you had the opportunity to make one change in the tax code tomorrow—an extra credit, a disallowed deduction, whatever—what would it be and why? I would change the federal payment levy program from taking 100% of federal contractors’ revenue to a lower percentage, maybe 25% to 50%. It’s too harsh an enforcement tool, which can result in a company going out of business, which I don’t think benefits the government or the country in general.
What was the best tax conference, continuing education (CE), or continuing legal education (CLE) event that you ever attended? I have always enjoyed the NYU Tax Controversy forum. The conference is in New York City, and most conferences aren’t narrowly focused on my practice area. You are lucky to get a few tax controversy sessions at a regular conference.
What has been the biggest change that you’ve seen in the tax profession in the last five years? For us, the pandemic and the policy changes that resulted from it drastically changed the type of cases and issues we see. For years, IRS Automated Collection Support (ACS) stopped most enforcement action and stopped sending notices to delinquent taxpayers. The Employee Retention Tax Credit also resulted in lots of new tax controversy work that didn’t exist before the credit was added with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES) Act.
What are you most concerned about or excited about with respect to the profession moving forward? I enjoy tax resolution and tax law in general because the code is constantly changing, and there are always new issues to tackle, which keeps it interesting and exciting for me. I’m most excited about seeing what the new administration’s enforcement priorities will be. They recently restarted collections through ACS, and I am interested to see what they do next.
If Uncle Sam handed you a huge refund check right now, what would you do with it? That’s easy. I would take my family on a fun trip, save part, and invest the rest.
You can find Jason at Wiggam Law. He can also be found on social media on LinkedIn.
This article is part of our Getting To Know You Tuesday series—a chance to get to know all kinds of tax professionals and understand that the field of tax is bigger than April 15. If you’d like to nominate tax professional to be featured, send your suggestion to kerb@forbes.com with the subject: Getting To Know You Tuesday.