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Philip Wolf

Attorney

408-295-5800

[email protected]

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408-295-5855

Education

  • New York University School of Law, LL.M. Taxation
  • University of California, Hastings College of the Law (J.D. with Taxation Law Concentration)
  • University of California, Berkeley (B.A., Geography, Minor in Spanish, High Honors, Phi Beta Kappa)

Bar Admissions

  • Supreme Court of California

Philip Wolf

Attorney

Overview

Philip Wolf is an attorney who represents clients in civil and criminal tax controversies, including examinations, administrative appeals, tax collection, criminal investigations, and trials in federal and state court. He also advises clients on international, corporate, partnership, and individual tax issues as well as tax issues related to cryptocurrency.  

Mr. Wolf is a graduate of the New York University School of Law, where he received his Executive LL.M in tax law and completed the program in the top 10 percent of his class. Before that, Mr. Wolf received his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law with a Formal Concentration in Taxation. He was awarded the Hastings Three-Year Provost Scholarship and graduated in the top 25 percent of his tax class. As part of his Tax Concentration, Mr. Wolf wrote a dissertation on the Italian American Tax Convention, which was published by Tax Notes International. Mr. Wolf also studied alternative dispute resolution and negotiation and was a member of the Hastings Alternative Dispute Resolution Team. Mr. Wolf received his B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, with High Honors (Phi Beta Kappa).  

Before joining the firm, Mr. Wolf was a Mergers and Acquisition Tax Intern at KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting organizations, in their Silicon Valley Office. He also was a Tax Intern for BDO, an accounting, tax, and business advisory firm in their San Jose Office, where Mr. Wolf worked as part of their Transfer Pricing Team.  

Mr. Wolf’s pro bono practice includes being the former Assistant Director for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in San Francisco. As a trained and IRS-certified volunteer, Mr. Wolf assisted elderly and low-income taxpayers in preparing their tax returns. He is fluent in multiple languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, and Catalan, as well as conversational in several other languages.

Bar Associations

  • State Bar of California
  • Taxation Section of the California Lawyers Association
  • United States Tax Court
  • Supreme Court of the State of California
  • United States District Court, Northern District of California

Publications

  • Family Court Attorney Fees for Innocent Spouses in Tax Court, Tax Notes Federal, May 25, 2020.
  • How a String of Model Conventions Led to Unnecessary Confusion in U.S. Tax Treaties, by Philip Wolf, Tax Notes International, Volume 97, Number 8, February 24, 2020

Foreign Language Skills

Philip is an accomplished linguist, who has spent significant amounts of time living and traveling internationally.  In addition to his native English, he speaks fluent Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, and Catalan.  Philip is conversational in French and Hebrew and is currently learning German and Japanese.

Philip has used his language skills to translate for individuals while working at the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, and as an immigration law clerk, where he performed simultaneous and consecutive translations for clients facing tax and immigration matters.  Also, Philip used his language skills while researching his tax dissertation on the Italian American Tax Convention, as a part of his Formal Concentration in Taxation at the University of California Hastings School of Law.

Philip Wolf is a tax attorney representing clients in civil and criminal tax controversies, including examinations, administrative appeals, tax collection, criminal investigations, and trials in federal and state court.

Overview

Philip Wolf’s practice focuses on tax controversy and litigation, including examinations, investigations, administrative appeals, U.S. Tax Court litigation, and collection matters. He counsels clients on international, corporate, partnership, and individual tax issues.

Mr. Wolf is a graduate of the University of California, Hastings College of the Law with a Formal Concentration in Taxation.  He was awarded the Hastings Three Year Provost Scholarship and graduated in the top 25 percent of his class.  As part of his Tax Concentration, Mr. Wolf wrote a dissertation on the Italian American Tax Convention, which was published by Tax Notes International. Mr. Wolf also studied alternative dispute resolution and negotiation, and was a member of the Hastings Alternative Dispute Resolution Team.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Wolf was a Mergers and Acquisition Tax Intern at KPMG, one of the Big Four accounting organizations, in their Silicon Valley Office.  He also was a Tax Intern for BDO, an accounting, tax, and business advisory firm in their San Jose Office, where Mr. Wolf worked as part of their Transfer Pricing Team.

Mr. Wolf’s pro bono practice includes being the former Assistant Director for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program in San Francisco.  As a trained and IRS-certified volunteer, Mr. Wolf assisted elderly and low-income taxpayers in preparing their tax returns.

Mr. Wolf graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with High Honors (Phi Beta Kappa).  He is fluent in multiple languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Russian and Catalan as well as conversational in several other languages.

Courts

  • United States Tax Court
  • Supreme Court of the State of California
  • United States District Court, Northern District of California
  • United States Court of Appeal, Ninth Circuit

Memberships

  • State Bar of California
  • Taxation Section of the California Lawyers Association

Publications

  • How a String of Model Conventions Led to Unnecessary Confusion in U.S. Tax Treaties, by Philip Wolf, Tax Notes International, Volume 97, Number 8, February 24, 2020

Language Skills

Philip is an accomplished linguist, who has spent significant amounts of time living and traveling internationally.  In addition to his native English, he speaks fluent Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Italian, and Catalan.  Philip is conversational in French and Hebrew and is currently learning German and Japanese.

Philip has used his language skills to translate for individuals while working at the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, and as an immigration law clerk, where he performed simultaneous and consecutive translations for clients facing tax and immigration matters.  Also, Philip used his language skills while researching his tax dissertation on the Italian American Tax Convention, as a part of his Formal Concentration in Taxation at the University of California Hastings School of Law.