Harley, Edward A.

John A. Harbin is a veteran California tax litigator with additional training as a certified public accountant.  During his 29-year career, John has amassed particular expertise in the areas of tax controversy, tax bankruptcy, tax audits and international tax.

A noted author and lecturer, John has written and updated textbooks on areas of taxation and has designed seminars for accounting professionals. He has also successfully litigated matters for clients in Federal Tax, District and Bankruptcy Courts as well as before the State of California Administrative Appeals Board. 

John began his professional career as a Revenue Agent and International Examiner with the Internal Revenue Service performing audits of high net worth individuals and motion picture production companies. From there, he acted as a Tax Accountant with the major national CPA firm of Ernst & Young, before transitioning to the law.
John has developed particular expertise in representing taxpayers with potential criminal tax exposure.  John has been successful on numerous occasions in filing voluntary disclosures with the Internal Revenue Service, preventing criminal prosecutions of taxpayers.  John has also represented taxpayers in so-called eggshell audits, preventing criminal prosecutions by state and federal tax agencies.  John has also successfully represented taxpayers who faced federal grand jury investigations and money laundering charges.

Mr. Harbin has been active in numerous state tax and local law and accounting professional trade organizations, and is currently Vice Chair, Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Tax Bar. A native of San Diego, John received his B.A. from the University of San Francisco and his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School.