Managing Shareholder Betty Williams has a broad range of experience handling civil and criminal tax controversy matters including income tax, employment tax, sales and use tax, property tax and IRS, FTB, and SBE audits, protests, and appeals. She has represented clients before the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. District Courts in California. Betty has obtained penalty abatement for numerous clients ranging from a few thousand to more than $2 million in late filing and late payment penalties. She has assisted numerous clients in the United States and abroad in the 2009, 2011 and 2012 IRS and FTB voluntary disclosure initiatives. She also represents foreign financial institutions regarding Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) compliance. Betty also represents clients in attorney-client fee arbitration matters and has obtained a favorable private letter ruling from the IRS. She has experience defending criminal tax matters and negotiating plea agreements in areas such as structuring, tax evasion, and the failure to file a tax return.
Betty is admitted to practice by the State Bar of California, the U.S. Tax Court, the Northern, Southern, and Eastern Districts of the U.S. District Court in California and the Ninth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. Betty currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of California, and previously served as the Chair of the Estate and Gift Tax and the Young Tax Lawyer section of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of California. She has also served as Chair of the Sacramento County Bar Taxation Section and the Business Section, as the Sacramento County Bar Taxation Section's liaison to the IRS Tax Practitioners' group, and regularly presents articles and seminars throughout the United States. Betty also serves as the Chair and Commissioner on the Sacramento Regional Human Rights/Fair Housing Commission. She is the recipient of the prestigious Witkin Award for Estate and Gift Tax and was named Best Local Attorney for 2006 and 2007 by Sacramento News and Review, and was named a Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Star for 2011 and 2012. The firm was named a 2013 Tier 1 Tax Litigation "Best Law Firm" by U.S. News and World Reports.
Betty received her Master of Laws in Taxation from Washington School of Law and graduated with distinction from the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law.
Prior to practicing law, Betty worked for the State of California Workers' Compensation Insurance Fund and also owned her own business as an artist. Betty is an avid cyclist and ballroom dancer.
