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Tax Experts Helping You Navigate Individual and Corporate Tax Matters

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Areas of expertise

Individual Tax Controversy

Employee Retention Tax Credits

Individual Tax Controversy

Represent individuals who face tax controversy disputes with federal, state and local governments. Experts in devising strategies to eliminate or minimize potential taxes, penalties, and interest. 50+ years of combined experience practicing tax law.

Business Tax Controversy

Employee Retention Tax Credits

Individual Tax Controversy

Provide strategic counsel to businesses facing income tax, payroll tax, sales tax or other taxation issues at the federal or state level. Extensive experience in Federal Offer in Compromise negotiations to help clients reach favorable settlements with the government.

Employee Retention Tax Credits

Advise business owners regarding eligibility for Employee Retention Credit. Offer a turnkey process from eligibility check to completing all required filings to obtain government credit. Successfully obtained ERTCs for hundreds of clients.

our team

Jeffrey Kess

J. W. Chris Chitty

Partner

Jeffrey Kess is a founding partner at Kess & Chitty Law. He has practiced taxation and general business law for more than 35 years. He has achieved national recognition for his expertise in the field of tax controversy. Jeffrey has represented thousands of clients before the Internal Revenue Service, the State of Georgia, and other state taxing authorities. Jeffrey also works closely with CPAs in devising strategies to eliminate or minimize potential taxes, penalties, and interest for their clients.

Jeffrey has served in leadership positions with numerous professional and community organizations including the Georgia Society of CPAs, the State Bar of Georgia, the Family Law Section and the Tax Section of the Atlanta Bar Association, The North Atlanta Tax Council, the National Business Institute, and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia.

Education:

Emory University School of Law, J.D., 1981
State University of New York at Buffalo, B.S., Business Administration, magna cum laude, with distinction, 1979

Bar Admissions:

Georgia

Other Admissions:

Certified Public Accountant, 1985

Awards and Recognition:

Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating: Distinguished® 4.6 out of 5.0
CPA Magazine “Top 50 IRS Representation Practitioners in the Nation,” 2008
CPA Magazine “Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession,” 2009
Best Lawyers: 2013-2023
Super Lawyers: 2022-2024

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J. W. Chris Chitty

Partner

Chris Chitty is a founding partner at Kess & Chitty Law. His practice focus areas are tax credits, tax controversy & collection, and tax planning. He has experience assisting clients with tax credits, as well as representing individual and business clients during tax audits, tax appeals, and tax collection procedures before the Int

Partner

Prior to co-founding Kess & Chitty Law, Chris was a Partner at MendenFreiman, and before that served as a senior associate at Gomel Davis & Watson, LLP. He previously worked at Ernst & Young in the Tax Services Group, where he gained experience dealing with tax controversy issues and numerous federal and state tax credits, as well as performing multi-state sales and use tax nexus studies. He also worked at the Georgia State University College of Law’s Philip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic where he assisted low-income taxpayers with federal tax controversy and collection issues.

Education:

University of Florida Levin College of Law, LL.M. Taxation, 2010
Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, with Highest Distinction, 2009
University of Georgia, B.A., Criminal Justice & Political Science, 2003

Bar Admissions:

Georgia
Virginia

Awards and Recognition:

Best Lawyers: 2022-2023
Super Lawyers: 2024
Super Lawyers Rising Stars: 2018-2019
The Senator Paul D. Coverdell Tax Clinic Award: 2008-2009

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Ida Bolt

J. W. Chris Chitty

Sarah Saterbo

Associate Attorney

Ida Bolt is an Associate Attorney at Kess & Chitty Law. Her practice focuses on tax controversy & collection, tax compliance, and emerging tax matters related to cryptocurrency including tax planning and compliance. She has experience representing individual and small business clients during tax collection procedures, ta

Associate Attorney

Prior to joining Kess & Chitty, Ida was an associate attorney and cryptocurrency specialist at Bomar Law Firm, LLC. While in law school, Ida worked as a Law Fellow and assisted low-income taxpayers at Georgia State University College of Law’s Philip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic. While in undergraduate school, Ida worked as a social work intern assisting unhoused clients with civil legal issues at the Georgia Law Center for the Homeless.

Education:

Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., 2022
Georgia State University Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, B.S. Social Work, magna cum laude, 2013

Bar Admissions:

Georgia
United States Tax Court

Awards and Recognition:

CALI Award for Applied Legal Analytics Lab, Georgia State University College of Law, 2022
The Dean R. Morley Fellowship Recipient at Philip C Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic, 2021-2022
CALI Award for Law and Social Welfare, Georgia State University College of Law, 2020
Social Justice Award, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, 2013

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Sarah Saterbo

Lacey J.S. Robb

Sarah Saterbo

Of Counsel

Sarah Saterbo is Of Counsel to Kess & Chitty Law. Her practice focuses on tax controversy & collection and tax planning. She has experience representing individuals and businesses that have controversies and compliance issues with the Internal Revenue Service and state tax authorities. She also works with clients to devise

Of Counsel

Sarah has previously worked at Gomel Davis & Watson, LLP, focusing on tax controversy and collection. She also previously worked as a tax senior at Ernst & Young. While in law school, Sarah assisted low-income taxpayers at the Georgia State University College of Law’s Phillip C. Cook Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic.

Education:

Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., 2011
Miami University, B.S., Accountancy, 2007

Bar Admissions:

Georgia

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Holland King

Lacey J.S. Robb

Of Counsel

Holland King is Of Counsel to Kess & Chitty Law. His practice focuses on tax incentives and related benefits. He has worked on a wide range of tax incentives, from statutory federal credits like the Research and Development Tax Credit to negotiated state credits, including the Georgia Retraining Tax Credit, California Competes Credit, and Grow New Jersey. Holland has worked with private and public entities to secure tax incentives, including companies across a wide range of industries including manufacturing, FinTech and energy generation companies.

As a recognized expert in tax credits, Holland regularly provides training to other tax credit providers and CPAs, regarding best practices and current trends in the field, such as current litigation, changes in case law, and industry trends. He has been published in the Journal of Multistate Taxation and Incentives, Georgia State University Law Review, and Bloomberg Law. He previously worked for ADP, Source Advisors and various other law firms, where he has assisted countless clients with tax credit matters.

Education:

Georgia State University College of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2014
Georgia State University, LL.M. Taxation, 2009
Georgia Institute of Technology, B.S., Computer Science, magna cum laude, 2004

Bar Admissions:

Georgia

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Lacey J.S. Robb

Of Counsel

Lacey J.S. Robb is Of Counsel to Kess & Chitty Law. Her practice focuses on R&D tax credits and other related deductions. With more than 20 years of legal and tax experience, she brings a unique perspective to each R&D tax credit study that she performs. During her tenure at multiple law firms and Big 4 firms, she has overseen filings of complex multistate tax return transactions and has practical contract and legal formation experience. Since she has performed due diligence studies and participated in numerous audits, her breadth of knowledge allows her to take a holistic approach to each study, and not just identify the qualified expenditures, but understand the overall effect to a client's tax position.

She has been invited to provide continuing education to CPAs, attorneys and other special interest groups. Given her compliance knowledge, she develops strategies to maximize R&D credits and other benefits. She has worked at law firms in California, Colorado and Minnesota along with KPMG and EY.

Education:

University of Denver College of Law, LL.M. Taxation, 2002
North Dakota State University – Core Accounting Curriculum, 2001
University of North Dakota College of Law, J.D., 1999
University of North Dakota, B.A. Psychology, 1996

Bar Admissions:

California
Colorado
Minnesota

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representative matters

Failure to Report Income Settlement

Employee Retention Tax Credit for Restaurants

Represented a client who failed to report approximately $45 million over an eight-year period. The State of Georgia initiated an investigation into this matter — all state criminal tax charges were avoided.

Employee Retention Tax Credit for Restaurants

Represented a regional restaurant chain to obtain Employee Retention Credits for each location. Completed all eligibility checks, filing requirements and tracked refund status for client.

Federal Offer in Compromise

Employee Retention Tax Credit for Restaurants

ERTC for Physical Therapy Practice

Represented a client who failed to pay income taxes that resulted in an over $15 million tax liability. Using a Federal Offer in Compromise, negotiated a settlement of $4.5 million.

ERTC for Physical Therapy Practice

Innocent Spouse Relief for Tax Liability

ERTC for Physical Therapy Practice

Represented a Physical Therapy practice to obtain an Employee Retention Tax Credit. Secured $7.5 million cash credit from the IRS.

State Sales Tax Controversy Settlement

Innocent Spouse Relief for Tax Liability

Represented a client in the entertainment industry for whom the State of Georgia had assessed sales taxes in excess of $1 million. Successfully persuaded the state to cancel the assessments, saving the client over $1 million.

Innocent Spouse Relief for Tax Liability

Negotiated a Request for Innocent Spouse Relief on behalf of a client who was recently divorced to secure a reduction of her tax liability in excess of $380,000.