Profile

Bryan Dotson is a Senior Counsel in the Tax Controversy & Litigation and State and Local Tax Controversy & Planning practices. A talented litigator, Mr. Dotson has a proven track record of obtaining favorable results in disputes with taxing authorities at the state and federal levels across multiple tax types, including income, franchise, and sales tax matters.

Mr. Dotson began his career at the Internal Revenue Service, where he represented the IRS before the United States Tax Court. During his tenure at the IRS, he received recognition for his trial work through multiple awards and served as an instructor for courses training IRS attorneys on trial practice and procedure. His IRS experience encompassed the full spectrum of tax administration, from return review to collection alternatives and bankruptcy proceedings.

Mr. Dotson’s practice includes matters involving sales and use tax, state corporate income tax (including the Texas franchise and margin taxes), motor vehicle sales tax, oil and gas severance tax, insurance tax, motor fuels tax, mixed beverage tax, tobacco products tax, unclaimed property, tax credits/incentives, and nexus disputes. He has experience representing clients in audits, hearings, trials and appeals, tax collection cases, voluntary disclosure agreements, letter rulings, and open records requests.

Representative Experience

State and Local Tax Matters:

• Defended an information technology company in a franchise tax dispute involving qualification for the reduced tax rate available to retailers and wholesalers.
• Litigated on behalf of computer software companies in cases of first impression challenging the validity of the Texas Comptroller’s administrative rule on the research and development franchise tax credit.
• Pursued an income tax refund claim for a heavy‑equipment manufacturer involving capital investments made through wholly owned, disregarded subsidiaries.
• Litigated for a municipality that resulted in the invalidation of an administrative rule adopted by the Texas Comptroller on local sales tax sourcing.
• Defended a multistate gas‑station chain in a motor‑fuel tax dispute concerning whether the company satisfied the requirements for exempting the biofuel component of diesel blends.
• Handled a franchise tax refund matter for an upstream oil and gas company involving a novel interplay between federal partnership tax principles and Texas franchise tax law.
• Challenged trial courts’ reliance on an administrative rule that imposed a heightened evidentiary standard in judicial tax‑refund proceedings.
• Advocated for a company before the state intermediate court of appeals and supreme court in a case involving franchise tax apportionment and sourcing of sales of tangible personal property to out‑of‑state purchasers.
• Argued before the state intermediate and supreme courts on behalf of a food manufacturing company in litigation addressing whether commodity option contracts are treated as inventory for federal income tax purposes.
• Represented a restaurant chain on the issue of whether flatware and dinnerware qualify for the sale‑for‑resale exemption.
• Guided an oil and gas operator through a severance tax dispute involving the procedural requirements for claiming the high‑cost gas exemption.
• Advocated for a transportation company before state appellate courts on whether the Texas franchise tax constitutes an occupation tax that would exempt motor carriers.
• Successfully defended a medical device company’s sales and use tax refund claims under the Texas Enterprise Zone Program.
• Obtained a refund for an oil and gas operator in a dispute over whether services used to develop a prototype were improperly treated by the Comptroller as purchases of taxable tangible personal property.

Federal Tax Matters:

• Litigated estate‑ and gift‑tax matters involving sophisticated business‑valuation disputes and complex legal issues relating to transfers of closely held business interests, discounts for lack of control and marketability, and the application of Chapter 14 valuation rules.
• Successfully defeated a federal suit seeking to reduce an estate‑tax liability to judgment by demonstrating that the IRS’s period of limitations on collection had expired, eliminating the government’s ability to enforce the assessment.
• Litigated complex federal tax cases involving the bona fides of “micro‑captive” insurance arrangements and the applicability of accuracy‑related penalties, navigating cutting‑edge issues central to the IRS’s enforcement priorities.
• Serving as lead counsel in an international tax case addressing whether a university professor’s salary is exempt from federal income tax under the bilateral tax treaty between the United States and the People’s Republic of China—a matter requiring detailed treaty interpretation and cross‑border tax analysis.
• Litigated multiple cases involving the “hobby loss” rules, focusing on whether clients’ horse‑related activities were engaged in for profit, including extensive evidentiary presentation on business practices, expectations of profit, and industry standards.
• Handled numerous innocent‑spouse cases involving claims for equitable relief, separation of liability, and allocation of deficiencies, advocating for clients facing inequitable joint‑liability assessments.
• Managed a wide range of Collection Due Process (CDP) cases, challenging improper IRS collection actions, securing release of liens and levies, and negotiating sustainable collection alternatives.

Professional Affiliations

• Austin Bar Association
• Institute for Professionals in Taxation

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