Megan L. Brackney is a tax controversy attorney known for her impressive record in achieving outstanding outcomes for clients facing complex tax issues. She devises innovative strategies to address compliance concerns, voluntary disclosures, civil audits, and criminal investigations for individuals, trusts, estates, corporations, and partnerships, including audits under the IRS’s centralized audit system established by the Bipartisan Budget Act. Megan advocates for her clients in IRS Appeals and represents them in litigation before the U.S. Tax Court and federal district courts. She has effectively defended taxpayers against various tax penalty assessments, including those related to income tax, trust fund recovery, and foreign information returns.
Additionally, Megan supports clients with controversy matters and voluntary disclosures involving New York State and New York City, addressing issues like residency, failure to file, and sales and use tax. She also provides guidance on tax matters that arise in other contexts, including business and matrimonial disputes.
Since 2012, Megan has been recognized by “New York Super Lawyers,” and Chambers USA has acknowledged her as a leader in Tax Controversy (Nationwide), highlighting her expertise in both civil and criminal tax controversy issues. One interviewee noted, “She is a superstar; she has established a reputation for herself through sheer force of hard work and intellect.”
Megan serves as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law, where she teaches Tax Procedure. She is currently the Chair Elect of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation and has previously held positions as Vice Chair of Committee Operations and Council Director for the ABA Section of Taxation, as well as Chair of both the Taxation Committee of the New York County Lawyers’ Association and the Individual and Family Taxation Committee of the ABA Tax Section. She received the ABA Tax Section’s John S. Nolan Fellowship for 2008-2009.
Megan is also an active member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association Section of Taxation and the American College of Tax Counsel. A frequent author for tax publications, she contributes to the ABA publication, Effectively Representing Your Client Before the IRS, and speaks at national and local conferences on topics related to tax, tax ethics, tax penalties, and tax procedure.
Before joining Kostelanetz LLP in 2004, Megan was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York and also served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Missouri. She earned her J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law and her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University. Additionally, she is a former member of the Board of Governors for the University of Kansas School of Law.
