Manal Aleisa

Manal A. is a California-licensed tax attorney who has practiced tax law since 2018, focusing primarily on tax controversy, tax resolution, and international tax matters. She represents individuals and businesses in complex matters involving the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB), and state tax authorities throughout the United States. In 2022, she was admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court, allowing her to represent taxpayers in proceedings before the federal court with jurisdiction over federal tax disputes.

Manal’s tax controversy and resolution experience includes IRS and state audits, Tax Court matters, collection defense, Offers in Compromise (OICs), penalty abatement, Currently Not Collectible (CNC) status, installment agreements, and the resolution of outstanding federal and state tax liabilities. She has extensive experience with Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) matters and payroll tax representation, including cases involving potential personal liability for unpaid employment taxes. She also assists clients with tax preparer due diligence audits and investigations. Manal regularly negotiates directly with the IRS and FTB to resolve complex tax controversies and works to minimize clients’ tax liabilities, penalties, and collection exposure.

Manal also has experience assisting U.S. taxpayers living domestically and abroad, including expatriates, with international tax compliance and reporting matters. Her experience includes FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) reporting, foreign gift reporting, and navigating the application of U.S. international tax treaties. This work complements her broader tax controversy practice and allows her to assist clients whose tax matters involve foreign accounts, international financial interests, cross-border transactions, and the interaction between U.S. tax law and international tax rules.

Manal earned her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, where she concentrated in Tax Law and received the Gregory W. Goff Award, presented to the graduating student who demonstrates superior academic achievement in the tax law curriculum. Loyola Law School’s tax law program is nationally recognized and ranked among the leading tax law programs in the United States. She also completed Loyola’s intensive Fashion Law program, the first program of its kind in the United States.

Before law school, Manal earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Miami, majoring in Accounting and minoring in Finance and Political Science. Her academic background in accounting and finance, combined with her legal training and years of practical tax controversy experience, gives her a multidisciplinary perspective on complex tax matters. She began developing her international legal experience through an internship with an international law firm in Switzerland, where she gained exposure to international law, tax, and estate-planning matters.

Since being admitted to the California Bar in 2018, Manal has built her career exclusively within the tax resolution industry. In addition to her California Bar admission, she has been admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court since 2022. Her experience extends beyond California and federal tax matters to working with tax authorities in numerous states. She is particularly experienced in negotiating with the IRS and FTB and helping clients navigate complex administrative and judicial processes involving tax debts, audits, penalties, employment taxes, and collection actions.

Manal’s international upbringing has also shaped her approach to client representation. Born in Los Angeles and raised across different parts of the world, she graduated from Zurich International School in Switzerland with an International Baccalaureate diploma. She is fluent in English, Spanish, and French, and brings strong cross-cultural communication skills to her work with clients from diverse backgrounds. Her Mexican and Kuwaiti heritage, international education, and experience living abroad have given her a particularly global perspective.

Outside of her legal practice, Manal enjoys traveling, hot yoga, hiking, and spending time with her pug. She is passionate about helping clients navigate difficult tax situations with a strategic, practical, and client-focused approach.