Ashley Burdette
Certified Public Accountant • MSL in Taxation, Georgetown Law
Ashley Burdette is a certified public accountant who handles tax return preparation and compliance for North Star Law Firm clients. When a legal matter requires clean filings, whether that means years of delinquent returns before an IRS resolution can move forward or ongoing compliance after a case closes, Ashley is the one who gets the numbers right.
Her work is what makes the firm’s combined approach possible for New Mexico clients. Tax controversy, bankruptcy, and SBA debt resolution all run on accurate returns, and clients get the legal strategy and the preparation work under one roof instead of coordinating between separate offices.
Experience
Ashley’s career runs through three of the country’s largest accounting firms and more than a decade of boutique partnership. She began at EY in advisory, then co-founded Zagotti & Burdette CPA, LLC, where she spent over ten years as a partner advising individuals and businesses on tax compliance, planning, and preparation, serving clients from Houston to Doha, Qatar. She went on to national firm roles in international tax, first as an international private client services manager at RSM US and then as an international tax manager at KPMG.
The Zagotti & Burdette partnership is also where she and Phillip Zagotti developed the working relationship that now anchors North Star Law Firm’s tax practice: he handles the controversy and legal side, she handles the compliance side, and each matter benefits from both.
Her preparation practice covers individual, business, trust, and estate returns, with particular depth in the delinquent-filer situations the firm sees most: taxpayers who are years behind on filings and need to get current before the IRS will consider an installment agreement, an offer in compromise, or other resolution.
International Tax
Ashley’s focus within tax is international, and it is more than an interest: she practiced it at the national firm level in KPMG’s and RSM’s international tax groups. She earned her Master of Studies in Law in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 2019, along with Georgetown’s International Taxation Certificate, and international tax compliance remains the part of the field she genuinely loves.
For clients, that means experience with the reporting obligations that trip up taxpayers with foreign accounts, foreign income, or cross-border business interests: FBAR filings, foreign asset disclosures, and the streamlined compliance procedures for taxpayers who need to come back into the system. She works alongside the firm’s international and expatriation tax practice on the compliance side of offshore matters.
Author
Ashley co-authored two books with Phillip Zagotti, both written in plain English for the people who actually have to live with these issues rather than for other tax professionals.
Taxed
A plain-English guide to the federal tax system for taxpayers and business owners.
Trusted
A practical handbook for trustees and beneficiaries on trust administration and trust taxation.
Credentials and Education
- Certified Public Accountant, Texas State Board of Public Accountancy
- Master of Studies in Law (MSL) in Taxation, Georgetown University Law Center, 2019
- International Taxation Certificate, Georgetown University Law Center
- BBA in Accounting and Finance, University of Houston
How North Star Law Firm Can Help
North Star Law Firm pairs legal representation with the tax preparation work most matters require. Ashley Burdette, CPA, prepares current and delinquent individual, business, trust, and estate returns for clients of the firm’s tax defense practice and bankruptcy practice, including the unfiled tax return catch-up work that most IRS resolutions require. If your situation involves both a legal problem and unfiled or inaccurate returns, the firm can address both together.
Behind on filings, or facing an international reporting issue?