By Matthew J. Previte CPA
www.taxproblemsrus.com
July 6, 2011

Finding a competent tax attorney, tax CPA, or tax EA to represent you before the IRS can be a daunting task. Fixing IRS tax problems is a tricky business left to those who do it full time year round. Although any attorney, CPA, or EA (enrolled agent—takes 2 day test on federal taxes given by the U.S. Treasury) is legally allowed to represent you before the IRS, not every attorney, CPA, or EA is qualified or competent enough to do so. IRS tax problems are a specialty requiring full time dedication to learning how the IRS works and how to work within that system to fix IRS tax problems.

Very few attorneys have any experience in dealing with the IRS on a daily basis much less a few times a year. Although some attorneys pursue and obtain a Master of Laws degree (LLM), this does not necessarily mean they know how to resolve IRS tax problems since most Masters programs in Taxation have but one general survey course on IRS practice and procedure. A good tax attorney will have represented hundreds or thousands of people with IRS tax problems before the IRS and rarely will they practice in this area less than full time.

CPAs and EAs are also legally able to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Although most are competent in preparing tax returns, most CPAs and EAs do not have any experience in fixing IRS tax problems on a regular basis. They are lucky if they see one or two cases a year. CPAs and EAs greatly shy away from taking on an IRS tax problem client because they have no experience resolving messy complicated IRS tax problems or they fear they won’t get paid since the client owes huge amounts of money to the IRS.

One of the first things you should do in searching for a competent tax attorney, tax CPA, or tax EA is Google their name. See if there are any negative articles or postings on websites about them. If you find a lot of complaints or bad reviews, beware! A good tax attorney, tax CPA, or tax EA should have very few if any complaints out there. Check also with their state licensing board to see whether any complaints have been filed against them.

Second thing you should do is make sure they have a current license. This is easy enough to check out online as most state licensing boards post the names of licensees and whether or not their license is current or has expired. If you are researching an EA, you will have to call the IRS Director of Practice in Washington D.C. or look on their website (irs.gov).

Next, I would check out their website. What type of content do they have. Do they give you their address, phone number, and email address. Many tax resolution firms on the net only have a contact page for you to email them your name and address and a description of your IRS tax problem. They have no information about who they are, key officers or employees, where they are located, etc. This should be a tip off that you’re dealing with a fly by night operation. If their site has little content or makes guarantees about what they can achieve, even without getting any information from you, watch out! There are a lot of scam artists and snake oil salesmen on the internet. Caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

The size of the organization should also be a clue as to how you will be treated. Large national tax resolution firms usually operate on volume. Their goal is to sell as many people as they can usually with little or no regard to actually providing good service and most importantly fixing your IRS tax problems. Their salespeople are almost never tax attorneys, tax CPAs, or tax EAs but unqualified sales reps who haven’t the foggiest idea of how to fix even the most basic of tax problems. Oh sure, they will tell you all the right things to make you believe their tax resolution firm can make all your IRS tax problems go away. Problem is, they haven’t a clue as to nature of your IRS tax problem and how to fix it since they have absolutely zero experience fixing IRS tax problems. They’re sales reps! A small tax resolution firm will have experienced tax attorneys, tax CPAs, and/or tax EAs on staff to answer calls from prospective clients. This assures that the prospective client with the IRS tax problem is speaking with a licensed tax professional who understands IRS tax problems and how to fix them.

The quality of service that large tax resolution firms offer tends to be haphazard, inconsistent, and unreliable. Small tax resolution firms are much more suited to providing great service since they are able to respond quickly without clients getting lost in the shuffle. Without all the layers of management and bureaucracy that large national firms have, small tax resolution firms can deal with issues in a more timely manner. Large national firms often give you an unlicensed “case representative” as your point of contact instead of the licensed tax attorney, tax CPA, or tax EA who is actually representing you. This is a big red flag. If you can’t have access to the licensed tax professional actually representing you, run away as fast as you can. You WILL experience frustration since you will almost never speak, if at all, with the licensed tax professional representing you.

One other issue that should be discussed is the location of the tax resolution firm. There are national firms and local firms. Which would you rather hire, a firm hundreds or thousands of miles away or a local firm you can actually meet with face to face. There is nothing like looking someone in the eye to get a sense of their honesty and integrity. Seeing their office in person will tell you how they run their operation. Does it appear to be smoothly operating or in a state of chaos. A local firm is also much more accountable since they live and work in the community or state where you live. Maintaining their reputation is far more important than a firm thousands of miles away. I would exercise extreme caution hiring anyone you can’t hop in the car and meet with face to face. That doesn’t mean work can’t be done via fax, phone, email, and Fedex. However, meeting your tax representative face to face at least once before you hire them tells you a lot about them, their firm, and how you can expect to be treated after you hire them to fix your IRS tax problems.

So before hiring any tax attorney, tax CPA, or tax EA to help you fix your IRS tax problems, check them out carefully and spend the time to look in depth at their track record, any complaints on the web or with state licensing boards (the IRS Director of Practice if an EA). And, use your gut. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your due diligence and get educated on the different types of resolutions available to people with IRS tax problems. That way, you will be able to sort out the scam artists and snake oil salemen from the good competent licensed tax professionals out there.