How to Work With a Tax Attorney For Tax Debt Problems

Hiring a Tax Attorney or Tax Relief Firm

When you retain a tax attorney, CPA or engage the services of a tax relief firm, you can directly disarm one of the IRS's greatest weapons. That weapon is the ignorance of IRS tax and collection law. However, my Tax Relief eBook specifically addresses that ignorance. Many folks hire a tax professional simply to avoid having to talk to cranky IRS agents themselves. When I employed tax lawyers, I felt our greatest service was talking to the IRS on behalf of our clients.

Not having to talk to an IRS agent is worth some money but is it worth $3,000 to $10,000?

In most cases, the amount of time actually spent on the phone with an IRS agent is under an hour. This applies if you are the best lawyer in the U.S. or just an average person who knows nothing about tax debt legalities. If that hour is painful, enough for you to want to spend the kind of fees that tax lawyers charge, is a decision that only can be made by the individual.

Tax Debtors Are Rarely Flush with Cash

An important part of your decision to hire a tax attorney is the size of your financial resources. Your money supply limited so you need to decide, is it well spent on a tax attorney? Of course the answer to this question depends on the "story" you get from the person trying to sell you his or her services. If you are talking to a big tax firms, you're getting a story all right. Chances are those blue skies of tax forgiveness are not backed up by a written guarantee...and there is a reason why. Additionally you may have been talking to a "tax professional" or "tax consultant" and not a tax attorney. There is a huge difference: the tax attorney has years of schooling and a Bar license to protect and a tax professional has a commission to earn.

They All Brag About Big Success Stories But Never Give You a Written Guarantee

There are two very good reasons that a real tax attorney will probably never give you a written guarantee. First, attorneys do not like to give refunds. This means it is far more likely that any paperwork signed by the attorney is vague. Any written promises are limited to promising the IRS is going to do something bad to you, promising to do the work and to "try" really hard. Second, a tax lawyer needs to keep his or her bar license in good standing and making promises he couldn't possibly keep is one good way to get disbarred. Why can't these people keep these promises? Because the IRS has the final say and if the IRS says no, it' no.

A Licensed Tax Attorney is Unlikely to Give a Written Guarantee of Any Sort

One of my favorite ploys used by tax relief firms is warning you to be suspicious of any company that guarantees their work. Right, that sounds suspicious doesn't it? Typically any company guaranteeing their work is anything but suspicious. Clearly a company who guarantees their work has additional, not reduced, credibility. If they don't feel good about their prospects of helping you and can't guarantee their work, why should you feel good?

With no guarantee, that fee for an hour on the phone is starting to look mighty expensive and it should. If you are paying $3,000 (or more) for an hour of telephone work you might re-think doing the work yourself. Of course, if you cannot get a deal with e IRS on your own, here's some good news

At Any Time in IRS Negotiations You Can Request a Teme-Out and Bring In a Tax Lawyer

Think about that. If you see you are in over your head simply hire a lawyer at that point. Sounds like it's worth a try to me.

How Tax Relief Representation Services Generally Work

After you have acquired the services of a tax relief firm, they deal with the IRS for you. However, you still have a fair amount of work to do on your own. You will be sent a questionnaire form that is at least 10 pages long. I've seen them with as many as 30 pages. You will be required to answer every question before an attorney will begin working on your IRS problem. After completing the questionnaires, you mail it in to your tax attorney. After he or she receives it, a data entry clerk will type your answers into the computerized IRS forms.

If the attorney has any questions about any of your answers or needs further clarification, a letter will be mailed to you asking more questions or seeking clarification. After you have provided the additional information via the mail, the additional or corrected information is entered into their computers. Normally at this point, a tax attorney reviews the information entered by the data entry department and your IRS forms are printed out. Now the IRS forms are mailed to you along with a list (usually several pages long) of the documents you will need to copy to prove your case to the IRS. Next, you sign the IRS forms and mail them with your documentation to the IRS.

Sounds Like You Did Most of the Tax Attorney's Work. Well, You Did.

In all fairness, if there is any telephone work required the attorney would handle it for you. However, as you can see, there is a reason you have to pay in full up-front. You fill out the questionnaires. You get the documentation. You sign the IRS forms and, finally, you mail them in. More often than not, the IRS answers by mail and accepts your case. At that point, the Tax Attorney calls you with the good news and takes credit as a powerful negotiator.

You Can Fill Out the IRS Forms Yourself, In Fact your Give the Information Anyway

In most cases, thousands of dollars are at risk but my Tax Relief eBook teaches you how to go it alone. My eBook includes computerized IRS forms and has systematic instructions on how to evaluate your case and prepare the IRS forms. You already know how to use the post office so you're halfway there. Worst case you call a time-out and hire a tax attorney if you see you are in over your head...but you won't need to 99,999 out of 10,000 times. Experts who have handled thousands of cases collaborated with me on my tax book and we teach you how to analyze your case to provide yourself with the best possible solution available.

IRS employees are much more reasonable when being dealt with through the mail. We teach you the rules so you can keep the IRS in check. We teach you how to use the rules and regulations to your advantage. The positive effect for you is enormous.

No One Is Going to Look After Your Interests As Much As You Will

IRS collection activities normally stop while your case is being processed. That means that after you get the forms in the mail you can stop worrying about seizure of wages, bank accounts or assets. As a taxpayer (even a delinquent one) you have rights.

We teach you the federal rules, guidelines and criteria for the approval of a "Tax Relief Program" for you. You will not need to decipher IRS books, pamphlets or Revenue Codes and Statutes. We have done that for you.

Is Hiring A Tax Professional a Waste of Money?

Only you can decide if a tax professional is needed to solve your tax problem. We invite you to consider all the options before you make this important decision. Tax law can be complex but you only are dealing with a very small segment of the IRS Code and we'll teach you to be smarter than most IRS agents.

The IRS is a massive bureaucracy but we know their game. that's why we teach you to use the mail like almost every tax attorney does. By mailing, you skip right past the bureaucracy and if things move slowly, it's usually to your advantage.

Hiring a Tax Attorney or Tax Relief Firm in Summary

If you hire someone to do resolve your tax debt problem for you be prepared to spend at least $3,000.
You will have to complete a questionnaire form that is at least 10 pages long if not 30.
A data entry clerk will type your exact answers (from the questionnaire you complete) into an IRS form
A more knowledgeable person (maybe a lawyer) will be review those forms for at least five minutes
The forms are mailed to you to review for accuracy and sign
You will have to collect the documents that prove the number on the forms i.e. paycheck stubs, copies of bills, rental agreements, etc.
You will have to mail all this information to the IRS or back to the tax relief firm and they forward the package it to the IRS
The IRS generally answers the request for tax relief through the mail.
An attorney may spend up to an hour on the phone with the IRS, although that would be about 45 minutes more than is usually required.
The acceptance of your tax relief letter is received and the lawyer sends you a letter explaining the terms of your deal
A tax relief "professional" will receive a handsome commission check
You will have done most of the work; the attorney takes most of credit for achieving success on a case he or she may have worked as little as five minutes.
As you can see here, the process requires that you provide all of your financial information to the tax relief attorney or his firm. You collect the financial information that proves you are qualified for the proposed tax relief, you review the forms, you sign the forms and you mail the forms.

Why don't You Simply Prepare the IRS Forms Yourself and Save Thousands.

My Do It Yourself Tax Relief eBook teaches includes interactive IRS forms that you can save to your computer, enter data directly into, save or change the data and print. You will learn how to analyze your case and know exactly what type of relief for which you best qualify. It cost only $97 and remember if you feel like you are over your head at any time, you can call a lawyer in to finish the negotiations. Don't forget I recommend you negotiate through the mail so it is unlikely you'll call a lawyer in.

Anthony Cannon, President of DoItYourselfTaxRelief.com (DIYTR), wrote this article Unlike every other tax relief firm, DIYTR believes people can solve most tax debt problems themselves without the use of expensive attorneys or tax professional. His company offers a Do It Yourself Stop Garnishment Kit at: [http://doityourselftaxrelief.com/tax-relief-kits/stop-garnishment-kit].

You can Stop an IRS Garnishment Yourself Now. Your IRS debt problems will go away quickly and you will get your paycheck back. However, you must act or the IRS will take your paycheck until every penny with tax and interest has been seized from you.