For Arizona Taxpayers - Why use a local tax attorney to help you deal with the IRS?
Licensed Attorneys, Certified Public Accountants, and "Enrolled Agents" are allowed to represent clients in front of the Internal Revenue Service. Licensed Attorneys are automatically allowed to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court. CPAs and Enrolled Agents must pass a rigorous exam.
Anyone on the other hand, can own a business that "sells" tax controversy and resolution services to taxpayers nationwide. This ability to "sell" tax resolution services with little oversight has led to a tremendous amount of misinformation about a taxpayer's ability to deal with overwhelming tax debt.
I receive a number of calls from taxpayers who are certain, based on an ad or telephone sales pitch, that they will be able to simply settle their tax debt for a very small amount.
Many who call have paid the company, went through the process, and failed.
Not only have they failed, they don't really understand why, and probably paid a large sum for the opportunity.
Attorneys have as a profession become the butt of many jokes. Many are quite funny. Most attorneys I know however are smart, hardworking and have the best interests of the client at heart.
For these reasons as well as the following, I always encourage taxpayers to talk to a real, live, licensed, experienced, and local tax controversy attorney before deciding what to do about their tax debt.
1. Lawyers Are Regulated
Attorneys have all sorts of legal obligations placed on them by various regulatory systems that have been set up to ensure the highest standards of representation. These include state ethics rules, and IRS rules of practice. No CPA or Enrolled Agent is held to a standard as high as an attorney. Tax controversy businesses are unregulated. These regulations ensure that most attorneys are as mentioned above, hardworking and conscientious.
2. Attorneys Are Supposed to Honest Counselors First and Businesses Second
A counselor is supposed to be able to review your entire situation, and consider with you ALL of your options. Real counselors tell the truth to the client at their own expense, and even if the truth is not what the client wants to hear.
Most businesses that sell tax resolution services don't consider tax motivated bankruptcy when reviewing the taxpayer's situation because they can't legally, and because it may come at their own expense as well.
Any "counselor" in this arena who doesn't include bankruptcy as an option for the taxpayer in the analysis is not providing complete advice.
3. Attorney Client Privilege
What you tell your attorney is legally confidential in every scenario. Enough said.
4. Problem Solving and Legal Analysis Skills
Attorneys are highly trained in the skill of analyzing a set of facts and applying the current law to that set of facts. They are trained and experienced in finding the law and understanding it. They are trained to produce technical memoranda to accompany tax documents. No other profession is trained in this manner. These skills provide the attorney and the client an edge in negotiation and litigation with the IRS.
No matter where you live, you would be wise to contact a local, experienced tax controversy attorney who will tell you the truth about your options, even if the truth isn't what you want to hear.
I will tell you the truth and am available for a free phone consult to Arizona Taxpayers. Call 480-507-5985 and ask for Michael S. Anderson
