Top 5 things to look for before hiring an IRS Tax Attorney?

Dealing with financial issues like tax can be overwhelming and nerve-wracking. Instead of doing it all by yourself, it is best to hire a professional to resolve the complicated tax issues. However, hiring an IRS Tax Attorney can be an infuriating task in itself. Knowing the work and benefits of a tax attorney can help you hire the right one to represent you.

Who is a Tax Attorney?

Tax Attorneys are lawyers with expertise in business as well as personal income tax matters. They work as a financial consultant as well as a legal advisor. They should have a bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance, along with a law degree. They should also be licensed to practice law. With their training and experience in dealing with financial and tax situations, they can represent you in any criminal tax issues. They play a very important role in avoiding fines and jail time.

IRS Tax Attorneys can also help you in removing tax lien against your business or personal assets. This way, you can avoid having your bank accounts frozen in case of a tax-related issue. They also represent you in edits. It is essential to have legal counsel represent you while the IRS is auditing you. They advocate and speak for you in the audit.

Another financial task in which an IRS tax attorney can assist you is finalizing plans for your funeral and planning out your estate. With their assistance, you can put money aside for your funeral, draft a will to designate someone to be in charge of your estate.

Now that you understand how important a tax lawyer can be, you need to make sure that you hire the one that is right for you. Here, we have prepared a list of things to look for before hiring an IRS tax attorney:

Top 5 things to look for before hiring an IRS tax attorney

• Who will be handling your case?

If you are working with a company that provides tax resolution services, you need to ask who will be working on your case. They can be an EA, a CPA, or a licensed attorney. In most of the cases, the person you will be meeting with during the initial consultation will not be the one handling your case daily. You need to make sure that the person to whom your case is delegated is experienced and credentialed. You don’t want an enrolled agent working on your case when you are paying for a tax attorney. 

However, this might not be the case with a solo tax attorney or a smaller firm. In such cases, the person you will be meeting with will be the one handling your case. You still need to be careful as they might have paralegals working on your case. No matter the case, you need to ask them to be forthright regarding this.

Also, you need to look for a dedicated tax attorney and not the general one. A dedicated IRS tax attorney will be devoting most, if not all, of their practice to handling tax debt relief and other tax controversies.

• What is your satisfaction guarantee?

You need to ask for a satisfaction guarantee. Not that is different from an outcome guarantee. A good tax attorney will never promise a particular result. However, they can offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. This means that in case they fail to regularly communicate with you, or become inattentive to your case, or don’t live up to your expectations, you can get a full refund of your fees. Most of the tax attorneys do not offer this guarantee. However, there is no harm in looking for one that does.

• How is the billing done?

Hiring a tax attorney can be expensive. So, you must be aware of all the fees beforehand. Here are a few things you need to ask direct questions about:

• Is the billing done on an hourly basis or a flat bee basis? For the former, ask about the hourly rate and for the latter, ask what is included in the fee and what not.
• Is there any upfront initial retainer? And what part of it is non-refundable? This is a big issue, and you should not hire them if their retainer is not refundable.
• Are there any charges for incidental costs, such as postage and copying?
• Are there any costs for administrative support? If yes, how do you calculate these costs?

• How will I be notified regarding our case?

Poor client communication is a very big issue with bad tax attorneys. You want to make sure in the meeting that the attorney has a clear and direct policy for communication. They must always return emails and phone calls within 24 hours and give you monthly updates.

• Why are they working in this field?

To be fair, there is no right answer to this question. However, knowing their philosophies regarding tax controversies can help in giving insights into the type of tax attorney you are going to be working with. Some of them will struggle to answer this. Some tax attorneys will tell you that working in tax issue gives them a chance to help someone with some of the most challenging parts of being an adult. Issues like tax debt relief are more difficult and gut-wrenching than tax planning or preparation. The stress of tax debt can have a significant effect on a person’s life.

The bottom line is that unless you work with the tax attorney, there is no sure-shot way of knowing how good they are. However, the above-mentioned tips can help you get an idea of the kind of person you will be dealing with.

About Platinum Tax Defenders 

Platinum Tax Defenders started in 2011 as a tax resolution agency. Since then, it has been active in providing financial and tax freedom to their clients. With our tax relief experts, you can put an end to all your tax issues. Our tax lawyers will help you get out of the most stressful and difficult situations. Our quality services like tax resolution, tax relief, etc. can help your company get on the right financial track.