Quick Questions: The Representation Edition

Remember this post about “quick questions”? What is true for tax return preparation is even more true for audit and collections representation. When you call the office because you have received an IRS notice (you are being audited, or levied, or your taxes have been adjusted) the solution to the issue raised in the notice is often not simple. It is basically “lawyer work.” Indeed, only lawyers, CPAs, and Enrolled Agents have unlimited representation rights before the IRS. Hiring a professional to represent you before the IRS is not inexpensive. And in this office it is much more expensive than simply having your tax returns prepared by a competent professional (me). I often tell callers who think my preparation fees are expensive that “Rep rates are three times prep rates.” You may find someone to “do your taxes” for less money (and of course you can do them yourself)—but if you have to pay someone to answer IRS notices it can be more expensive in the long-term than just having them done correctly in the first place. In any case—answering tax questions is often like answering law questions and the attorneys at Wolf, Baldwin, and Associates have written this excellent post on why, as in the tax world, there are no “quick questions” in the law world either.