Tax Lawyers: directory of firms

Circular 230 is the rulebook for representing taxpayers before the IRS. It applies to attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents, and the Office of Professional Responsibility also has jurisdiction over appraisers and over return preparers in the Annual Filing Season Program. OPR investigates and enforces compliance, conducts disciplinary proceedings and pursues sanctions, and it runs education and outreach on competence and ethics.

Authority to act for you is created by Form 2848, the Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, which the IRS describes as authorising an individual to represent you before the agency and to receive your confidential tax information. The person named must be eligible to practise before the IRS, and a student working in a qualified Low Income Taxpayer Clinic or Student Tax Clinic Program can be authorised under a special arrangement with the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

A dispute usually begins with an examination conducted by correspondence or in person. If it cannot be resolved with the examiner, the case can go to the Independent Office of Appeals, which is separate from the examination function and exists to settle disputes without litigation.

If that fails, a notice of deficiency issues and the taxpayer may petition the US Tax Court. The important practical feature of the Tax Court is that you can litigate without paying the disputed tax first. The alternative route, paying and then suing for a refund in a district court or the Court of Federal Claims, requires payment up front.

Collection disputes run on a parallel track. A Collection Due Process hearing is where liens and levies are challenged and where alternatives such as an instalment agreement, an offer in compromise or currently-not-collectible status are put forward.

All three may represent taxpayers before the IRS and all three are governed by Circular 230. The differences show up at the edges. A CPA's strength is the numbers, the books and the return. An enrolled agent is a tax specialist licensed federally and often excellent value for examination and collection work.

A lawyer becomes the right choice where the question is what the law requires rather than what the figures are, where litigation is realistic, and where the communications need the protection of the attorney-client privilege. That last point matters most when a civil examination could turn into a criminal investigation, because that is exactly when what you said to your adviser becomes the issue. The US Tax Court also admits some non-attorneys who pass its examination, so being admitted to practise there is a separate credential worth asking about.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an independent organisation inside the IRS that describes itself as your voice at the agency. It helps with problems that are not getting resolved through normal channels, including missing refunds, payment difficulties, unresolved notices and questions about taxpayer rights, and its help is free.

Low Income Taxpayer Clinics are the other route. They provide free or low-cost representation to eligible taxpayers in disputes with the IRS, including cases in the Tax Court, and the Tax Court itself runs a clinical program with organisations that represent low-income petitioners. If cost is what is stopping you from contesting a notice, that is the call to make before the deadline passes.