Choosing the Right Representative: A Re-post

Posted by Bruce Mc on Aug 5, 2010 in Re post, Things forgotten | 0 comments

Rob Teuber is an attorney with the law firm Weiss Berzowski Brady LLP and author of the tax law blog www.federaltaxlawforum.com.

I deside to repost this as it would seem the information has been forgotten.

Choosing the Right Representative to Help You with Your Federal Tax Problems.

When you or your business is faced with tax problems it is a good idea to consider hiring a professional to help you navigate through the complex tax laws and procedures.  The problem is often finding the representative that is right for you.  Questions you may have include: Should I hire an accountant or lawyer?  Do I need a local representative or does it matter where the person is based?  What is the lawyer’s/accountant’s reputation?

As a lawyer myself, I will answer these questions in typical lawyer fashion: “It depends.”

First and foremost, you should choose a representative that is right for you.  The personal relationship that you form with a representative is one of the most valuable criteria for hiring someone.  It is important that both the representative and client trust one another, be on the same page as to the desired resolution of the problems and agree on the way to approach the IRS.

Accountant or Lawyer.

Generally, both accountants and lawyers are permitted to practice before the IRS.  This means that either may help you in handling a tax audit, appeals of audit findings and tax collection matters.  However, subject to certain exceptions, only lawyers can represent a client in court.  Therefore, when making a decision on whom to hire, consider how far you are willing (or can afford) to push a case to get the resolution you are looking for.  In moving through the process, having a lawyer involved will increase the risk to the IRS that litigation will actually occur.  This may encourage a more favorable settlement.  Further, if you think you will need the protection of the “Attorney – Client Privilege” while pursuing your case, you may want a lawyer instead of an accountant.

Do You Need a Local Representative.

In days gone by (before the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 ) most tax related issues were handled by local IRS offices.  The Restructuring Act, however, changed a lot of this by centralizing certain functions in different regions of the country.  As such, local representation is less relevant than it used to be.  Due to these landscape changes much of the work can easily be managed through conference calls and correspondence. 

Knowledge and Reputation.

Of course, when choosing a representative to help you with your tax problems, you want to be sure that he or she has both the knowledge and reputation that can help you.  Investigate the person to find out more about who you will be dealing with.  If you are reading this post, you are likely already using the internet as a tool to find out more. 

Most representatives will have a website.  While informative, don’t rest completely on the representations made on that website.  The website will list the accomplishments of the attorney/accountant and provide information on their skill set.  Start here to find out if the person can do for you what you need.  But don’t stop here.

Find out if the prospective representative has a blog.  If so, spend some time reading through the blog to see if you are impressed with their knowledge of the tax laws and procedures.  If so, this may be the right representative for you.

Use search engines to find out what you can about the representative’s reputation.  While you won’t find a website called “here is a list of representatives and what the IRS thinks of them,” you will be able to find out whether the representative has written scholarly articles in industry magazines or business journals.  This may be the best way to find out about one’s reputation.  If a reputable journal will publish their work, there is a greater likelihood that the author has a good reputation. 

Be mindful however, that specific and direct recommendations for a particular representative will likely be hard to come by.  Most people don’t want to broadcast to the world that they or their business has had tax troubles.

The Ultimate Goal.

Ultimately, the goal is to find someone that is right for you.  When doing so, consider the points made above.  At the end of the day, you want to be comfortable with your choice and have confidence that you have hired the right person for the job.

Rob Teuber is an attorney with the law firm Weiss Berzowski Brady LLP and author of the tax law blog www.federaltaxlawforum.com.