Every once in a while people living in Anaheim, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Tustin, Westminster, Garden Grove or Santa Ana need IRS representation. The type of tax professional you are looking for depends on your situation.
Should you hire a
•Tax Attorney •CPA, or •IRS Enrolled Agent
If a gun-toting IRS Agent knocks on your door (an IRS Special Agent), then you should inform him that you cannot discuss any matters until your tax attorney is present. IRS Special Agents are called in when the IRS thinks that there might be a bonified criminal reason to put you behind bars... jail time. You will want to get representation from the only tax professional that gets attorney-client privilege when dealing with possible criminal charges.
If the letters or visits are coming from an IRS Revenue Agent, Revenue Officer, Tax Compliance Officer, Examining Officer or any type of IRS Manager, then what you have is a tax problem that could potentially cost you thousands of dollars in tax and IRS penalties. The IRS allows most any CPA or Attorney to pretend to be a tax expert. The fact is, it is uncommon for a CPA or Attorney to have any significant experience dealing with IRS problems. Any attorney can call himself a Tax Attorney, and most people wrongly assume that CPA is synonymous with tax expert; in fact, most CPA's do not work in the tax department of the CPA firm and can spend their entire careers without ever being involved in an IRS tax audit or even prepare an income tax return! But when they get tired of the rat race of the Big 4 accounting firm and go out on their own, what do people ask them to do? Income tax preparation!
So when would someone need a CPA? The main funtion of a CPA is to communicate your financial standing to potential investors; a CPA is the only professional that can "attest" to investors and lenders the accuracy of your financial statements. Because of the nature of accounting work, an accountant will rarley have the people skills or debate skills necessary to be a good Audit Defense professional.
So how can you tell if a tax attorney, CPA or other professional is a real tax/IRS expert? Frequently lawyers & accountants become an IRS Enrolled Agent. Even a CPA or tax attorney that is an expert in IRS tax relief will have to study to pass the IRS Special Enrollment Exam, but once a tax attorney or CPA becomes an IRS Enrolled Agent, they gain the authority to represent taxpayers in all 50 states, or anywhere else in the world; their tax representation practice will no longer be limited by their state license. An IRS Enrolled Agent is allowed to represent you as an Attorney-In-Fact before an IRS auditor, in IRS Appeals, for a Collection Due Process (CDP) Hearing, an IRS Offer-In-Compromise, or to negotiate with an IRS Revenue Officer to get a tax lien, levy or IRS wage garnishment removed.
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