Focus CPA Group, Inc. (562)281-1040

For some people, the mere mention of the three letters I, R, and S causes a terrible case of dry mouth and shaky knees. Even for folks who have been timely and correct in their tax payments, the thought of interactions with the IRS that go beyond simply writing a yearly check can be very frightening. Add to that scenario the possibility of being audited and the whole prospect can be absolutely terrifying. Now you have an agent who is poring over every scrap of paper you’ve saved for the last year and you have absolutely no idea what to expect.
Unfortunately, the IRS isn’t known for its friendly, chummy agents who aspire to create a win-win situation for everybody, which is why you need to consider hiring a IRS attorney if you find that you are going to be audited. The primary benefit of hiring an IRS attorney is that the attorney will be able to manage all of the phone calls and other correspondence that you receive from the IRS. This means that you’re no longer on-the-spot, nervous and searching for words, every time you receive a call from an agent. Your attorney will also make sure that your rights are respected by the IRS. While you may be terribly intimidated by an IRS agent who calls or sends letters, your IRS attorney has dealt with the agents for many years and can assert himself or herself in a way that you probably aren’t comfortable doing yourself. In other words, the IRS attorney is going to be your advocate throughout the whole auditing process, making sure that your rights are respected and that you can get on with the rest of your life rather than laying awake and night and wondering who will be on the line the next time the phone rings.
Now that you know the benefits of using an IRS attorney, how do you go about finding one? Here are four keys to finding the right one for you.
1. Specialization. Every attorney specializes in a particular field of law, so you need to make sure you hire someone who specializes in tax law. When you’re interviewing potential IRS attorneys, ask them questions about your specific situation and ask them how much experience they have dealing with the IRS. Even if you don’t know how to deal with your specific situation, you can get a good feeling for the competence of an attorney by listening to what he or she says.
2. Trustworthiness. When you undergo an IRS audit, you will be required to share a lot of personal information, both with the IRS and with the IRS attorney. While you can’t choose which IRS agent to work with, you can choose which attorney to work with, so make sure you choose someone with whom you will feel comfortable sharing a lot of personal information, most specifically financial information. Get recommendations from friends and family whenever possible.
3. Background Check. Do some research on any attorney you’re considering hiring. Make sure that he or she is licensed in your state. If possible, get references from the attorney and follow up on them. Conduct a background check online. Find out how long he or she has been in the field and talk to other attorneys in your area to find out what kind of reputation he or she has with other professionals.
4. Fees. Before you hire any attorney, make sure you are very clear about what he or she will be charging you for services. Have the attorney put all terms and items in writing in case you need to revisit it later.
When you find yourself face with a possible audit, you need to call on professional help as quickly as possible. Find a trustworthy, competent, and capable IRS attorney in your area and get the representation you need.

If you feel that the IRS has done injustice to you during your tax audit, or calculation of your taxes, or has been too harsh in levying penalties, then you could go in for an appeal against their decision. With the right information and the right professionals backing you, getting an appeal in your favor is possible.
When you get a final notice on any of the above problems, you will also get a right to appeal along with it. You can exercise that right. Hire a Tax Attorney who has experience in handling appeals. Get a cross check done if you are hiring a new Tax Attorney. Your Tax Attorney should have knowledge about the correct documents needed to win this appeal, hence saving you a lot of time. You can send the IRS a letter, protesting their decision and a request for a hearing. This normally takes around 90 days and if you do not get a date within that time, then you can also give them a reminder. This move has already started saving you money since you will not have to pay any taxes for the next 2 or 3 months. Even if do not win your case fully, you can still save some amount if you get some relief in your appeal.
The next step is in getting your documents ready to get the appeal decided in your favor. Through your Tax Attorney, you could also request your IRS tax auditor’s file under the Freedom Of Information Act. This will provide you with the reason for the notice. Take heart in the fact that most of the appeals end up with the taxpayer being satisfied emotionally or financially.
Send all the documents by registered mail and file the receipts and acknowledgments related to the appeal in a separate folder, which can be accessed easily for future reference. The IRS will then process your appeal request and provide you a date and place for the meeting. You will have to prepare all the necessary documents with your tax attorney. On the decided date, you along with your tax attorney will have to meet the IRS Appeals Officer in his office and if everything goes well, you can settle for a compromise figure right there.
That will entail you to sign up IRS Form 870, which basically means that you agree to pay the compromised amount and you will not put up a challenge regarding that particular case, in future. In case you and your IRS Appeals Officer cannot agree on a figure, then you will have to take the matter to court, which can be a long drawn battle. Take this step only after seriously considering the pros and cons of your case and after discussing it with your tax attorney.
You can deal with an IRS appeal yourself, but if you are not aware of all the clauses, then it is better to hire the services of an efficient Tax Attorney. A Tax Attorney will also indicate to your IRS Appeals Officer that you too are serious about solving your tax problem as early as possible.

In most states, you don?t need any special education to become a tax preparer. However, this is going to change. Two states, California and Oregon, already require that tax preparers have minimum educational requirements, and the rest of the states are sure to follow suit. Some people believe that tax professionals must have a college degree, or be CPAs. However, this is not the case. Requirements for certification and licensing can vary from state to state, so it is important to research and be aware of local requirements. At the end of this chapter, we will discuss the requirements for California and Oregon, which are the two states that require certification and licensing.

Choosing the right tax CPA Houston preparer is one the most important financial decisions we make in our life. Although many people don’t often think about it, your income taxes are your largest lifetime expense, more than your home mortgage, your retirement contributions or your children’s college expenses.As someone who has prepared over 10,000 Federal Tax returns, I know that controlling your income tax expense can make a tremendous difference in your financial well being. So let’s examine the types of tax preparers and how they work.The most common type of tax preparer is the non-CPA who works for a national tax franchise. This type of preparer generally has no formal education in accounting and frequently has only a few weeks of training. Often they are retirees looking for a few weeks of extra income each spring. This type of tax preparer is not licensed to respond to IRS inquiries and generally has only a rudimentary understanding of the techniques used to reduce taxes. An unlicensed tax preparer should never accompany you to an IRS audit, and in fact this type of preparer would probably not be allowed by their employer to do so. The non-CPA tax preparer is in my opinion usually appropriate for only the simplest types of tax returns, such as an hourly worker that has household income of under $50,000 a year and that does not invest in stocks or itemize deductions.A Tax CPA Houston is very different from the unlicensed tax preparer found in most franchised tax operations. The CPA normally has at least 5 years of college study in accounting, has passed a comprehensive technical examination. In most states a new CPA has to apprentice under an experienced CPA for 2 years before getting their license.For any business tax return, or for an individual who itemizes deductions or makes investments, or for any situation where there is a dispute with the IRS or in which tax planning is required a licensed Houston tax CPA is a must.Of course not all CPA’s operate the same. Some tax CPA’s only want to fill out the tax forms (the historians), and others are afraid of the IRS (the phobic’s).The rarest type of tax preparer is pro-active and likes to search tax saving opportunities for the future while preparing your current year’s tax return. At Trippon & Company CPAs our goal is to be forward thinking enough to protect our clients now and in the future. Call us at 713-661-1040 and put our experience at work for you!

You can save on professional fees by handling your own case, but know that there are many advantages to hiring a qualified tax professional to represent you before the IRS. Taxpayers may always represent themselves before the IRS. However, many taxpayers find dealing with the IRS frustrating, time-consuming, intimidating or all of the above.The one advantage of taxpayers representing themselves is that they will save professional fees. And for most taxpayers this is no small matter. However the amount of fees saved may be dwarfed by the actual tax settlement. In this case, the taxpayer must look at the total financial picture to determine how much money they may be leaving on the table if they do not have expert representation. In this case, the age old adage, “Penny wise and pound foolish” should be top of mind.There are many disadvantages of a taxpayer representing themselves. First of all, the taxpayer does not have the professional?s expertise and will not know the tax relief options available or how to get the lowest settlement allowed by law. For instance, if you are considering applying for the IRS Offer in Compromise program, it?s important to note that 4 out of 5 Offers in Compromise submitted by the taxpayer are rejected by the IRS. Additionally, many taxpayer-negotiated settlements offer the IRS much more than is required by law.Secondly, working with the IRS can also be very emotionally draining- and the taxpayer may be too frightened, frustrated or intimidated by the IRS to effectively or comfortably to negotiate a settlement. Most taxpayers are far happier to keep their distance from the IRS and prefer to leave the sparring to their advisors. However, dealing with the IRS is not always as painful as you may imagine. In fact, most IRS officers are reasonable and helpful, particularly when they see you are making an honest effort to resolve your tax problems.Another drawback of taxpayers working directly with the IRS without professional representation (tax resolution firm, specialized tax attorney, etc) is that the taxpayer may slip up and inadvertently make statements that can make the problem worse – and perhaps trigger an audit or even criminal prosecution. Professionals know where to draw the line. The taxpayer may make statements that can create tax liability for their spouse or business associate.And finally, the taxpayer takes valuable time away from their work and family to wrestle with their own IRS case. Doctors, dentists, lawyers, executives, successful business owners, and other high-income taxpayers will do appreciably better paying a tax professional while they more profitably pursue their own occupations.For more advice and information on reducing your tax debt, visit www.taxresolution.com for a free tax relief consultation or call 866-IRS-PROBLEMS.

Helpful Hints When Choosing a Tax Professional:

When you get a letter from the IRS claiming that you owe back taxes, you may be tempted to simply throw away the letter and pretend it never happened. But ignoring the IRS and hoping they’ll go away creates more problems than it solves, so make a plan to face the issue, and make sure that plan includes a tax attorney.
The worst part about dealing with back taxes is the fear of the unknown. How much do you owe in back taxes? How much is the IRS going to charge you in fees and fines? How do they plan to get that money from you? Fortunately, you can save yourself a lot of worry by hiring a tax attorney to help you out. Your taxpayer rights include the right to representation, so exercise that right by getting a professional on your side. Besides saving a lot of heartache and lost sleep, here are four other reasons to hire a tax attorney to help you address the issue of back taxes.
The IRS wants to get as much from you as legally possible. The fact that you can’t pay your taxes means nothing to the IRS agent who keeps calling you and sending you letters. He or she will make sure you pay those taxes, first by tax liens and then by tax levies. The IRS may choose to garnish your wages by forcing your employer to give part of your paycheck to the IRS, or they may choose to seize your bank account or home. Don’t underestimate the ruthlessness with which the IRS will pursue payment of your taxes.
The advantage of using a tax attorney, however, is that a seasoned tax attorney is familiar with loopholes and is good at negotiating. A tax attorney is also familiar with the extent of your rights as a taxpayer and will ensure that the IRS respects those rights.
You don’t know enough. You have perfectly good reasons for not paying your taxes, but the IRS doesn’t care and it can extremely intimidating to try to make your case to an IRS auditor. That’s where a good tax attorney comes in. He can file, settle, and resolve the case on your behalf. The IRS will continue to assess fees and fines, and will demand that you pay the money you owe much quicker than you can probably afford to. So use a tax attorney to help guide you through the red tape.
You can settle for less. When you use a seasoned tax attorney, you’ll be able to settle your case for much less than you would be able to if you were representing yourself. A good tax attorney may also be able to get rid of all the fines and fees that have been assessed to you. If you face the IRS alone, however, you can be assured that they will demand every penny, plus all of the fees and fines. And they’ll keep assessing those fees and fines until you pay every bit.
You don’t know how to negotiate with the IRS. IRS auditors are intimidating. As government agents, they have an incredible amount of power over you and your wallet, and they aren’t afraid to take advantage of that power. An IRS agent doesn’t have that same power over a tax attorney, meaning that a tax attorney can negotiate in a much more calm, rational, and detached manner.
Additionally, IRS agents don’t have any problem calling you regularly and writing you letters. A tax attorney will field those phone calls and letters for you, allowing you to take care of the rest of the things you have to worry about.
If you owe back taxes, find an experienced tax attorney to represent you. You’ll get a more positive outcome than if you tackled the problem yourself, and you’ll rest easier in the meantime.

?He who is his own lawyer has a fool for a client.?

So, you have an IRS tax claim. You have basically two choices when you have a tax claim in Dallas. You can either choose to try to represent yourself and deal with the IRS regarding the claim or you can hire a tax attorney in Dallas who has vast knowledge of the income tax laws and who can help you with the Internet Revenue Service tax claim. Dallas residents have several choices when it comes to legal representation for their IRS tax claim.
Dealing with the Internet Revenue Service audit in Dallas on your own
Dealing with the IRS audit in Dallas on your own can end up saving you a few dollars that you will not have to spend on an attorney, but it can also end up costing you quite a bit of time as well as shatter your nerves. The Internet Revenue Service audit in Dallas is like the IRS in any state and is a far from pleasant organization to deal with. In fact, it can be very frustrating to deal with the IRS on a regular basis. You cannot be assured of speaking to your caseworker when you call them and even if you leave a message for your case worker, it can be days before they call you back, if they return the call at all. Chances are that if you are dealing with the IRS on your own for a few months, you will be handed around to different case workers. It can be extremely frustrating at the very least and can overwhelm you at some point.
In addition to that, you will find that the case workers handling your tax returns will you’re your application and other paperwork routinely. One caseworker will tell you one thing and another will give you contrary information. It can be very frustrating to deal with the Internet Revenue Service, but the problem gets even more magnified when the IRS says that you owe them a huge amount of money.
Using a tax attorney in Dallas to deal with the Internet Revenue Service
In some cases, you are better off to use an attorney to deal with the IRS audit in Dallas, especially when you have a lot of money at stake. When you have an IRS tax claim in Dallas for quite a sum of money, you do not want to make even more mistakes by attempting to resolve the issue on your own. If you use an attorney, chances are that they will get the tax claim reduced and in some cases, eliminated. This is because the tax attorneys in Dallas know how to work with the Internet Revenue Service in ways that the average taxpayer may not be aware of. One of the reasons why dealing with the IRS is so complicated is that the tax laws keep changing constantly and keeping abreast of the latest law is almost impossible for the lay person.
Whether you decide to use an attorney or deal with your Internet Revenue Service tax claim in Dallas yourself, you must address the issue as it will not go away on its own. Too many people end up thinking that if they ignore the IRS, they will go away. This is not true. The IRS will continue to keep hounding you until they get every dime they say you owe. The worst thing to do with an Internet Revenue Service tax claim in Dallas is to ignore it.