Tax
Attorney
The chief advantage to hiring a tax attorney is to keep
your case from being ruined. If you do not hire a tax
attorney, you are exposing yourself to federal employees
who may be friendly and sweet all right…but they are also
more than willing to put the thumbscrews to tax miscreants.
They will get you to talk about things you shouldn’t and
to admit things that you think have no meaning. Then all
of a sudden, you realize why they are considered experts
and you are not. Suddenly they are not as “nice” as they
first seemed. Why? Because they want your money.
The way to protect as much of that money as possible is
to understand your situation. And the best way to fully
understand many tax-related situations is with the help
of a qualified tax attorney. If you are the object of
IRS scrutiny, a legal expert can help you sort through
the complex details of your problem and develop a plan
for returning you to Uncle Sam’s good graces. In the early
stages of a tax dispute, consultation with a tax lawyer
may reduce or eliminate your tax problems before they
get out of hand.
As things get complicated, a tax attorney can really
earn his or her fee. Taxpayers often overpay their tax
liability because the IRS has acted aggressively or
inappropriately and there was no experienced tax lawyer
to put on the brakes.
That’s because it is a tax attorney’s particular domain
to research tax statutes and their legislative histories,
from Treasury regulations and IRS rulings to court decisions
surrounding the law. It’s a level of specialized know-how
that you cannot expect form your CPA, bookkeeper, enrolled
agent—or even a regular attorney who does not have a
tax specialty.
If you are facing a quarrel with the IRS regarding
an audit, a tax bill you cannot afford or a dispute
over tax amount owed, seek qualified help. A tax attorney
can also clear up issues around corporate, payroll,
estate, property, capital gains, or personal income
taxes and deductions.
As your agent, a tax attorney can:
Protect you from IRS error, abuse, and intimidation
Interpret your tax liability
File an amended tax return
Deal with an IRS lien or levy or help you negotiate
an offer in compromise
Manage corporate tax or bankruptcy issues
Sort out personal income tax, property tax or bankruptcy
issues
Protect your assets by helping you identify and avoid
potential tax risks
Manage complex business transactions such as liquidations
or mergers
Communicate with the tax authority, know its regulations,
and stay on top of the paperwork
Even if you want to handle a relatively simple tax issue
yourself, a tax attorney can provide excellent consultation,
assessing the soundness of your legal position and developing
a strategy.
As your advisor, a tax attorney can:
Give you feedback on laws relevant to your case
Identify weaknesses in your legal position
Catch costly errors that might be present in IRS calculations
Draft legal papers
Suggest when arbitration or mediation might be preferred
alternatives to litigation
And ultimately step in and represent you if you find
that you are in above your head
A creative tax attorney will interpret your position
and use established legal precedent to support a particular
argument. He or she will uncover applicable “loopholes,”
and identify conflicting statements or inconsistencies
in IRS publications that can work to the benefit of
his or her client. Even if the issue is uncomplicated,
the decision to hire a tax attorney comes down to determining
the potential reduction in tax liability and penalties,
plus the value of the reduced hassle. If that dollar
amount is less than you would expect to spend on a tax
attorney, the answer is clear.
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