Should we hire a tax attorney ?

Question

The IRS placed a levy on my daughter's paychecks today. She hasn't filed a tax return in nearly 15 years. Should she hire a tax attorney , or deal directly with the IRS to resolve this ? For her , it is VERY critical for the levy to be lifted asap , as she is a single mother of two ... We need GREAT advice , and of course the tax attorney is telling her that dealing directly with the IRS may NOT end with the levy being lifted ... but of course , he claims he can guarantee it being lifted if we pay him $3500 ...

Answer 1

Before paying out 3,500.00 to a tax attorney Call the Taxpayer Advocate Service Case Intake Line to see if you are eligible for assistance in working out this matter.: 1-877-777-4778

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an IRS program that provides an independent system to assure that tax problems, which have not been resolved through normal channels, are promptly and fairly handled. The National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, heads the program. Each state and campus has at least one local Taxpayer Advocate, who is independent of the local IRS office and reports directly to the National Taxpayer Advocate. The goals of the Taxpayer Advocate Service are to protect individual and business taxpayer rights and to reduce taxpayer burden. The Taxpayer Advocate independently represents your interests and concerns within the IRS. This is accomplished in two ways:

Ensuring that taxpayer problems which have not been resolved through normal channels, are promptly and fairly handled;
Identifying issues that increase burden or create problems for taxpayers: Bringing those issues to the attention of IRS management and making legislative proposals where necessary.


She needs to file the returns before hiring an attorney, an attorney cannot do anything to lift the garnishment if the returns are not filed. I would talk to a CPA first to get the returns together.

When the IRS does an SFR Substitute for Return Filing, they use the Filing Status of Married Filing Separate, with no dependants and no credits, It could very likely be that she does not have a liability for all of the missing years and may have in fact been due a refund, thought any refund beyond 2003 is gone, if she was in fact due a refund and files the return it would cancel out the balance owed per the SFR for that year. The Advocates Office can assist in getting the income information for the missing years.

Answer 2

If he claims he can "guarantee" that the levy will be lifted, find a new tax attorney. That is an outrageous (and probably illegal) claim. She stands just as good a shot for $0 doing it herself.

She'll need to contact the IRS to work out a payment plan. She'll have no better or worse luck than the shyster will. And any decent CPA could handle the same thing for well under $1,000 and probably well under $500 in most parts of the country. After all missing returns are filed that is. NOTHING will happen to lift the levy until that happens.

When a levy has been placed, it means that she has been disregarding IRS notices for some time. Don't expect them to be all too accommodating due to that. The Taxpayer Advocate's office would be the first place to contact at the IRS and take it from there.

She has dug this hole herself for 15 years. Unless she is willing to make a significant offer in the way of a payment plan and stick to it, the IRS won't lift the levy since her track record is already pretty poor with them.

Answer 3

A tax attorney is the ONLY answer. You have at least 7 years of tax laws and the changes to them to understand.
If the lawyer guarantee's that the levy will be lifted, this means he will return your $3500 if it's not, right?...I doubt it, other wise you have nothing to lose, and wouldn't ask this question.
He/She BELIEVES they can get the levy lifted. That's all.
All over the country today 2 lawyers went into a courtroom "knowing" they could win their case. And in every one that was resolved, one of them "lost".
You can rest assured that you will do better with an attorney than by yourself, but you are not getting a guarantee.

I have to disagree with Rob above. Your daughter is guilty. If this were a criminal case and you had a choice, would you use a public defender, or a private attorney?

Answer 4

I agree with the others who advise you not to hire an attorney who can guarantee that he can get the levy lifted. If you have $3,500, pay it to the IRS.

If there is extreme hardship from the levy, the Taxpayer Advocate may provide some relief.

A regular tax preparer could file those back taxes for minimal cost.

Unless there is a complication that you haven't mentioned, you may not need representation to the IRS.

Answer 5

The only way to guarantee the levy is lifted is to pay whatever the IRS claims she owes. If she were in a position to do that, I doubt you would be asking this question. The first thing she needs to do is collect ALL the records she can and fill out tax returns for ALL 15 years. That will tell her where she stands. A good CPA can do this if she needs assistance. Any refunds she could have claimed for tax years prior to 2003 are lost. Any 2003 refund must be claimed in the next 2 weeks or it is lost as well. Once all 15 returns are filed, she can begin making arrangements to pay whatever is due. This amount probably is not the same number the IRS is currently using.

Answer 6

Get a good CPA or a tax attorney. Do NOT use someone who advertizes on the TV. This is not going to go away. If she has not filed in fifteen years I doubt the Taxpayer Advocate can do much. The role of that office is to help people who have tried to negotiate with the IRS and have gotten nowhere. Not filing for 15 years suggests that she has not done as much as possible to resolve the issue thus far. It may be tempting to use a free service such as the Taxpayer Advocate provides but I think her interests would be best served by engaging a reputable local firm to represent her.

Answer 7

You can go with your daughter to meet with IRS, but you can not represent her befor e the IRS. You would be there to help[ see she is treated fairly and she understands it is time to come in out of the rain. I would meet IRS as soon as possible, the levy should have a contact name and PH #.
The IRS can/should explain all her options, including and Offer in Compromise whereby she may be able to settle her debt for less than the full amount. At the first contact she should state her claim for "hardship" to get the levy released at once and in turn the IRS should give her deadlines to get things done that IRS needs. The Taxpayer Advocate may be able to help getting the levy released if IRS person at the initial contact will not do it. She should not need an attorney, but if she is easily intimidated or overwhelmed she will need your help or paid professional. WHENEVER she/you talk to IRS get name , title, ph # and write done gist of conversation for future reference. If anyone in IRS is unhelpful rude, etc demand to speak with their supervisor. The IRS person should be reasonable as long as the taxpayer is, of course that can be the rub. Email thru this if i can help further.The IRS Advocate will not help with the IRS unless you have tried normal channels and the IRS has not followed thru as they said they would, except as i recall for the hardship issue with the levy, and again probably not until your try to resove it with the initial IRS contact.

Answer 8

I often spend my half an hour to read this blog's posts daily along with a mug of coffee.

Answer 9

hire the attorney without a doubt

Answer 10

What comes around goes around......

I'd call a CPA. He, or one of his colleagues, will know what to do.