Choosing a tax attorney is an important decision that must be made wisely. If you find yourself facing an audit, hire a lawyer right away.
You want an attorney that went to law school, took the bar exam, passed the bar exam and is licensed in the state as an attorney who specializes in tax lien.
Many times people will hire a tax attorney when they are audited by the Internal Revenue Service. If you are audited, you need to retain the services of an experienced lawyer. Many people are scared when they get audited. However, not all audits are the same. The Internal Revenue Service uses three various kinds of audits and your lawyer is the person who can assist you with these audits.
When interviewing possible candidates, it is important to ask how your services and your time will be billed. Normally the billing starts the moment you walk in his office. Be aware that you will also be charged for phone conversations, postage, secretarial time, copies and many other services. Be sure that you get everything in writing as to what you will be billed for and how much you will be billed.
It is also important to find out what the fees there would be if there is a discrepancy from the Internal Revenue Service once your taxes are filed. If there are discrepancies on your taxes, your tax attorney will handle all conversations with the Internal Revenue Service on your behalf. However, there may be a different rate for these extra services so it is important to find out ahead of time what these rates will be.
The first kind of audit is a correspondence audit. You may or may not need an attorney for this kind of audit. With a correspondence audit, the Internal Revenue Service notifies you that there are certain errors on your tax forms and they may or may not require paperwork to justify your deductions. You need to look at this request and figure out whether you can provide the appropriate paperwork if it is requested. You may feel more comfortable retaining the service of a lawyer and that decision is totally up to you.
An office audit is a little more complex. You do need to show up for an appointment with the Internal Revenue Service with all the requested backup paperwork and information they request. In this case you do need the experience of a tax attorney.
A field audit is the most complex kind of audit. This is because in the field audit the Internal Revenue Service comes to you. A representative will come to your home or office and start going through your paperwork. There is no doubt in this type of audit you do need an audit lawyer.
When the Internal Revenue Service contacts you or calls you, it is important that you take this seriously. Do not ignore the situation as it will only get worse. The Internal Revenue Service does not go away nor does it forget you. The only reason that the Internal Revenue Service will audit you is if they think that you are cheating on your taxes.