What should taxpayers know about contacting the IRS about tax debt?

I am a CPA and US Tax Court Practitioner with more than forty years of tax experience. My advice to taxpayers is to not talk to the IRS. Hire a tax professional.

Anything you say can and will be used against you. You are playing in a game that you don’t know the equipment, the rules, the field or the ball. It would be like taking a soccer player and throwing him into a pro football locker room with the instructions to get suited up and on the field as a middle linebacker. He would be completely lost and if he manages to make it on to the field he would be run over and destroyed.

The Internal Revenue Code (as revised) runs over 5000 pages of fine print. The regulations, manuals and case law fills a substantial library and increases daily. As a CPA and USTCP there are tax cases I will not take because with only forty years of experience I am incompetent in many areas of the law that I don’t practice in on a regular basis. I refer those cases to an expert in that portion of the law.

You cannot ignore the IRS, don’t make that mistake. But just like a defendant representing themselves in court has a fool for a lawyer, a taxpayer who tries to deal with the IRS is a fool. I see them afterward and many times they have done something wrong that is irrevocable and is to their disadvantage.

If it is less than a couple of hundred dollars just pay it and move on. Right wrong or indifferent. But if it is substantial find a professional that practices in that area of tax law and hires them. It will be money well spent.

As always, as a CPA, I’m here to help you with your payroll, payroll tax compliance, and small business questions. Reach out to me at [email protected].