Power of Attorney
When you hire someone or some company to defend your tax audit, you first must sign a form the IRS calls the Form 2848, or Power of Attorney. The Power of Attorney form can be a double-edged sword. Why? Because this powerful form is your permission to the IRS to allow someone else to speak to them for you. So the question is, who would you choose to speak to the IRS, and why would you choose them?
In most settings we choose our caregivers carefully. Our physician is a man or woman whom we’ve met personally. Same with our dentist. So what’s different about our IRS caregiver? Well, today’s standard method for hiring someone to deal with the IRS is by searching the Internet for people and companies who offer such services. But, like everything else on the Internet, how do you know who’s legitimate and who is (or might be) a scam? In other words, before shelling out a few thousand dollars to your spokesperson, how do you best guarantee that you’ll be getting a service performed in return for your hard-earned cash? Probably the best answer is this one word: licensure. Incredibly enough, the IRS does NOT require any kind of license for a company to represent you. How can this be, you might ask. Indeed, since the IRS dealings are all based on the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), which is just one long law, how can you hire anyone except those tax audit lawyers especially trained in tax law to do your bidding.
As a general rule there are three types of representatives you’re safe in hiring: Enrolled Agents (EA) are certified by the IRS to have certain credentials. CPA’s are of course licensed by individual states. Same with lawyers. So you’re usually (not always) safe in securing this kind of tax audit representation to speak to the IRS on your behalf. And where does the problem start? The problem starts with the fast-buck companies who want your business. You’ve seen them all over Google and MSN and Yahoo. Their names are always something like USA-this or TAX-that or AMERICAN-this or FEDERAL-that. Of course their names can be other catchy phrases too. But the point is, they’re unlicensed and for all you know they could be a scam being run out of India or China. So, bottom line: BUYER BEWARE. Like the old saying goes, always hire a licensed….
At IRS-SOLV our tax attorney list of names is short: John Ellsworth, the author of this blog, is THE tax attorney. John is licensed by the Illinois Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Seventh Circuit, and the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. John also is a member of several national and state organizations like the American Bar Association and Illinois State Bar Association that are careful about who joins up. So this is one person/company I can cheerfully recommend. Hire me and I’ll do the job you’ve hired me to do and I’ll earn what you’ve paid me. Give a call, you’ll be glad you did.
In most settings we choose our caregivers carefully. Our physician is a man or woman whom we’ve met personally. Same with our dentist. So what’s different about our IRS caregiver? Well, today’s standard method for hiring someone to deal with the IRS is by searching the Internet for people and companies who offer such services. But, like everything else on the Internet, how do you know who’s legitimate and who is (or might be) a scam? In other words, before shelling out a few thousand dollars to your spokesperson, how do you best guarantee that you’ll be getting a service performed in return for your hard-earned cash? Probably the best answer is this one word: licensure. Incredibly enough, the IRS does NOT require any kind of license for a company to represent you. How can this be, you might ask. Indeed, since the IRS dealings are all based on the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), which is just one long law, how can you hire anyone except those tax audit lawyers especially trained in tax law to do your bidding.
As a general rule there are three types of representatives you’re safe in hiring: Enrolled Agents (EA) are certified by the IRS to have certain credentials. CPA’s are of course licensed by individual states. Same with lawyers. So you’re usually (not always) safe in securing this kind of tax audit representation to speak to the IRS on your behalf. And where does the problem start? The problem starts with the fast-buck companies who want your business. You’ve seen them all over Google and MSN and Yahoo. Their names are always something like USA-this or TAX-that or AMERICAN-this or FEDERAL-that. Of course their names can be other catchy phrases too. But the point is, they’re unlicensed and for all you know they could be a scam being run out of India or China. So, bottom line: BUYER BEWARE. Like the old saying goes, always hire a licensed….
At IRS-SOLV our tax attorney list of names is short: John Ellsworth, the author of this blog, is THE tax attorney. John is licensed by the Illinois Supreme Court, the United States District Court for the Seventh Circuit, and the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. John also is a member of several national and state organizations like the American Bar Association and Illinois State Bar Association that are careful about who joins up. So this is one person/company I can cheerfully recommend. Hire me and I’ll do the job you’ve hired me to do and I’ll earn what you’ve paid me. Give a call, you’ll be glad you did.
Tags: Beating The Tax Man