Individuals who have not paid their income taxes on time can have all types of problems with the Internal Revenue Service, which is why Indianapolis tax attorney Andrew Thompson says that having an experienced legal professional on your side during these trying times can be an invaluable resource.
At the Thompson Law Firm, Thompson regularly helps clients who owe back taxes, either because of non-payment in previous years, under-reported income, or disallowed expenses that were picked up on an audit by the IRS. In almost every one of these cases, Thompson says an early intervention by an attorney or tax advisor in Indianapolis is key to getting the situation sorted out.
Having a legal professional as your advocate when sparring with the IRS can be helpful on multiple levels, according to Thompson. First and foremost, an attorney can review all of the debt that has been asserted by the IRS. In many cases, when an outside professional is brought in, what ends up happening is that someone discovers that the amount the IRS claims is owed may not even be correct. The IRS can make mistakes just like anyone else, but it is the debtor’s job to hire an attorney who is smart enough to catch these errors.
The second way that a tax attorney can benefit a debtor is by providing representation during the actual IRS audit. Just the simple act of having an attorney present in the auditing room with the IRS investigator can help prevent any wrongdoing from taking place. Thompson explains that an attorney can help protect a client’s rights during the stressful auditing process and ensure that the outcome is as fair—and hopefully as favorable to the client—as possible.
Once a debtor gets past those first two stages in the tax collection process, he then arrives at the collection portion of the ordeal. When the IRS tries to collect on past tax debts, there will be a hearing before a judge in either the tax court or the U.S. District Court. Thompson says that an attorney should certainly be present for either of these scenarios, since it would be a bad idea for a person to represent himself in this type of legal matter.
Of course, Thompson says that it would be much smarter for a person to hire a tax attorney or advisor before he reaches the point of having to undergo an IRS audit. By consulting with a tax advisor or an attorney, people can avoid problems with the IRS and the stress that inevitably comes along with them.
This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.