If taxes have started to overwhelm you and take away too much of your time and patience, then you might consider looking for a helping hand with your taxes. When you first think of an IRS lawyer, however, you might picture an overly serious, manipulative professional intent on taking advantage of your ignorance and ultimately overcharging you. But most tax lawyers just want to help people with their taxes, and an IRS lawyer might help you, too, if you’re looking for assistance in one of the following areas. The IRS lawyers at Nationwide Tax Relief, for example, provide services in all of the following areas.
- Tax returns and tax planning – An IRS lawyer knows all about the latest tax codes and regulations, and he or she can help you take advantage of all the applicable tax exemptions, credits, and deductions that exist for you. It would take hours to do this research on your own, so if you want to save time and avoid the hassle, it might make sense for you to hire an IRS lawyer to help prepare your taxes. Often, your IRS lawyer will also remain in contact with you throughout the rest of the year, as well, and give you frequent advice about tax savings, strategies, and solutions.
- Offer in Compromise program – If you owe money in taxes and want to settle your tax problem with the IRS, an IRS lawyer can help you find the best deal. Because an IRS lawyer knows about all the new tax laws, they could even help you find a way to settle your taxes for less than what the IRS says you owe.
- IRS collection actions – If you owe a lot on your taxes, then maybe the IRS has tried to persuade you to pay up with penalties, but an IRS lawyer may know how to help you in these situations. First of all, an IRS lawyer can help if the IRS has issued you a tax lien, or a public record that makes it very difficult for you to buy a house or a car, or get a job. If the IRS has levied your savings or checking account or garnished your wages, an IRS lawyer can help you compromise with the IRS to develop a long-term payment strategy, and in the meantime, they can often let you retain access to your money. If you owe quite a bit of tax money and the IRS has seized some of your property, an IRS lawyer can also help you negotiate in this situation.
- Innocent spouse relief – When you have recently divorced and your spouse’s tax problems have followed you and threatened to cause you undeserved charges, an IRS lawyer can help prove your innocence. Again, because an IRS lawyer knows about the latest laws, he or she can make sure you don’t receive undue harassment.
- Penalty abatement – If your unpaid taxes and their interest have caused you to fall behind on your taxes, an IRS lawyer can negotiate with the IRS and often cut a deal to remove some of your tax penalties. However, if you do have the money to pay your taxes, you probably wouldn’t qualify, and you should just pay what you owe.
- Audit representation – If the IRS has audited you, you are probably clueless as to how to handle the problem. An IRS lawyer can stand in your place and confront the IRS so you don’t have to, and an IRS lawyer can sometimes negotiate your audit or completely eliminate it.
- Criminal tax matter – If you’ve ignored your taxes for long enough, you may find yourself facing criminal charges by the IRS; the IRS often wins in these cases because individuals don’t know how to handle the situation. An IRS lawyer can help you negotiate directly with the IRS here, as well.
By Lisa Zyga