Personal Injury
Unknown
The gentleman I spoke to on the phone wouldn't stop talking past me long enough to actually answer the questions I was asking.
Owner response
Seth, that is not fair. I was absolutely trying to answer your question when you hung up on me. I think you need an attorney to help you get them to listen to you, but we do not handle such matters. I realize that wasn't the answer you were looking for, but that is the answer. Presentation and knowing how to deal with the IRS is everything. A lawyer knows how the IRS wants to see it. They do have some obligation to view documents, but that comes with many qualifications. As an example, they likely don't have an obligation to go through 1500 pages of unmarked bank statements to find all of your business expenses. Better to think of a way to present that to them because the bottom line always is, if you cannot come to an agreement, it will be you that owes the taxes. Also, a tax attorney can tell you if you just have a bad case. If you are making a bad legal argument, all of the backup in the world won't change their opinion. Finally, bad communication can sabotage your efforts. Sometimes, a person might not understand what the IRS even wants and just gets more frustrated with them. At the end of the day, they are just people doing a job, and they usually aren't as emotionally invested as the taxpayer. It is not bad to have a person that can take a step back and make the argument without a lot of emotion, anger, and frustration. At this stage, you need somebody that can cut through all of that and determine if you have a strategy this late in the game. At some point for everyone, if you have another miscommunication with the IRS, you will owe the tax. It doesn't even matter if you were right or wrong. I realize telling you that you need an attorney when you just want somebody to answer your DIY questions can be annoying, but that is because the answer is irrelevant in some ways. It is like asking a doctor if you should stop trying to remove your appendix if it really starts to hurt. The answer is, you need to talk to a surgeon before you plan anything else. Since I don't perform the work you need done, you can assume I say this from a position of having no financial incentive to do so. I also ask that you be respectful to that person and listen to what they have to say, as opposed to mapping out your strategy to them. They do this for a living. You might be intelligent and know what you feel is right and wrong, but they know the reality of the beast you will be dealing with. A lot of people think it seems easy, until they are holding that final bill from the IRS. Best of luck to you.