When the big bad wolf of tax collector comes knocking on the door, a person needs an IRS advocate to help keep them from having their house blown down, so to say. Walking in the woods of tax problems is a scary and thorny place to go by oneself. A person really needs to know the woods very well and the pathways out of the woods to get home. The same notion holds true when dealing with tax trouble.
An Enrolled Agent, also commonly known by the abbreviation EA, is generally the best IRS advocate to get when a person finds themselves in the tax woods with the big bad wolf. It is so important to have an Enrolled Agent serve in this advocate role for someone because the rules, regulations and procedures in regards to taxes are so abundant and complicated. The Internal Revenue Service is not really a service. It is a system. And it is a big system. It operates like an automobile engine. There are lots of moving parts turning at one time so a person doesn’t want to stick their hand into the moving parts because it will hurt. An IRS Advocate knows when and how to react to the moving parts.
The big bad wolf of tax tries to get a person to take a position on a topic and then holds that person to the position, which is frequently not in the best interest of the person with the problem. This happens all the time in audit situations. During the first interview with a Federal Auditor, they ask the person being audited a series of questions that squeezes them into a position that they can’t escape. By having an IRS advocate speak for them in the first interview, this problem can be avoided. Revenue Agents and Auditors are trained in how to interview people to get the answers that benefit the government’s best interest.
A key benefit to having professional representation in federal tax matters is that an IRS advocate can say to the government the words “I don’t know” and mean it. That is much harder for an individual to do when the government is pressing someone for answers. That’s important because the words “I don’t know” coming from the lips of someone else gives a pause to the action. That pause in the action allows a person’s representative to come back and get clarification on a topic. It allows for them to look over the facts and decide on the best approach for the client. That is a huge benefit because Uncle Sam isn’t looking at how they can get the best outcome for the client. They are looking at how to get the best outcome for the United States Treasury Department. They should do that because it is their job to look out for the government. Likewise, it is a representative’s job to look out for the best interest of his or her client, which is often at odds with Uncle Sam.
At the end of the day, the big bad wolf is less likely to attack someone when they get another big bad wolf to look out for them.