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This least-known division of the IRS is designed to help taxpayers facing hardship. Read on to see how Travis Watkins can help you utilize this avenue to IRS relief.

Occasionally as we represent a taxpayer with IRS issues, we enlist the help of a division of the IRS known as the “Taxpayer Advocate” service. This division’s purpose is to resolve a taxpayer’s problems with the IRS if they have not had success through normal channels. Typically they are best utilized in cases where a taxpayer is facing a financial hardship.

Before the Taxpayer Advocate service will help a taxpayer, certain criteria must be met. Such criterion includes the following:

• The taxpayer is experiencing economic harm or is about to suffer economic harm;

• The taxpayer is facing an immediate threat of adverse action;

• The taxpayer will incur significant costs if relief is not granted (including fees for professional representation);

• The taxpayer will suffer irreparable injury or long-term adverse impact if relief is not granted;

• The taxpayer has experienced a delay of more than 30 days to resolve a tax account problem;

• The taxpayer did not receive a response or resolution to their problem or inquiry by the date promised;

• A system or procedure has either failed to operate as intended, or failed to resolve the taxpayer's problem or dispute within the IRS;

• The manner in which the tax laws are being administered raise considerations of equity, or have impaired or will impair the taxpayer's rights.

Only a qualified tax professional who works with the Taxpayer Advocate service on a day to day basis can determine if using the Taxpayer Advocate service is an appropriate plan of action for your tax debt.