Getting organized before you hire tax resolution help
Most of the cost of resolving a tax problem is assembling the facts. Doing that first, before hiring anyone, means you pay for judgment rather than document chasing, and you can tell whether the advice you get fits your numbers.
THE CLOCK — FIND THE NEAREST STATUTORY DATE FIRST
Before gathering anything else, look at every notice for two things: a 30-day hearing right after a final notice of intent to levy, and a 90-day Tax Court window on a notice of deficiency. If either is running, that date sets the pace for everything on this page.
Why organizing first pays
Every legitimate route out of a tax balance starts from the same facts: which years are open, what is owed on each, which returns are missing, and what you can pay. Whoever you hire will have to assemble those facts before they can say anything useful. If you arrive with them, the first conversation is about options rather than paperwork.
It also protects you. The FTC's advice on tax relief companies is to walk away from anyone who promises a result or says you qualify before looking at your situation. With your own facts in front of you, it is easy to see when advice has not engaged with them.
And it keeps the work honest about who does what. Some of it is record work any good preparer can do. Some of it, acting for you before the IRS, needs an attorney, CPA or enrolled agent under a power of attorney. A packet that is already organized serves either.
The packet
Put it together in this order. The first two items often change what the rest needs to include.
WHAT TO GATHER
- Every IRS and Massachusetts DOR notice, in date order, with the envelopes; note the notice number and any response date on each
- IRS account transcripts and wage and income transcripts for every year in question, from your Online Account or by mail
- Your Massachusetts account view from MassTaxConnect
- Copies of every return you filed for those years, federal and state, and a list of the years you did not file
- Three months of statements for every bank account, and the latest statement for every card
- Recent pay stubs, and proof of any other income; if self-employed, a current profit and loss statement and records of estimated payments
- A monthly budget: housing, utilities, food, transport, health care, insurance, child care, and existing debt payments
- A list of assets: property, vehicles, retirement accounts, and anything else of value
The last three items are the substance of the financial statements both agencies use, IRS Form 433-F and Massachusetts Form M-433. Having them ready shortens every financial review.
Reading your own packet
Once assembled, the packet answers some questions on its own. If there are unfiled years, those come first, because the collection alternatives, from installment agreements to offers and currently not collectible status, depend on the required returns being filed.
If the transcripts show a balance you can pay within 180 days, the IRS offers a short-term plan it says carries no user fee, and you may not need anyone. If the balance is larger but the monthly budget leaves room, an installment agreement is the likely answer. If the budget leaves nothing, currently not collectible status or its Massachusetts equivalent, hardship, is in view.
An offer in compromise is the answer less often than advertising suggests. The IRS's free Pre-Qualifier tool, on its offer in compromise page, gives a preliminary view before you pay anyone to find out.
Where we come in
If you would like help assembling the packet, that is work we do: pulling transcripts with your Form 8821, reading them year by year, preparing missing returns, reconstructing records from bank and card data, and preparing the financial statement with its documents. The result is a written summary of the real figures and the resolutions they support.
Where your matter then needs someone to act before the IRS, at a hearing or in an appeal, that is done by an attorney, CPA or enrolled agent under a power of attorney, and we will say so plainly rather than let it surface later. The packet is built so that whoever does that work starts from verified figures, which saves them time and you fees.
We give you a scope and a price in writing before anything starts.
Where this comes from
The statutes behind this page, so you can check any of it rather than take it on trust.
- IRC §6330
- The 30-day hearing right after a final notice of intent to levy, one of the two dates to find first.
- IRC §6213(a)
- The 90 days to petition the Tax Court after a notice of deficiency, the other.
- IRC §6103(c)
- Lets you authorize disclosure of your tax information to someone you choose, which is how someone helping you sees the account.
This page explains what the IRS or the Massachusetts Department of Revenue does and cites the statute. It is not advice about your situation, which depends on facts none of this knows. Tell us what your letter says and what date is on it. Please do not send Social Security numbers or tax documents through the form.
IRS transcript review
Before a payment plan, an offer or a hardship request, there is one question: is the number right? A transcript review answers it for every year at once, and often changes what the right resolution is.
Spotting a tax relief scam
The FTC and the IRS publish the same warning signs: a promise to settle for a fraction before anyone has looked at your finances, a fee demanded up front, and mail dressed up to look official. The free checks come from the IRS itself.
Form 433 financial statement
Nearly every resolution above the streamlined thresholds is decided on this form. It is not a budget you submit — it is an input to a calculation that uses national and local standards instead of what you actually spend.
Authorizing someone to act
Two different authorizations that are constantly confused. One lets someone act on your behalf; the other only lets them see your file. Not everyone who can prepare your return can hold the first one.
Questions about getting organized first.
- What should I do before hiring a tax relief company?
- Find the nearest statutory date on your notices, pull your IRS transcripts, list any unfiled years, and gather bank statements, pay stubs and a monthly budget. That tells you what you owe and what you can pay, and lets you judge any advice you get.
- What documents does the IRS want for a payment plan?
- For plans that need a financial statement, the IRS uses Form 433-F, which asks about income, expenses, bank accounts and assets. Massachusetts uses Form M-433 and lists bank statements, pay stubs, card statements and a written proposal.
- Do I need to hire someone at all?
- Not always. If the balance is right and can be paid within 180 days, the IRS offers a short-term plan online that it says carries no user fee. Help matters more when years are unfiled, the balance is disputed, or a statutory deadline is running.
- How do I know if a tax relief company is legitimate?
- The FTC advises avoiding anyone who says you qualify or will settle for a fraction before reviewing your finances, demands the full fee up front, or promises a result. Ask who will do the work, what authority they hold, and for the scope and fee in writing.
- Can the person helping me see my IRS account?
- Yes, if you authorize it. Form 8821 lets a person or firm you name receive your transcripts for the years you list. Acting on your behalf with the IRS is a separate authority, given on Form 2848, and only some professionals may hold it.
Tell us what the letter says and what date is on it.
Scope and price in writing before anything starts. Where what you need is something we do not do, you will be told that instead.
Please don't send Social Security numbers or tax documents through this form.