First, in my opinion, an IRS tax attorney could be an attorney working for the Internal Revenue Service.  Such attorney may represent the government in United States Tax Court, an IRS Appeal Office or another division or department of the IRS.

Second, in my opinion, an IRS tax attorney may be an attorney that represents individuals and/or businesses before the Internal Revenue Service.  For example, such attorney may represent a business that is being audited by the IRS, or an individual that owes taxes to the IRS.  If an individual or business owed taxes to the IRS, this tax attorney may attempt to settle their clients tax debt, or resolve such debt through another formal agreement with the IRS such as an installment agreement.

You can speak with a tax attorney in Denver by contacting The McGuire Law Firm.  A tax attorney at The McGuire Law Firm can represent you or your business before the Internal Revenue Service if you owe taxes, are being audited or have another type of dispute with the IRS.

As we all know, the U.S. federal government “shutdown” on October 1, 2013 due to the house and senate’s inability to pass a short term spending bill that would continue to keep the government funded.  As a Denver tax lawyer, John McGuire has been paying close attention to the impact the shutdown will have on IRS action.

This government shutdown has impacted federal agencies including the IRS.  As tax attorneys, we represent a number of individuals and businesses before the Internal Revenue Service regarding tax audits, tax debts and other federal tax controversies.  Thus, we have received a number of inquiries from our clients regarding what the IRS is doing in terms of collection, enforcement and tax audits during the shutdown.  Additionally, in many circumstances, we have been unable to contact Internal Revenue Service revenue officers, and Internal Revenue Service departments such as the automated collection division and tax practitioner hotline.

In regards to IRS federal tax liens, the IRS announced that federal tax liens are not being issued and filed during the shutdown by revenue officers and nor are they being automatically generated.  Additionally, IRS bank levies are not being issued during the shutdown.  However, certain taxpayers may have received these notices with October 2013 dates, but these federal tax lien and IRS levy notices were issued prior to the shutdown.  Certain notice that a taxpayer may be subject to a federal tax lien or IRS levy may be automatically generated and issued to the taxpayer during the shutdown.

Regarding IRS enforcement action, the only enforcement action currently occurring in non-criminal cases involves cases and situations where action must be taken now to best protect the government’s interest.  For example, if a taxpayer owes a tax debt, and the collection statute on the tax liability is in jeopardy of expiring in the immediate future, the IRS may be taking enforcement action at this time.  Regarding criminal cases, the majority of criminal tax cases continue to be prosecuted by the applicable criminal investigative departments and units.  This corresponds with the fact that most federal law enforcement agencies have continue to operate and function during the government shutdown.

This article was prepared by John McGuire.  John is a Denver business attorney and Denver tax attorney working with businesses and individuals regarding their business and tax needs.  If you have a tax debt with the IRS or an ongoing tax audit and have questions regarding the impact of the government shutdown, it is recommended that you contact a tax attorney to discuss your situation and circumstances.  A Denver tax attorney at The McGuire Law Firm can assist you with  tax matter or tax problem before the Internal Revenue Service.

Contact The McGuire Law Firm and schedule a free consultation with a Denver tax attorney, international tax attorney or Denver business attorney to help resolve your IRS tax matters.  A free consultation is offered to all potential clients.