If you've got an IRS letter on your desk right now, you have a decision to make, and the clock matters. I'm Darrin Mish. I've spent 32 years helping people with exactly this kind of situation. Here's what you should do.<\/p>\n\n
The IRS does not announce itself politely. For most Tampa small business owners, the reckoning arrives as a certified letter, a call from a Revenue Officer, or a notice that payroll tax deposits are not adding up.<\/p>
By then the question is not whether you need help. It is what kind, and how fast.<\/p>
Here is the truth. What you need from a Tampa tax attorney is determined by what the IRS or the Florida Department of Revenue is doing to you right now. This is not a service menu. It is a map of real engagements.<\/p>
Payroll tax problems move faster than owners expect. When a business falls behind on employment tax deposits, the IRS does not stop at the company. Under the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty, it may assess the unpaid trust fund taxes personally against anyone who willfully failed to pay those withheld amounts.<\/p>
That makes this the most dangerous engagement for a small business. The entity can disappear. The personal liability follows the individual.<\/p>
The attorney’s first job is triage. Who are the potentially responsible persons, what decisions did each make, and what does the record show? The IRS will want an interview covering the full scope of duties, and that interview is not informal.<\/p>
The protest strategy gets built before that interview happens, not after.<\/p>
A Revenue Officer assignment changes the character of the case. General correspondence can be handled in writing. A Revenue Officer is a field collection agent with authority to move fast on liens, levies, and seizures.<\/p>
At that stage the attorney acts as a buffer. Communications route through counsel, and document production gets coordinated.<\/p>
Here is the part most people miss. A Revenue Officer assignment in a payroll tax case almost always means a Form 4180 interview is coming, and that form exists to establish responsibility and willfulness. It is not a courtesy conversation.<\/p>
Audit defense is not just producing records. It is controlling what the IRS sees and in what order. A field audit typically opens with a notification and an Information Document Request listing the records the examiner wants.<\/p>
An unfocused response opens lines of inquiry the audit never contemplated. The work is issue framing, disciplined record gathering, and answering what was asked without volunteering what was not.<\/p>
Audits also surface overlapping problems. An examiner reviewing income might notice unfiled quarters. A payroll audit bleeds into trust fund questions.<\/p>
When collection pressure is active, the job is matching the approach to the facts. Three paths exist, and they are not interchangeable.<\/p>
Acceptance rates matter. The number of offers the IRS accepts has dropped sharply in recent years even as requests increased. An Offer in Compromise is not a default path. The work is assessing whether the criteria actually fit and building the financial record behind the submission.<\/p>
Being current on filings and deposits first is a practical prerequisite.<\/p>
Unfiled returns are high risk. The IRS can prepare a Substitute for Return on the business’s behalf, and that result is almost never favorable. Penalties accumulate, and unfiled years pull attention into open quarters and audit exposure.<\/p>
Stop losing sleep over what you think you cannot fix. Compliance is a process, and the scope can usually be mapped out clearly.<\/p>
The work means identifying which returns are missing, reconstructing the financial picture, and sequencing the filings against any active IRS or state activity. The attorney coordinates with your CPA on the accounting while controlling what gets filed and when.<\/p>
When the IRS challenges how a business classified its workers, treating independent contractors as employees for employment tax purposes, the liability can be large. Section 530 relief can terminate employment tax liability for an individual not treated as an employee, but only when specific conditions are met.<\/p>
That relief is not automatic. It requires showing a reasonable basis for the classification, consistent treatment of the workers, and the required information returns. The records either support the defense or they do not.<\/p>
Federal and state problems do not wait for each other. The Florida Department of Revenue audits businesses to determine whether state taxes were collected, reported, and paid correctly, and collection starts when a taxpayer fails to file or pay.<\/p>
When both agencies are active at once, the risk is contradiction. A position taken in a federal proceeding can create a problem in a state audit. The two tracks cannot be allowed to work against each other.<\/p>
The division of labor is straightforward. A CPA prepares returns, handles bookkeeping, and produces the records the case needs. The attorney controls the legal process, representation before the IRS and the Tax Court, and anything covered by attorney client privilege.<\/p>
That last point matters. Communications with a CPA are not privileged the way attorney client communications are, and in a controversy case that distinction can affect what the IRS can reach.<\/p>
I am not a CPA. I am an attorney, licensed with The Florida Bar since 1993, which is more than three decades of federal tax controversy work, and admitted to the United States Tax Court. You can review my credentials<\/a> directly.<\/p> Knowledge is protection. Hiring a CPA to handle a Revenue Officer investigation costs you time and can increase your exposure.<\/p> Yes. Under the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty, the IRS can assess unpaid trust fund taxes personally against anyone who willfully failed to pay the withheld amounts. Closing the business does not erase that exposure.<\/p> It is the IRS interview used to establish who was responsible for payroll tax compliance and whether the failure was willful. Preparation is critical, because the answers shape personal liability.<\/p> Often yes, and the two work together. Your CPA produces the numbers. The attorney controls the legal process, handles representation, and protects privileged communications.<\/p> Sequencing matters more than speed. Identify the missing years and reconstruct the numbers first, then file in an order that fits any active collection or audit activity.<\/p>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>
Can the IRS come after me personally for my company’s payroll taxes?<\/h3>
What is a Form 4180 interview?<\/h3>
Do I need a Tampa tax attorney if I already have a CPA?<\/h3>
Should I file old business returns before contacting the IRS?<\/h3>
Get Help Now<\/h2>