Need help to sue the Enrolled Agent

[ajayagupta]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Case of Civil litigation:

Looking for help to sue my Tax Enrolled Agent who filed my taxes in Los Angeles, CA. After giving him the POA to handle IRS Audit, he has neither pursued IRS appeals/audit nor handling it suitable after the case has moved to IRS tax court. He is neither attending the Tax court nor arranging any other Tax Attorney to fight the case. As a result I will be suffering a loss of about $ 25 K IRS penalty

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Case of Civil litigation:

Looking for help to sue my Tax Enrolled Agent who filed my taxes in Los Angeles, CA. After giving him the POA to handle IRS Audit, he has neither pursued IRS appeals/audit nor handling it suitable after the case has moved to IRS tax court. He is neither attending the Tax court nor arranging any other Tax Attorney to fight the case. As a result I will be suffering a loss of about $ 25 K IRS penalty

ajayagupta, the FreeAdvice forum is not a lawyer referral service. You will need to seek out an attorney in your area who can assist you with your lawsuit.

Here is a link to the California Bar Association: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/

This is also the link you will want to use if you want to file a grievance against your attorney.

Good luck.

 

[LdiJ]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

Case of Civil litigation:

Looking for help to sue my Tax Enrolled Agent who filed my taxes in Los Angeles, CA. After giving him the POA to handle IRS Audit, he has neither pursued IRS appeals/audit nor handling it suitable after the case has moved to IRS tax court. He is neither attending the Tax court nor arranging any other Tax Attorney to fight the case. As a result I will be suffering a loss of about $ 25 K IRS penalty

Ajayagupta, is it additional tax and penalty that reaches 25k or are the penalties 25k?

Without knowing anything about your case it is difficult to comment, but you should be aware that there are many instances in tax where it simply is not possible to fight the IRS. Some situations just do not have any nuances.

You can certainly consult another tax professional or a tax attorney for an opinion on your chances of prevailing in tax court.

Quincy, an enrolled agent is not an attorney.

 

[quincy]

Ajayagupta, is it additional tax and penalty that reaches 25k or are the penalties 25k?

Without knowing anything about your case it is difficult to comment, but you should be aware that there are many instances in tax where it simply is not possible to fight the IRS. Some situations just do not have any nuances.

You can certainly consult another tax professional or a tax attorney for an opinion on your chances of prevailing in tax court.

Quincy, an enrolled agent is not an attorney.

Thank you, LdiJ. I did mention filing a grievance, didn't I? Oops.

Ajayagupta should locate an attorney in his area if he wishes to sue the agent who handled (or potentially mishandled) his taxes.

 

[LdiJ]

Thank you, LdiJ. I did mention filing a grievance, didn't I? Oops.

Ajayagupta should locate an attorney in his area if he wishes to sue the agent who handled (or potentially mishandled) his taxes.

Before he does that, he really should consult another tax professional for a second opinion.

 

[quincy]

Before he does that, he really should consult another tax professional for a second opinion.

I have no problem with that. He can see as many tax professionals as he wants for as many opinions as he wants. But, if he is looking for help to sue his tax agent (which is what ajayagupta asked about in his original post), he will want to seek out the help of an attorney in his area.

 

[LdiJ]

I have no problem with that. He can see as many tax professionals as he wants for as many opinions as he wants. But, if he is looking for help to sue his tax agent (which is what ajayagupta asked about in his original post), he will want to seek out the help of an attorney in his area.

I agree, but I have seen people sue tax professionals only to end up looking like fools in court. The classic situation is that they were missing a tax document when they went to do their taxes, and therefore something significant was missing on their original tax return, causing them to owe additional tax plus penalties and interest.

The classic client reaction to such a thing is that "I went to a tax professional because I do not know anything about taxes so its your fault and you have to either make it go away or pay for it since its your fault" (whether it was or wasn't the tax professionals fault).

Sometimes we can make it go away (if it was something that should not have resulted in additional tax). Sometimes we cannot make it go away but we can legitimately mitigate it. Sometimes we cannot make it go away but if the error was our fault we cover the penalties and sometimes interest. Sometimes we cannot make it go away and the taxpayer has to pay the interest and penalty because it was not our fault. On rare occasions the IRS digs their heels in on something and they are wrong...and that is the kind of case that should end up in tax court.

I suspect that the OP's situation is NOT the kind of case that should end up in tax court. I suspect its the kind of case where the enrolled agent has told him that its gone as far as it can legitimately go, but that the OP is free to spend money on a tax attorney to see if it can be taken any further. From what the OP said it appears that the OP believes that the enrolled agent should spend the money on a tax attorney to represent the OP.

Before this OP throws potentially good money after bad, he needs to consult another tax professional or two to make sure that he actually has a case on the tax issue itself. If he does not there is nothing to sue the enrolled agent about.

 

[quincy]

I agree, but I have seen people sue tax professionals only to end up looking like fools in court. The classic situation is that they were missing a tax document when they went to do their taxes, and therefore something significant was missing on their original tax return, causing them to owe additional tax plus penalties and interest.

The classic client reaction to such a thing is that "I went to a tax professional because I do not know anything about taxes so its your fault and you have to either make it go away or pay for it since its your fault" (whether it was or wasn't the tax professionals fault).

Sometimes we can make it go away (if it was something that should not have resulted in additional tax). Sometimes we cannot make it go away but we can legitimately mitigate it. Sometimes we cannot make it go away but if the error was our fault we cover the penalties and sometimes interest. Sometimes we cannot make it go away and the taxpayer has to pay the interest and penalty because it was not our fault. On rare occasions the IRS digs their heels in on something and they are wrong...and that is the kind of case that should end up in tax court.

I suspect that the OP's situation is NOT the kind of case that should end up in tax court. I suspect its the kind of case where the enrolled agent has told him that its gone as far as it can legitimately go, but that the OP is free to spend money on a tax attorney to see if it can be taken any further. From what the OP said it appears that the OP believes that the enrolled agent should spend the money on a tax attorney to represent the OP.

Before this OP throws potentially good money after bad, he needs to consult another tax professional or two to make sure that he actually has a case.

I am sure there are many people who consult with an attorney who have no legal action to pursue. Attorneys will (as a rule) tell those people that they have no legal action to pursue.

Ajayagupta can spend his money on a tax professional or two who can offer him an opinion on this, or ajayagupta can spend money on a tax attorney who can offer him an opinion on this. It is up to ajaygupta how much money he wants to spend on various and assorted opinions offered by tax professionals before he seeks a legal opinion on the legal merit of any suit. If he wants help SUING the agent, seeing an attorney seems to me to be the logical choice.

But I have no argument with ajayagupta taking either route. He is throwing money regardless. I was simply answering the question he asked.

 

[LdiJ]

I am sure there are many people who consult with an attorney who have no legal action to pursue. Attorneys will (as a rule) tell those people that they have no legal action to pursue.

Ajayagupta can spend his money on a tax professional or two who can offer him an opinion on this, or ajayagupta can spend money on a tax attorney who can offer him an opinion on this. It is up to ajaygupta how much money he wants to spend on various and assorted opinions offered by tax professionals before he seeks a legal opinion on the legal merit of any suit. If he wants help SUING the agent, seeing an attorney seems to me to be the logical choice.

But I have no argument with ajayagupta taking either route. He is throwing money regardless. I was simply answering the question he asked.

Many, or most tax professionals will give a consult without charging anything for said consult. My firm and the others I am familiar with do not charge for consults unless we have to do significant research to give an opinion. Tax attorneys on the other hand generally charge for consults.

 

[quincy]

Many, or most tax professionals will give a consult without charging anything for said consult. My firm and the others I am familiar with do not charge for consults unless we have to do significant research to give an opinion. Tax attorneys on the other hand generally charge for consults.

Phone consultations or initial consultations ("screening" consultations) can be offered for free but rarely will anyone get anything but the most basic of information from any free consultation. This includes free consultations by most tax professionals or by most tax attorneys.

 

[LdiJ]

Phone consultations or initial consultations ("screening" consultations) can be offered for free but rarely will anyone get anything but the most basic of information from any free consultation. This includes free consultations by most tax professionals or by most tax attorneys.

Quincy, since I AM a tax professional I think that I have a pretty good idea of what is standard in my industry. Giving free consults and reviewing prior tax returns or tax problems, is one of the ways that we generate new clients. I do that sort of thing EVERY day in the off season, and I certainly do not limit myself to giving "basic" information.

Unlike legal cases people do taxes every year. We know that if we demonstrate the depth of our knowledge and help someone resolve a prior problem (or reassure them that it was handled properly when applicable) that we are likely to get that person as a client in the future. So please, do not tell me that tax professional only provide basic information during free consults.