Representation
When the IRS writes.
The first ten days after a notice, an audit letter, a lien, or a levy. What to do. What not to do. Why the envelope is a clock.
The Service is not mysterious. It is punctual. A CP2000, a lien notice, a levy, an audit appointment — each of them has a date on it, and the date is doing more work than the letterhead.
The first mistake we see is silence. The second is a handwritten reply, written late at night, that answers a question the notice did not ask. The third is paying something, anything, so the feeling will stop. None of those close a file. Some of them open a worse one.
In the first ten days
Read the notice all the way through, including the codes in the corner and the tax year. Photograph every page. Do not call the number on the letter until you know which year, which form, and which proposed amount you are talking about. Then call us, or another CPA who will represent you, before you call them.
If a levy or a wage garnishment is already in motion, say so in the first sentence. Collection is a different clock than an underreporter notice, and it does not pause because you are gathering documents.
What representation actually is
A power of attorney (Form 2848) makes the firm the address the Service writes to next. That is the point. You should not be the person explaining a K-1 to an agent, and you should not be the person deciding which bank statement is “enough.” We decide what they see, and when.
Audit representation, notices, liens, levies, payment plans, and innocent spouse relief are ordinary work in this office. They are not a specialty we invented for the website. Bring the letter. We will tell you, in one conversation, whether this is a reply, a plan, or a fight.
This is not tax advice. It is a description of how a Coral Springs CPA firm thinks about the first week. Your notice is specific. Your facts are too.