Can you recommend an enrolled agent for tax snafu?

August 24, 2021 2:06 PM

Through either my own or the IRS' errors, my 2019 IRS tax filing is messed up, with the prospect of a very large tax payment and penalty. It's time to call in a professional to make sure I don't inadvertently make a not-great situation worse.

Can you recommend a competent, responsive, and hopefully-affordable enrolled agent? Anywhere in the US, the issue appears to be predominantly with capital gains on securities.

Please note that I am looking specifically for an enrolled agent, not a CPA or other tax advisor, so that they can represent me to the IRS. I have self-prepared for many years, so I do not have a usual tax preparer that would either help resolve this or refer me to an enrolled agent. Thanks for any recommendations!

posted by foodmapper to Work & Money (4 answers total)

A friend of mine used David Turrentine a couple of years back when she lived in Chicago and fucked up her taxes reasonably badly (didn't file at all for a couple of years). I don't know if she still uses him (taxes do not come up often in our conversations), but I know she was continuing to use him for several years afterward just for run-of-the-mill tax filing.

...in looking at his site, it seems he's pretty remote-friendly.
posted by aramaic at 3:53 PM on August 24, 2021

Quick FYI - CPAs can also represent you with the IRS. They'll submit a POA (Form 2848), same as with an EA, and then can discuss your tax situation directly with the IRS, enter into installment agreements, etc.
posted by dngrangl at 4:36 PM on August 24, 2021

Response by poster: Thanks for the info that I in fact should also be considering CPAs! In that case, I would also welcome any CPA recommendations folks may have.
posted by foodmapper at 5:54 PM on August 24, 2021

Any tax service in your area with a good rating on Yelp should be able to amend this and/or respond to a letter. I realize this sounds like a non-answer, but you shouldn’t be thinking this requires special handling; it’s most likely routine for any of them.
posted by michaelh at 9:02 AM on August 25, 2021