Free Consultation:  If you have never been a client of ours, the first step is to call or come in for your confidential, no obligation free consultation. At this meeting, an experienced tax resolution consultant and Enrolled Agent will evaluate your situation and discuss all available options for resolving your matter. This generally takes about 30-45 minutes; however, there are times where the information provided at this meeting is not sufficient to determine a course of action. It is advised therefore to have all recent notices and correspondence from the IRS available during our first in-person or telephone consultation.  The first step is to hire us to obtain your IRS transcripts and Record of Account so we can best evaluate all of your alternative settlement options.

1. Retaining Our Firm: At the end of your consultation, and if selected as a good “fit” for our firm, you will be given the opportunity to retain us as your tax representative. You will be required to sign an Engagement Letter and make financial arrangements in order to pay for our tax help services.

We will file a Power of Attorney (POA) with the IRS. This will provide you with immediate relief because We will attempt to get a collection hold (no enforced collection) on your account and from this point forward, the IRS will be required to contact us instead of you. If an IRS representative should happen to contact you, all you need to do is provide our contact information, including phone number, and politely request that he or she contact Sapphire Tax Solutions directly. A separate POA will be required for any state problem you have retained us for as well.

2. Beginning the Tax Resolution Process:  Your case manager is an Enrolled Agent, who has experience representing taxpayers before the IRS. Together we will develop a phased strategy for resolving your case and advise you on what steps to take for the most effective resolution. Your case manager is available to you by direct dial phone, individual e-mail, or in person. As a small firm, Sapphire Tax Solutions takes pride on being available to their clients and never passing you off to someone who is not familiar with your case.

3. IRS Compliance:  Generally, before any negotiation/settlement will be accepted by the IRS, you must become a compliant taxpayer. Compliance means that all past due delinquent income tax returns must be prepared and filed.  Compliance also means you must be “current” on you quarterly estimated income tax payments and you must be withholding at the correct rate if a wage earner. Your case manager is experienced in what must be done to achieve compliance and will advise you accordingly. If you cannot furnish records necessary to prepare your taxes, Sapphire Tax Solutions has developed methods, in accordance with IRS regulations, for completing the preparation of tax returns in order to get them filed right away.

4. Your (the Client’s) Responsibilities: Clients who achieve successful resolution of their matters have the following traits in common:

• They view the relationship with us as a collaborative one.
• They view this as a “project” that requires cooperation.
• They follow through, on a TIMELY basis, with our requests for information and documentation.

Clients who achieve stated resolution goals return our phone calls and emails timely, and stay in contact with us throughout the duration of their case.

5. Tax Settlement Negotiation:  We will propose a plan of resolution to the IRS that you can live with and see through to acceptance. It is rare, however, that a proposal is accepted right away. Through diligence, persistence, and follow-up, our knowledgeable staff will monitor, provide additional information to the IRS as needed, and negotiate your proposed resolution until a resolution is achieved.

6. Tax Resolution is Reached:  We will review the final resolution of your case by the IRS to make sure it is as agreed upon. If not, we will insist that it be changed to reflect what was agreed to. If the IRS is unwilling to do this, we will advise you as to what your options are for the next step. Finally, you will be advised on what you must do in order to succeed with your resolution and avoid future tax problems.