Working With a Representative
What to Gather Before You Hire Tax Help: A Practical Checklist
By Darrin T. Mish, Attorney · 5 min read · October 9, 2026
The short answer
Bring your IRS notices, a picture of what the IRS shows in your online account, your filed and unfiled returns, your income records, and the household finances the IRS's collection forms ask about. Preparation makes the consultation honest, the quote accurate, and the case faster.
The best consultations I have are with people who walk in prepared. Not because they make my job easier, though they do. Because preparation protects them. A professional who can see your real documents cannot get away with a vague pitch, and you get an honest read instead of a guess.
You do not need everything on this list to make a first call. But the more you bring, the better the advice and the more accurate any quote will be.
1. Every IRS notice and letter
Gather every letter the IRS has sent, opened or not, in date order. The notice number is usually printed in a corner. Notices tell a professional what stage your case is in and whether any deadline is running.
If you have thrown some away, do not panic. Many notices can be viewed digitally in your IRS online account, according to the IRS.
2. What the IRS shows in your online account
Sign in to your IRS online account and note what you see. The IRS says the account shows balances owed by tax year, up to five years of payment history, payment plans, tax records and transcripts, certain digital notices, and any authorizations on file.
Print or save your balance by year and your payment history. If you cannot access the online account, the IRS says you can request an account transcript by mail, one tax year per transcript, and Form 4506-T is available for transcript requests. Bring what you have. The online account chapter explains what to look for.
3. Your returns, filed and unfiled
Bring copies of the returns you filed for the years in question, and a list of years you did not file. Be honest about the unfiled years. Filing compliance comes first in almost every IRS resolution. For an offer in compromise, for example, the IRS requires that all required returns be filed and required estimated payments made.
If you used a preparer, bring their name and contact information. If the returns were prepared by someone who did not sign them, say so. See ghost preparers.
4. Income records
- Forms W-2, 1099, and K-1 for the years at issue, if you have them.
- Recent pay stubs.
- Records of self-employment or business income, such as bank deposits, invoices, and bookkeeping reports.
- Records of benefits, pensions, or retirement distributions.
If you are missing income documents, the IRS's wage and income transcripts can often fill gaps. A representative can pull them with your authorization, and many are available in your online account.
5. Your household finances
If you cannot pay in full, the IRS will want a financial statement. The IRS's Financial Analysis Handbook, IRM 5.15.1, lists the collection information statements used: Form 433-A for wage earners and self-employed individuals, Form 433-B for businesses, and Form 433-F, used by the Automated Collection System and campuses for individuals. Looking at the form that will likely apply to you is the best preview of what you will be asked.
In general, bring the following, and ask your professional how many months of statements they need:
- Bank and investment account statements.
- Monthly household expenses: housing, utilities, vehicles, insurance, health care, child care, and court-ordered payments.
- Loan statements for mortgages, vehicles, and other debts.
- Estimates of what your home, vehicles, and other significant assets are worth.
- Retirement account statements.
6. If you own a business
- Business tax returns and payroll tax filings, such as Forms 941, for the periods at issue.
- Records of federal tax deposits.
- Recent profit and loss statements and business bank statements.
- A list of who has signing authority on business accounts and who handles payroll.
Under section 6672 of the Internal Revenue Code, a person required to collect and pay over withheld taxes who willfully fails to do so can be personally liable for a penalty equal to the unpaid amount, which is why the payroll tax chapter treats them as a two-front problem. Bring everything.
7. Anything from a prior representative
If you worked with a tax relief company or another professional before, bring the contract, receipts, and whatever they gave you. If they did not give you your file, ask for it in writing. Circular 230 section 10.28 requires practitioners to return client records needed for federal tax compliance on request. See getting your file back.
8. A one-page summary in your own words
Write a short summary: what you owe as best you know, which years, what happened, what the IRS has done so far, and what you want. Include the hard parts. A professional cannot help you with facts they do not know, and it is far better to hear the difficult part in the first meeting than to discover it halfway through a case.
If any part of your story involves possible criminal exposure, such as unreported income you are worried about, consider making your first conversation with an attorney. The privilege comparison explains why.
Questions to bring along
- Who exactly will work on my case, and what is their license number?
- Based on what you have seen, what are my realistic options?
- What would you do first, and is there a deadline I need to worry about?
- How is your fee structured, and what is not included?
- Is this something I could handle myself?
The full interview is in questions to ask before hiring, and the first meeting chapter explains what a good consultation looks like.
If you cannot find much
Do not let a missing document stop you from getting help. Many people arrive with a shoebox, or with nothing. A good professional can work from IRS transcripts, bank records, and your memory, and will tell you what is essential and what can wait.
What matters most for the first conversation is the notices, because they reveal deadlines, and your honest summary, because it reveals the real problem. Everything else can be gathered as the case moves.
Organize it the simple way
You do not need a filing system. Use one folder or envelope per tax year, plus one for IRS notices in date order and one for your household finances. Put your one-page summary on top. If you scan documents, name the files by year and type, such as 2023 W-2 or 2024 IRS notice.
This takes an evening. It can save hours of professional time, which saves you money if you are paying by the hour, and it gets you a sharper recommendation if you are paying a flat fee.
Keep current while you prepare
While you gather documents for old problems, do not create new ones. File the current year's return on time, or request an extension. If you are self-employed, keep up with estimated payments as best you can. If you run a business, make payroll deposits.
The IRS's offer in compromise rules show why: required returns must be filed and required estimated payments made, and employers must make required deposits for the current quarter and the two preceding quarters. Staying current now keeps your options open later.
What not to bring
Leave out anything you would not want copied into a file: unrelated personal papers, passwords, and account login details. No legitimate professional needs your IRS online account password or your bank login. They need statements and documents, and they can get IRS records through a proper authorization.
If anyone asks for your login credentials to "handle it for you," decline. The IRS's 2026 Dirty Dozen list specifically warns about people posing as helpers to get access to taxpayers' online accounts.
Protect what you bring
Share sensitive documents only with a professional you have chosen and verified, through a secure method. Do not email tax documents to someone who cold-called you. The IRS's 2026 Dirty Dozen list warns about criminals who pose as helpers and about phishing aimed at taxpayers and tax professionals alike.