IRS tax relief company checks

IRS tax relief companies are not all the same. Before you hand over a fee or a Form 2848, check the credential, the written fee, and whether anyone looked at your income. This page does not rank firms, including a partner that calls you from this site.

Do you need a company at all?

Not always. You can set up a payment plan yourself at IRS.gov, and individuals can apply for an offer in compromise through their IRS online account. The IRS offer page links to a Pre-Qualifier tool that checks eligibility, and the IRS 2026 Dirty Dozen list says taxpayers can check eligibility using IRS tools that do not charge a fee to avoid high-pressure sales tactics.

If your income is low, a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic may represent you at no charge or for a small fee, including on collection matters and appeals.

Paying for help can make sense when the balance is over the IRS online limits, returns are missing, a final levy notice has arrived, or you'd rather not deal with the IRS yourself. What to do when you owe the IRS and can't pay covers what you can do on your own first.

Who can represent you

Anyone with an IRS preparer tax identification number, or PTIN, can prepare a tax return for pay. Representing you before the IRS is a different permission. The IRS page on preparer credentials sorts it this way:

Credential	Who licenses it	Can represent you on a collection issue
Enrolled agent	The IRS	Yes, on any matter, including collection and appeals
Certified public accountant	A state board of accountancy	Yes, on any matter
Attorney	A state court or bar	Yes, on any matter
Annual Filing Season Program participant	A voluntary IRS program, not a license	No. Only for returns they prepared, and never on collection or appeals
PTIN holder with no credential	No license	No

You give a representative authority with Form 2848, and the person named must be eligible to practice before the IRS. A student at a qualified Low Income Taxpayer Clinic can also represent you under a special authorization from the Taxpayer Advocate Service.

How to check a credential

Ask for the full name of the person who would represent you and the credential they hold. The person on the phone may be a salesperson. The name that goes on your Form 2848 is the one to check.

• The IRS keeps a public Directory of Federal Tax Return Preparers with Credentials and Select Qualifications. It lists attorneys, CPAs, and enrolled agents who have a valid PTIN, plus Annual Filing Season Program participants, and it's linked from the IRS page on choosing a tax professional.
• A CPA license comes from a state board of accountancy, so that state's board can confirm it.
• An attorney is licensed by a state court or bar, so check with the bar in the state they name.

Questions to ask before you sign

Ask these on the first call, and ask for the answers in writing.

• Who exactly will represent me, and what credential do they hold?
• Will that person sign a Form 2848 for my case, and when?
• What is the total fee, and what does it cover?
• Is the fee due all at once, in stages, or monthly?
• What happens to the fee if I don't qualify for the option you recommend?
• Which IRS option do you think fits me, and what did you look at to decide?
• Do you need my income, expenses, and assets before you recommend anything?
• Will you check that all my required returns are filed?
• Will I get copies of everything you send to the IRS for me?
• How will you keep me updated, and how often?

Red flags

Most of these come from IRS warnings. Any one of them is a reason to slow down.

• A promise that you'll qualify for an offer, or a settlement amount, before anyone has looked at your income, expenses, and assets. The IRS decides every offer, and its 2026 Dirty Dozen list warns that "OIC mills" often overpromise results.
• High fees for an offer you may not qualify for. The same IRS warning says OIC mills charge high fees to taxpayers who don't qualify.
• Pressure to sign or pay today. The IRS points people to tools that do not charge a fee, so they can skip high-pressure sales tactics.
• No name for your representative, or a credential they won't let you check.
• Advice to stop opening or answering IRS letters. The IRS says not to ignore billing notices, and to contact it right away about a final levy notice.
• Telling you that missing returns can wait. The IRS requires filed returns before it will consider an offer or a payment plan.
• A caller who claims to be the IRS, or a firm whose name and logo are made to look like a government agency. The IRS says to hang up on a suspicious IRS-related call.

A worksheet for comparing firms

If you talk to more than one firm, write their answers side by side. Print this page or copy the table.

Where a call from our partner fits

If you ask for a call on this site, a partner tax-relief firm contacts you. Use the same questions and the same worksheet with that firm. Asking is free. It does not hire anyone, and you can say no after you talk. The ownership page and the partner disclosure explain how the introduction works.

If you're comparing IRS options before you call anyone, how long an offer in compromise takes and the IRS payment plan fees are good places to start.