Appeals & Tax Court

Appeals & Tax Court

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After the examination has completed and you have been presented with the results of the examination, you have the right to protest it, or file an appeal, depending on the stages which you are at. An appeal will typically be reviewed by the examining unit to see if corrections can be made before it goes on to the Appeals Division.

If you have obtained information that was not available during the examination you can present it for the protest. If it becomes available after the protest period you can present it during the appeal.

For detailed instructions on filing an appeal for individuals and self-employed click here.

The Audit Recon
Another option that is available is the Audit Reconsideration. If all the protest and appeals periods have expired, you can still request an Audit Reconsideration as long as there is still a balance owed on the period, you haven't paid it off yet. See IRS publication 3598 here.

Tax Court
If you still lose in Appeals, or only get a small concession, and you feel you have a strong case and evidence to support it, you can take your case to Tax Court. Actually about 90% of cases get resolved at 'the back door' of tax court when Appeals tries to settle it with you. This is to save government resources and backlogs of tax court. You can find more information at the Tax Court web site. You can represent yourself or hire someone who is admitted to practice before the Tax Court. It doesn't have to be an attorney. Several tax professionals are admitted to practice before the Tax Court.

Do You Need Professional Help?

You have the right to Representation!

You do not have to deal with the IRS alone, or at all! You can be represented by an Enrolled Agent (EA), CPA or an Attorney.

When you meet with the IRS without a Representative and you feel you need help, you can request to
delay the meeting until you can obtain a Representative. Generally they will give you up to 30 days.

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