IRS tax problems are not pleasant and only get worse as time progresses.
You want to settle your tax debts quickly.
In order to do so make sure and hire a certified, licensed tax professional who knows what he is doing.
The last thing you want when trying to resolve your tax problems is someone to rip you off and not provide you with any solutions to your tax problems.
In this article we will discuss what to look for in a tax relief professional.
When looking to hire a tax relief professional look for the following:

1. Make sure the individual (not the firm) is certified.
   This means you need to deal with a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Attorney or Enrolled Agent (EA).
   The reason you want to hire one of these tax professionals is that a) the IRS requires your tax relief specialist to be one of these to represent you and b) these tax professionals answer to a "higher authority".
   
2. Check the individual tax relief specialists reputation.
   Check the state board of public accountancy (CPAs), state bar association (attorneys) or the IRS (EAs) to see if any complaints have been filed against the tax professional you are considering.
   Make sure your tax resolution expert does not have a history of repeated violations.
   
3. Make sure the tax resolution specialist has lots of experience practicing before the IRS.
   Just because someone is a CPA, Attorney or EA does not automatically mean they know what they are doing.
   Make sure your professional has at least five years of experience helping folks solve their tax problems.
   The reason I say five years is that it is said it takes someone 10,000 hours to master a trade.
   Assuming you work 2,000 per year in your trade that means it would take a tax professional five years to master the trade of tax resolution and IRS tax help.
   Five years is a bare minimum.
   I would prefer 8 or more years of experience in IRS representation - five is a bare minimum.
   You want an old crusty professional to provide you with tax resolution services - not someone freshly out of school.
   
4. Make sure your professional focuses solely on tax relief services.
   Much like a doctor who specializes, when you need IRS tax help you want to hire someone whose sole focus is IRS representation.
   You could hire your local CPA or Attorney but she most likely wears many other hats and does not specialize solely in tax resolution services and helping with IRS tax problems.
   Not that this person is bad in any respect - it's just that IRS representation is very specialized and needs to be handled by a trained tax professional.
   

Before you pay for tax resolution services, make sure you speak with the INDIVIDUAL who will provide you with IRS tax help.
Make sure your personalities work well together.
Ask the tax resolution services company representative who you will work with throughout the process.
These are some basic criteria to use when selecting a tax resolution specialists to help resolve your tax problems.