7.3 Using Tax Transcripts

• Jurisdiction: United States

7.3 SEVEN STEPS

Some tax discharge cases are relatively simple and may require very little beyond the client interview and perhaps obtaining the simple literal transcript to verify dates.

However, many cases have problems, puzzles, anomalies and inconsistencies that require a more thorough investigation into the client's tax history.

For such cases a consistent, step-by-step approach should probably be employed to conduct the investigation. The author arranges these steps in the following order:

1. Conduct extensive client interview⁴⁵², using checklists;

2. Call to IRS Hotline in emergency; cases to verify critical dates but see dangers of relying on telephonic statements from tax...