Seven Tips to Help Your Clients Negotiate with the IRS
April 17, 2011 12:00 AM
7. Do Not Look for Closure
7. Do Not Look for Closure
If your clients starts thinking about the solution to this problem or the way out, they will no longer be listening, taking notes, and remain in the present. Your client needs to stay focused on the agent's language, and on getting him or her to talk and reveal the position of the IRS regarding your specific situation.
6. Never Make a Promise or Agree to a Compromise at the Start
6. Never Make a Promise or Agree to a Compromise at the Start
The IRS wants your client to commit to a plan from the get-go. Instead, your client should force the IRS to commit to a plan, one that serves their interests, which is to serve your clients interest. Save all agreements for the end.
5. Shut Up and Take Notes
5. Shut Up and Take Notes
The agent will want your client to spill the beans. Instruct them to try to answer all questions with questions of their own, ones that start with interrogatives such as What, Why, or How. This way, your client can steer the dialogue and find out more about their options.
4. Keep the Needs of the IRS in Mind
4. Keep the Needs of the IRS in Mind
You heard me right. If the IRS didn't need cooperation, this agent wouldn't be talking to talking to your client. Instead of your client thinking about what they can get out of this deal, they need to reframe their objectives in terms of how they might help the IRS fulfill their needs. For example, your clients mission and purpose might be to work out a payment plan that best assures the IRS will get paid in a timely manner.
3. Be a Blank Slate
3. Be a Blank Slate
The key to success is emotional control. Emotions such as fear, anger, and neediness are deal-killers. Tell your clients to get into a calm state in which they are fully in the present and unconcerned. Don't allow them to look back with remorse at how they got into this situation; don't let them look forward with hope or dread. Instruct them to keep their voice low and their talking speed slow.
2. Schedule Face Time
2. Schedule Face Time
When your client calls the IRS, tell them not to talk to the first agent who comes on the line. They need to make an appointment to meet with an agent, face to face, in their area. Instruct them not to answer questions over the phone. Talking in person gives your client an advantage.
1. Do the Homework
1. Do the Homework
Tell your client to gather every bit of information that might be relevant to their situation. They need to spend time on the internet, including the IRS website, to find strategies, precedents, and tips. They need to understand their rights and obligations and be sure to compile careful notes.
Seven Tips to Help Your Clients Negotiate with the IRS
Seven Tips to Help Your Clients Negotiate with the IRS
With the federal tax deadline upon us, Jim Camp of Camp Negotiating Systems spoke to us about what individuals need to do when they find themselves at odds with the IRS. Maybe they failed to file a return last year, or maybe they lost their job or had a health problem that drained their savings and now you're worried they won't be able to pay their taxes in full.
Don't despair. The IRS has set up a number of channels for people to pay what they can, when they can. But individuals can improve their chances of getting a better deal for themselves by following seven simple tips.
