What to bring a CPA when the IRS sends a notice

Most IRS notices are a matching problem or a balance due, not an audit. The letter still has a date, a tax year, and a response window. Treat those three facts as the assignment. A CPA, enrolled agent, or attorney can represent you. A preparer who only puts numbers on a return may not be able to talk to the IRS for you.

Read the notice before you call

Look for the notice number, the tax year, the amount, and the response date. Keep every page, including the blank-looking ones. The IRS often describes a specific form or income item. That description is more useful than a summary you write from memory.

Do not send a stack of original documents to a general IRS address because the letter felt urgent. The notice says where a response goes. If a deadline is inside two weeks, say that in the first sentence when you contact a CPA. Scope follows the calendar.

What to put in the folder

Bring the notice, the return for that year, and the documents behind the line the letter mentions. If the letter is about a missing 1099, bring the 1099 and the return page where you think it was reported. If it is a balance due, bring any payments you already made and the confirmation numbers.

If you already wrote to the IRS, bring that letter and the proof of mailing. A representative who does not know what you sent will duplicate it or contradict it.

A power of attorney, Form 2848, is what lets the CPA speak to the IRS. Ask whether the person in the meeting will be the one named on that form. Representation that is transferred to a different office after you leave is a different product than the one you thought you bought.

Notices, exams, and balances are not the same engagement

A CP2000-style matching letter proposes a change because a form did not line up with the return. The response is usually a explanation and, if the IRS is right, an agreement. An audit asks for evidence on issues the IRS chose. A balance-due case may be a payment plan, a penalty request, or a harder collection problem.

Ask the CPA which of those they are taking. Ask what they will do before the deadline printed on your letter, and what they will not promise. Nobody honest can guarantee a penalty will be removed. They can say whether the facts you described are the kind the IRS has accepted before.

What you should not do

Do not ignore the notice because a friend said the IRS letters are automatic. Some are. The ones with a hearing or a levy are not. Do not pay a balance you dispute just to make the letter stop, unless a CPA has told you the payment does not give up the argument you still want to make. And do not email Social Security numbers and full returns to a directory through a short contact form. Hire the person, then use the secure method they give you.

If you are looking for help, filter for IRS representation rather than a general tax-prep listing. Preparation and representation overlap, and they are still different promises.