More than ever, Americans are having problems with back taxes. With the increasing complexity of tax laws every year more individuals are running into issues with the IRS. Many times it can be very difficult to take on the IRS on your own and with the complexity of many issues it is a good idea to hire a tax professional to handle those complex issues.

Many people feel like if they hire a tax professional to represent them to the IRS it will look like they are trying to hide something or they are guilty. The fact is that the IRS would actually rather deal with a tax professional because it makes their job much because they get to deal with someone whom is very familiar with the whole process. In the taxpayer's bill of rights, an individual may have a tax professional represent them for any IRS situation.

There are three different types of tax professionals and between the three of them, they can help with just about every IRS issue individuals may have. The three types of tax professionals that can help are tax attorneys, enrolled agents, and CPAs (certified public accountants). All three basically do about the same thing, but some are better than others for specific problems. A tax attorney can be better for complex tax law problems that require court appearances, a CPA can be better at handling IRS audit issues, and an enrolled agent can help with just about all problems but can't represent you in tax court.

There are many ways to go about finding a good tax professional to help you. Below is a short list of places to find help:

1. Your tax preparer - They are typically a good resource to get some names of professionals that can help in your state.
2. Advertising - Tax professionals advertise everywhere, the easiest place to find them is through online advertising. Typically you can just type your tax problem into your favorite search engine and you will see tax professionals advertising for that keyword that can help you.
3. Local Bar Associations - Your local bar association will be able to give out names of local tax attorneys that can practice in your state
4. National Association of Enrolled Agents - You can find enrolled agents by contacting the national association of enrolled agents by calling 800-424-4339.
5. State or Local CPA Society - To find a CPA that can help with your issue you can contact your state or local CPA society to get names and numbers of CPAs.

It is always good to talk to multiple tax professionals before deciding which one you are finally going to go with to help you with your tax problem. Most tax professionals will offer a free consultation in order to understand your problem and to see if they can help. With this free consultation you will be able to receive free advice and get a good understanding of your likely outcomes and what it will cost to hire a professional to help you. Most of the time there different ways of handling tax issues and each tax professional you will talk to will have different ways of handling your tax issue. Listen to all the tax professionals you talk with and then make a decision based on experience, confidence, aggressiveness, and trust.