What is the Practitioner Priority Service? The IRS states the following:

Practitioner Priority Service—your first point of contact

Practitioner Priority Service—your first point of contact for account-related issues.
Our Practitioner Priority Service is a professional support line (1.866.860.4259) staffed by IRS customer service representatives specially trained to handle practitioners’ accounts questions.

Practitioner Priority Service is a toll-free, accounts-related service for all tax practitioners, nationwide.  It is the practitioners’ first point of contact for assistance regarding taxpayers’ account-related issues.  The hours of service are weekdays, 8:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m. your local time (Alaska and Hawaii follow Pacific Time).

Questions regarding client's individual tax accounts (IMF) are handled by one of three campus sites:  Brookhaven, NY; Memphis, TN; and Philadelphia, PA. Questions regarding client's business accounts (BMF) are handled by two campus sites:  Cincinnati, OH and Ogden, UT.  Calls are routed based on an evaluation of the lowest expected wait time.  Issues outside the scope of the employees’ authority are transferred or referred to the appropriate IRS functions.

Most of my contacts with the "Practitioner Priority Service" is to retrieve record(s) information about my clients. If my client is a non-filer I need to know what the IRS knows about who filed what and how much on my client on any year. If my client owes taxes, I need to know how much and for what years. I also need to know if my client is in full compliance. By that I mean that they are current with all their filings. Also, if my client's case has been assigned to a Revenue Officer, i need to know what office and the phone number.

Make sure you have a valid signed Power of Attorney, Form 2848, or Form 8821. You will need to fax that to them in order for them to release information to you.

To find income information (w-2s, 1099s, and so on) ask for a "Wage & Income Transcript". This transcript will be faxed to you within twenty-four hours or mailed to you within 10 days. This transcript will also include mortgage interest paid. Any form that is filed by anyone on anyone is included within this transcript. Most of the time I order these transcript to file unfiled returns for my clients. I want to know what the IRS knows!

To analyze a filed return, ask for an "Account Summary Transcript" AKA "Record of Account". I've had clients tell me that they have paid all taxes owed on a particular year. If that is the case, the transcript will include the filing date, the assessment date, any interest charged, any penalties applied, any payments received, and so on. Also, if a tax owed is more than three years old, after the filing of the return, it could be dischargeable in bankruptcy. Consult a bankruptcy attorney on this issue or submit an Offer in Compromise.

Furthermore, if I am preparing an Offer in Compromise for a client, or establishing a monthly payment plan, I need to know if he/she is in full compliance. Are all returns filed? I also need to know the amount of the liabilities and for what years.

I will also contact them to find out if there are any Substitute for Returns filed by the service and for what years. If that is the case, I will inform my client and order the wage and income transcripts so we may file the returns.

Note: There is a three year Statute of limitation to audit a tax return after it has been filed or six years if there was an understatement of income of 25% or greater. A ten year statute to collect on taxes owed. And, no statute on an unfiled return or a fraudulent one!

To learn more about the Statute of Limitations, Click here!