I Hired a Tax Relief Company — Why Am I Still Getting IRS Notices?

Why IRS notices continue after hiring help

The IRS sends notices based on the status of your account in IRS records. If your account shows unfiled returns, unpaid balances, or unresolved enforcement actions, the IRS will continue sending notices regardless of whether you hired someone to address those issues.

Hiring a company does not stop IRS enforcement. The IRS does not recognize engagement agreements, payment plans with third-party companies, or promises made by tax relief firms. The IRS only recognizes actions that are completed and recorded in its systems.

If you continue receiving IRS notices after hiring a tax relief company, it means one of the following:

• The company has not yet completed the work it was hired to do
• The company completed work, but that work was not submitted to or accepted by the IRS
• The company did not perform the work it claimed to have completed
• The work performed did not resolve the issues triggering IRS notices

What IRS records show versus what was promised

Tax relief companies often promise to "stop IRS collections," "file missing returns," or "resolve tax debt." But the IRS determines compliance based on what is documented in IRS records—not based on what a company promises or claims to have done.

What IRS records actually show:

• Account Transcript: Shows what returns the IRS received, filing dates, payment dates, and current balance owed
• Wage and Income Transcript: Shows income reported to the IRS by third parties (employers, investment firms, etc.)
• Record of Account: Shows complete account history including notices sent, enforcement actions, and current account status
• Notice history: Shows what notices were sent and when, indicating ongoing IRS enforcement posture

If a tax relief company claimed to file returns but your IRS Account Transcript shows no record of filing for those years, the returns were not submitted. If the company claimed to resolve a balance but your transcript still shows the full amount owed, the issue was not resolved.

Common reasons work is not reflected in IRS records

Even when a tax relief company was hired and paid, work may not be reflected in IRS records for several reasons:

1. Returns were prepared but never submitted

The company may have prepared tax returns but never filed them with the IRS. Completion of a return is not the same as filing. If the return was not electronically transmitted or mailed to the IRS, it does not exist in IRS records.

2. Returns were submitted but rejected by the IRS

The IRS rejects returns for various reasons: incorrect taxpayer identification, incomplete information, or missing required forms. If a return is rejected and not corrected and resubmitted, it is not considered filed by the IRS.

3. Payments were made but not properly applied

Payments sent to the IRS must include correct tax year, taxpayer identification, and type of tax. If payment information is incomplete or incorrect, the IRS may not apply the payment to your account. The payment may have been received by the IRS but not credited to the correct year or tax type.

4. Work was claimed but never performed

Some tax relief companies take payment and claim to be working on a case but never actually complete the work. This is not uncommon in the tax relief industry. If months pass with no change in IRS notices or account status, this is a strong indicator that work was not performed.

5. Company lost contact or stopped responding

Tax relief companies sometimes go out of business, stop responding to clients, or abandon cases mid-process. When this happens, work that was started may not be completed or submitted to the IRS.

How to verify what was actually completed

The only reliable way to determine what work was completed is to obtain official IRS records and compare them to what the company claimed to have done.

Steps to verify:

1. Request your IRS Account Transcript using Form 4506-T or through your IRS online account. This shows what returns the IRS received and processed.
2. Request your Wage and Income Transcript for the years in question. This shows what income the IRS has on file and whether it matches what should have been reported.
3. Compare IRS records to what the company claimed. If the company said it filed 2020, 2021, and 2022 returns, check whether those years show as filed on your Account Transcript.
4. Review recent IRS notices. IRS notices reference specific issues in your account. If notices continue after the company claimed to resolve issues, the issues were not resolved.
5. Request documentation from the company. Ask for proof that returns were filed (IRS confirmation letters, e-file acknowledgments) or that payments were applied (IRS payment receipts).

If the company cannot provide IRS-issued documentation confirming the work was completed and accepted, and your IRS transcripts do not show the work, the work was not performed.

What continuing notices indicate

IRS notices follow predictable patterns based on account status. If you continue receiving notices after hiring a company, the notice type indicates what the IRS still considers unresolved.

Common notice patterns:

• CP501, CP503, CP504 (Balance Due Notices): Indicate the IRS shows an unpaid balance. If these continue after a company claimed to set up a payment plan or reduce the balance, the work was not completed.
• CP2000 (Underreporter Inquiry): Indicates the IRS has income records that do not match what was reported on your return. If these continue after a company claimed to file corrected returns, the corrected returns were not filed or not accepted.
• LT11, LT1058 (Intent to Levy): Indicate the IRS is preparing to seize assets or levy accounts. These notices only appear when the IRS shows serious enforcement action. If these arrive after hiring a company, nothing was resolved.
• CP59, CP516 (Unfiled Return Notices): Indicate the IRS has no record of a required return being filed. If these continue after a company claimed to file those returns, the returns were not submitted.

Continuing IRS notices are objective evidence that your account status has not changed. The IRS does not send notices in error or as a mistake—notices are generated based on specific triggers in your account.

Examples of post-service IRS notice patterns

These examples show how IRS notice patterns reveal when professional work was not completed:

Example 1: Claimed filing, no change in IRS records

Example 2: Claimed payment arrangement, levy notice issued

Example 3: Claimed resolution, same notices continue