How Much Does Tax Resolution Cost?
Tax resolution has no public fee menu — the honest answer to "what does it cost" is that it depends on the facts, and any firm quoting blind is guessing. Engagements here start with a free consultation, continue to a written plan with a fixed quote, and never bill hourly against a meter you cannot see.
The clock: No hourly meter: engagements here are quoted as a fixed fee in writing before work begins. The consultation is free, the Guide is $299, the Live Hour is $300. Everything else is scoped from the facts below — never from fear.
Do this, in order
- Step 1. Start the free consultation — the file gets read: notices, transcripts, years unfiled, collection posture. No obligation, no verbal estimate that drifts.
- Step 2. Get a written plan — the resolution paths ranked for your facts, with the deadlines mapped and the DIY-able parts labeled as DIY.
- Step 3. Get a fixed quote attached to the plan — scoped to the work, in writing, before anything is signed. The fee reflects complexity, not fear.
- Step 4. If the case is straightforward, the $299 Guide is often the whole map — many readers finish the next step themselves, and that is a good outcome.
Straight answers
Why won't firms publish a fee menu?
Because tax resolution spans a single letter and a multi-year levy fight, and a menu price is either a lie or a loss. Honest firms quote from transcripts and facts; firms quoting blind are either guessing or baiting. The consultation exists to replace the guess with a number.
What drives the fee up or down?
Years unfiled, balance size, levy posture (ACS versus Revenue Officer), appeal rights in play, and penalty dollars at stake. A single-year streamlined agreement and a six-year levy defense are different planets — the written plan prices the planet you are on.
What will I pay before I know the fee?
Nothing. The consultation is free, the written plan carries the fixed quote, and representation starts only when you sign. The $299 Guide and $300 Live Hour are the only fixed-price doors, and neither is required first.
When does representation pay for itself?
When the dollars at stake exceed the fee by multiples: penalties abated, levies stopped inside the window, an offer accepted below balance, a lien subordinated for a sale. The written plan shows the arithmetic before you pay — if it does not pencil, the plan says so.
Where this sits in the machine
This guide belongs to the representation stage — read How IRS Representation Actually Works for the map.
What representation changes
The quote disciplines both sides: you know the price before authorizing a dollar, and the practice commits to the scope in writing. No hourly meter, no surprise tranches — the written plan is the contract's conscience.