Tax Attorney and CPA Serving Chicago, Cook County and the Southwest Suburbs

The table compares the three endings people ask about most. Full payment, a partial-payment plan and bankruptcy are the other three; the tax debt relief page covers all six and the collection notices that start the clock. If the letter is an audit notice or a CP2000, the answer is evidence rather than a payment plan; see IRS audit representation. If the problem is years that were never filed, nothing else can start until they are; see unfiled tax returns.

The first document in almost every matter is IRS Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative. It names the representative, lists the tax forms (1040, 941, and so on) and the years covered. Once processed it does three things: the IRS sends the firm copies of your notices, the IRS employee assigned to your case deals with the firm, and the firm can pull your account and wage-and-income transcripts directly. Only an attorney, a CPA, an enrolled agent or one of a few other eligible persons may be named.

Illinois uses Form IL-2848 for the same purpose with the Department of Revenue; it is submitted through MyTax Illinois. If both agencies are involved, both forms are signed at the first meeting.

A related form, IRS Form 8821, only authorizes the release of information. It does not let anyone speak for you, which is why it is not a substitute.

• Assessment window

  The IRS generally has three years from the date a return is filed to assess more tax, six years if more than 25 percent of gross income was left off, and no limit for a fraudulent return or a year with no return. 26 U.S.C. 6501

• Collection window

  The IRS has ten years from the date of assessment to collect; the expiration date for each year is on your account transcript, and a pending installment request, offer or hearing pauses the clock. 26 U.S.C. 6502

• Before a levy

  The IRS must send a final notice of intent to levy at least 30 days before it takes wages or a bank balance, and you have 30 days from that notice to request a Collection Due Process hearing. 26 U.S.C. 6330; 26 U.S.C. 6331

• Notice of deficiency

  You have 90 days from the date on a statutory notice of deficiency (150 days if it is addressed outside the United States) to petition the U.S. Tax Court; after that the tax is assessed. 26 U.S.C. 6213

• Refund window

  A refund must be claimed within three years of filing the return or two years of paying the tax, whichever is later, so a return filed late recovers withholding only if it arrives within about three years of its due date. 26 U.S.C. 6511

• Offers in compromise

  The IRS may settle a tax debt for less than the balance; it does so when the amount offered matches what it could collect from your assets and future income before the collection window closes. 26 U.S.C. 7122

• Passports

  A seriously delinquent tax debt, more than $66,000 in 2026 and adjusted yearly, is reported to the State Department, which may deny a new passport or revoke an existing one. 26 U.S.C. 7345

• Illinois protest deadline

  You have 60 days from the date on an Illinois notice of deficiency or notice of tax liability to protest or to petition the Tax Tribunal; after that the amount is final. 35 ILCS 5/908; 35 ILCS 120/4

• Illinois Independent Tax Tribunal

  When the tax in dispute for a year or audit period is more than $15,000, excluding penalties and interest, the case goes to the Tribunal rather than the Department's own hearings. 35 ILCS 1010/1-45

• Federal changes

  An IRS adjustment to your federal return must be reported to the Illinois Department of Revenue within 120 days of becoming final. 35 ILCS 5/506

• Trust taxes and personal liability

  An officer or employee responsible for filing and paying sales tax or withholding who willfully fails to do so is personally liable for the whole unpaid amount. 35 ILCS 735/3-7

• Deadlines on a weekend

  A federal deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday rolls to the next business day, and Illinois counts the same way. 26 U.S.C. 7503; 5 ILCS 70/1.11

The Illinois procedure, including the Independent Tax Tribunal, the Department's payment plans and its collection tools, is on the Illinois Department of Revenue page; the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights Act (20 ILCS 2520) requires the Department to send a statement of your rights with every protestable notice, and our article on the Department's audit powers explains where its authority comes from. Cook County property tax is appealed on a separate calendar by the firm's sister company, Cook County Tax Appeals LLC; see the property tax appeal page. The same client often has all three at once: an IRS balance, an Illinois balance that followed from the federal change, and a home whose assessment went up. One office can see the whole picture.

The full list: Palos Heights, Palos Park, Palos Hills, Orland Park, Orland Hills, Tinley Park, Oak Lawn, Oak Forest, Frankfort, Mokena, Homer Glen, Lemont, Evergreen Park, Burbank, Bridgeview, Hickory Hills, Chicago Ridge, Worth, Alsip and Crestwood, together with Chicago and especially the Southwest Side. In-person meetings take place at the Palos Heights office; most of the work with the agency happens by phone, secure document exchange and correspondence, so distance from the office rarely matters. If you have a letter with a date on it, the first step is the phone call described above: (708) 722-2222.