07/13/2026
“I would like to retain representation.”
This has to be the most underutilized tool in the toolbox. For some reason, taxpayers and preparers who find themselves in an uncomfortable meeting with the IRS are often afraid to simply exercise their rights. They think asking for representation somehow makes them look guilty. It doesn’t! The IRM instructs the examiner to suspend the interview if the taxpayer states they want to consult with an authorized representative. The taxpayer must be given a minimum of 10 business days to obtain representation. Sometimes all it takes are six simple words:
“I would like to retain representation.”
Those six words immediately change the dynamic of the interview. They give you time to slow things down, understand what’s really being asked, gather documents, develop a strategy, and avoid making statements that may be incomplete or misunderstood. Most importantly, it gives you time to get representation. With everything going on at the IRS—employees being reassigned, staffing shortages, changing priorities, and organizational changes—a legitimate 10-business-day pause can sometimes result in a very different case when the interview resumes. “If” it resumes. You never know what can happen during that time. The point isn’t to delay for the sake of delaying.
The point is to exercise a right that Congress and the IRS recognize: the right to obtain qualified representation before continuing an IRS interview.
