IRS Appeals Attorney in South Carolina

If you disagree with an IRS audit result, a penalty, or a collection action, you can usually take the case to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals before going to court. South Carolina Tax Law Firm PA represents individuals and businesses across South Carolina in IRS appeals, from the written protest through the Appeals conference and, if the case does not resolve, the U.S. Tax Court. We confirm your deadline, prepare the protest, and present the facts and the law to an Appeals Officer who did not work on your audit.

Call (803) 753-7376 or request a consultation. Have the IRS letter in front of you, including the letter number and the date it was issued. Appeal deadlines are short and run from that date.

What IRS Appeals is and why it matters

The IRS Independent Office of Appeals is a separate part of the IRS whose job is to resolve tax disputes without litigation. Congress made its independence part of the tax code in 2019 (IRC 7803(e)). Appeals Officers are not the examiners or collection employees who made the original decision, and they are limited in how they can communicate with those employees about your case without you or your representative having the chance to take part.

The biggest practical difference is that Appeals can weigh the hazards of litigation. An examiner generally applies the IRS position as written. An Appeals Officer can consider how a court would likely decide the issue and resolve a case on that basis. Appeals also generally does not raise new issues the examiner did not raise. For many taxpayers, Appeals is the most efficient place to resolve a federal tax dispute, and it costs less than going to court.

IRS decisions you can appeal

Appeals hears more than audit disputes. The most common cases we handle include:

• Audit results (30-day letter). Proposed changes from a correspondence, office, or field audit.
• Collection Due Process (CDP) hearings. A hearing on a notice of intent to levy or a notice of federal tax lien filing, requested on Form 12153. A CDP hearing can address collection alternatives such as an installment agreement or offer in compromise, and in some cases the underlying tax.
• Collection Appeals Program (CAP). A faster review of a levy, lien, seizure, or a rejected, modified, or terminated installment agreement, usually requested on Form 9423.
• Penalty denials. A refusal to remove failure-to-file, failure-to-pay, accuracy-related, or information return penalties.
• Offer in compromise rejections. A rejected offer can be appealed on Form 13711.
• Trust fund recovery penalty. A proposed personal assessment for unpaid payroll taxes of a business (Letter 1153).
• Innocent spouse and other relief denials. A preliminary determination denying relief from joint liability.
• Refund claim disallowances. A denial of a claim for refund or credit.

IRS appeal deadlines

• 30-day letter. You generally have 30 days from the date of the letter to request an Appeals conference after an audit. A formal written protest is required when the amount in dispute for any tax period is more than $25,000. Smaller cases from an office or correspondence audit can use a simpler small case request.
• Collection Due Process. The request must be made within 30 days of the date of the levy notice (Letter 1058 or LT11), or within the period stated on the lien filing notice (Letter 3172). A timely request generally pauses levy action and preserves the right to go to the U.S. Tax Court. A late request may still get an equivalent hearing within one year, but without those protections.
• Trust fund recovery penalty. 60 days from the date of Letter 1153 (75 days if the letter is addressed outside the United States).
• Offer in compromise. 30 days from the date of the rejection letter.
• Notice of deficiency (90-day letter). If the IRS issues a notice of deficiency instead of a 30-day letter, or after Appeals cannot resolve the case, you have 90 days to petition the U.S. Tax Court, or 150 days if the notice is addressed to you outside the United States. The Tax Court cannot extend this deadline.
• Assessment statute of limitations. Appeals needs time to work a case. The IRS may ask you to sign Form 872 to extend the assessment deadline before sending a case to Appeals. Get advice before signing, because the form can be limited to specific issues.

These are general rules, and exceptions apply. The deadline that controls is the one on your own letter. See IRS Publication 5 for the IRS’s own explanation of appeal rights and how to prepare a protest.

How we handle an IRS appeal, step by step

1. Confirm the deadline and the type of appeal. We identify the letter, the date it was issued, and the correct form or protest for your case.
2. File a power of attorney. With IRS Form 2848 on file, Appeals and the IRS contact us instead of you.
3. Get the file. We request your IRS account transcripts and the examiner’s file. Many individuals and smaller businesses have a right to see the nonprivileged case file at least 10 days before the Appeals conference.
4. Prepare the written protest. We state each adjustment you disagree with, the facts, and the law that supports your position, signed under penalties of perjury as the IRS requires.
5. Present the case at the conference. Appeals conferences are usually held by phone or video, and sometimes in person. We present the evidence and legal arguments and respond to the Appeals Officer’s questions.
6. Negotiate the resolution. If the case resolves, we review the settlement forms, such as Form 870-AD, before you sign.
7. Go to court if needed. If Appeals does not resolve the case, we petition the U.S. Tax Court after a notice of deficiency or after a CDP determination. Tax Court cases are usually sent back to Appeals for another chance at settlement before trial.
8. Address South Carolina. A federal change after an appeal usually affects your South Carolina return, so we plan for the state follow-up.

What makes a strong IRS protest

A protest is the document Appeals reads first, and it frames the whole case. A strong protest:

• Lists each proposed adjustment you disagree with, by tax year and amount
• States the facts clearly and attaches the records that prove them
• Cites the Internal Revenue Code, regulations, and court cases that support your position
• Identifies where the examiner misread the facts or applied the wrong rule
• Raises penalty defenses, such as reasonable cause or first-time abatement, separately from the tax issues

Issues and documents left out of the protest can still be raised later, but a complete protest at the start usually leads to a faster and more focused conference.

Other ways to resolve a dispute through Appeals

Depending on the case, Appeals also offers alternative dispute resolution programs. Fast Track Settlement lets some small business and self-employed taxpayers bring an Appeals mediator in while the audit is still open. Fast Track Mediation for collection can help resolve certain collection disputes. Post-Appeals mediation may be available when a case does not settle at the conference. We will tell you whether any of these fit your case.

IRS appeals and your South Carolina taxes

South Carolina income tax starts from federal taxable income, so the result of an IRS appeal usually changes your South Carolina tax too. South Carolina generally requires you to report a final federal change on an amended South Carolina return within 180 days. The South Carolina Department of Revenue has its own, separate appeal process: a written protest of a proposed assessment, then a Department determination, and then a contested case at the South Carolina Administrative Law Court. The firm handles both the federal and the state side.

Attorney experience

The firm is led by attorney Daniel P. Knudsen, who has represented taxpayers in tax controversies for more than 10 years, including litigation before the U.S. Tax Court. Before entering private practice, Daniel represented taxpayers before the IRS at a Low Income Taxpayer Clinic funded through the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service grant program, and worked in the Executive Division of a state department of revenue. That experience means a working knowledge of how examinations, appeals, and collection cases move through these agencies and which deadlines matter at each stage.

Daniel holds an LL.M. in Taxation and certificates in International Taxation and State and Local Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center, and completed the Tax Litigation Training Program, a professional certificate program, at Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Every appeal is handled by an attorney from the protest through final resolution.

IRS appeals help throughout South Carolina

Our office is in Spartanburg, and we represent IRS appeals clients throughout South Carolina, including Greenville, Columbia, Charleston, North Charleston, Mount Pleasant, and Rock Hill. Appeals conferences are usually held by phone or video, so you do not need to live near Spartanburg. When a case goes to court, the U.S. Tax Court holds trial sessions in Columbia.

IRS appeals questions

How long does an IRS appeal take?

It varies with the type of appeal and how complex the issues are. Collection Appeals Program cases often move within weeks. Audit appeals and Collection Due Process hearings commonly take several months to a year or more.

Do I have to pay the tax before I appeal?

No. You can appeal a proposed audit adjustment to IRS Appeals, and petition the U.S. Tax Court after a notice of deficiency, without paying the tax first. Interest continues to run on any amount that is finally owed, so in some cases a deposit to stop interest makes sense.

Can I appeal if I missed the 30-day deadline?

Often yes, in a different way. If the IRS has not yet issued a notice of deficiency, you may still be able to ask for Appeals consideration. Once a notice of deficiency is issued, the 90-day Tax Court deadline controls, and a petition can lead to the case being sent to Appeals. Missing that 90-day deadline closes the door to Tax Court for that notice.

Is IRS Appeals really independent?

Appeals is part of the IRS, but by law it operates separately from the examination and collection functions. Appeals Officers are limited in how they can discuss your case with the examiner without you or your representative having the chance to take part, and they can consider the hazards of litigation, which examiners generally do not.

What is the difference between IRS Appeals and the U.S. Tax Court?

IRS Appeals is an administrative review within the IRS. The U.S. Tax Court is a federal court independent of the IRS, where a judge decides the case if it does not settle. Cases involving $50,000 or less per year may qualify for the Tax Court’s simpler small tax case procedure.

Can I represent myself in an IRS appeal?

Yes. But the protest and the conference are where the record is built, and positions taken at Appeals can affect what happens in Tax Court. An attorney can prepare the protest, handle the conference, and keep the court option available.

Related tax controversy services

• IRS audit defense
• U.S. Tax Court litigation
• IRS penalty abatement
• IRS collections, levies, and liens
• Offer in compromise
• SCDOR appeals and the SC Administrative Law Court

Talk to a South Carolina IRS appeals attorney

If you received a 30-day letter, a levy or lien notice, or another IRS letter offering appeal rights, call (803) 753-7376 or request a consultation. Tell us the letter number, the tax years involved, and the date on the letter. Please don’t include confidential details in the contact form. Submitting it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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South Carolina Tax Law Firm PA is a private law firm and is not affiliated with the IRS, the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, the South Carolina Department of Revenue, or any government agency. Attorney responsible for this content: Daniel P. Knudsen, 405 S. Pine St., Suite F, Spartanburg, SC 29302. This page provides general information, not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts, and no particular outcome can be promised.

Reviewed by Daniel P. Knudsen, attorney, October 2026.