legal advice

I know that many people wonder whether they should make their own offer in compromise to the IRS or whether they should hire a tax professional to prepare the offer in compromise and advocate on their behalf before the Internal Revenue Service. Here's my advice, but remember, I am an attorney focusing my practice in the area of helping people with their tax problems.
This is a question that I am often asked. I think there are several reasons for the question; not the least of which is because hiring an attorney to assist you is not an inexpensive task. Another reason people probably try to handle their own offer in compromise cases is because you don't really have to admit there is a problem until you have to go outside of your comfort zone, admit that there is a tax problem, and then hire an attorney to assist you.
I always advise my clients when they ask that they have the right to apply to the IRS for an offer in compromise themselves. They can go to their local IRS office and pick up the forms or download them from IRS.gov. On the surface, filling out the forms such as the 433-A, and the 656 are not that difficult. However, if you don't know what standards the IRS has for allowable expenses, or you forget about an asset that you have but haven't seen in a while, you may be setting yourself up with unrealistic expectations and failure. Knowing what the IRS is looking for and what they are going to allow is one of the things your tax professional should know, and your tax professional should be able to help remind you of all of your assets and expenses.
The next thing you have to think about is you are going to be in direct contact with someone who is hired by the IRS to examine your offer in compromise and determine whether you actually qualify. They will be asking a lot of personal financial questions, you may be providing a lot of medical records to prove medical expenses, and you may just get extremely frustrated and mad at the whole process. This is where having a tax professional on your side comes in. While they are fighting for you and working hard advocating for your interest, they do not have a personal connection to the liability and they can separate themselves from the IRS demands. Then your tax professional can communicate with you in a manner that does not persecute you or make you feel like a liar or criminal.
Often times, the original offer in compromise is rejected by the offer specialist and an appeal is necessary. The appeal process is not as clear as the original application process. There are strict timelines in providing the information (both on appeal and in the original review), but once you lose out on the appeal, you will be starting all over again. Knowing the laws surrounding the IRS and the Offer in Compromise program, your tax professional will be able to make much stronger arguments than just, "my house payment is more than the IRS allowed."
So, in short, my answer to the question, "Should I make my own offer in compromise" is NO. You should definitely hire a qualified tax professional to assist you in the preparation of your offer in compromise. However, I know, no matter what anyone says, some people just want to handle their own affairs.