Tax relief is an industry with a genuine fraud problem, so the burden of proof belongs on the firm asking for your money. TaxWave and its professionals hold IRS Power of Attorney in all 50 states, Enrolled Agent licenses, and active IRS preparer registration.
Here is what each of those credentials actually authorizes — including the limits, which most firms leave out.
IRS Power of Attorney in All 50 States
IRS Form 2848 · Nationwide representation
IRS Form 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, is the authorization that lets a credentialed practitioner act for you before the IRS. Once it is filed and processed, the IRS is required to direct contact about the covered tax matters to your representative — which is why clients often stop fielding the calls and notices that made the problem feel urgent in the first place.
Because federal tax administration is national rather than state-by-state, our representation is not limited by where you live. There is no office you need to visit, no local firm you need to track down, and no state where we cannot represent you.
The limit: A Power of Attorney authorizes representation only. It never authorizes anyone to receive your refund or move your money.
Licensed Enrolled Agents
Federally licensed · Admitted to practice before the IRS
An Enrolled Agent is licensed by the U.S. Treasury Department rather than by a state, after passing all three parts of the Special Enrollment Examination and clearing an IRS suitability and background check. It is the highest credential the IRS awards to tax practitioners.
Enrolled Agents hold unlimited practice rights: any taxpayer, any tax matter, any division of the IRS, in any state. Tax representation is the credential's entire subject matter — not a specialty bolted onto another profession.
The limit: Enrolled Agents are not attorneys, so communications with an EA do not carry attorney-client privilege the way communications with a tax attorney can.
What an Enrolled Agent can do for you →
IRS-Registered Tax Preparers
Preparer Tax Identification Number · Renewed annually
The IRS requires anyone who prepares federal tax returns for compensation to register for a Preparer Tax Identification Number and to renew it every year. Our preparers hold current PTINs.
That matters more than it sounds in tax resolution, because most IRS programs require you to be caught up on filing before the IRS will even consider them. Returns and representation happen under one roof here, so getting compliant and negotiating your balance are not two separate engagements with two separate firms.
The limit: A PTIN on its own is a registration, not a credential — it does not by itself grant the right to represent you before the IRS. That is what the Enrolled Agent license above is for.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, and you should be skeptical of any firm that implies otherwise. A credential means an individual practitioner met the licensing requirements and is authorized to practice before the IRS. The IRS does not endorse, recommend, sponsor, or partner with any tax relief company, and no legitimate firm will claim that it does.
A credentialed professional. Many tax relief companies route the real casework to non-credentialed staff while one credentialed person nominally supervises dozens of files. That matters, because tax consultants, financial advisors, bookkeepers, and non-credentialed preparers cannot represent you before the IRS at all — they can only prepare returns.
No. Credentials establish who is legally authorized to represent you and what standards they are held to. They do not determine whether you qualify for a specific IRS program — your income, assets, expenses, filing compliance, and collection statute dates do. Any firm that ties a credential to a guaranteed settlement figure is selling something no tax professional can deliver.
Related: Enrolled Agents · Our Experts · Why Trust Us