A tax attorney and a CPA are separated by two things: the attorney-client privilege, which protects what you tell your lawyer even in a criminal case, and the right to take your case to court. A CPA is licensed to prepare financial statements and returns, and the training is built around compliance. A tax attorney is trained for advocacy, meaning taking a position and defending it against the IRS, the Franchise Tax Board or a judge. The tax attorney vs CPA question usually comes up after a notice has arrived, so here is the decision framework we use on our own intake calls.
Tax attorney vs CPA: the decision table
Use a CPA when the job is to report the numbers correctly, and use a tax attorney when the job is to argue about what they should be. The rows below cover the situations that come up most often, with our verdict for each.
| Situation | CPA | Tax attorney | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Return preparation | The core of the job | Only when the return is part of a disclosure or a dispute | CPA |
| Bookkeeping | Yes, or a bookkeeper | No | CPA |
| IRS notices and small adjustments (CP2000, math error notices) | Yes, with Form 2848 on file | When penalties are proposed or the amount is large | CPA, or you |
| Audits | A correspondence audit with clean records | Field exams, multiple years, cash or unreported income, missing records | Depends on the exam; attorney when the question is what the law requires |
| Appeals | Can appear at IRS Appeals | Writes the protest and argues hazards of litigation, which is a court question | Attorney |
| Collections and Offers in Compromise | Simple installment agreements | Offers in Compromise, Collection Due Process hearings, liens, levies, trust fund penalties | Attorney for anything past a payment plan |
| Criminal exposure | No; the CPA can be subpoenaed | Yes, with the CPA brought in under a Kovel arrangement | Attorney, no exceptions |
| Tax Court and litigation | Cannot file or argue the case, short of a separate Tax Court exam very few take | Yes | Attorney |
| Planning and transactions | Models the numbers and files | Structures the deal and writes the opinion | Both, with the attorney leading |
Privilege is the difference that matters
What you tell a tax attorney is protected by the attorney-client privilege, and what you tell a CPA is protected only by section 7525 of the Internal Revenue Code, which does not apply in a criminal case. Section 7525 gives a federally authorized tax practitioner, meaning a CPA or an enrolled agent, the same protection a lawyer would have for tax advice, but only in noncriminal matters before the IRS and noncriminal tax cases in federal court. It does not cover the preparation of the return itself or written advice promoting a tax shelter, and it does not reach state matters, so it gives you nothing in an FTB, CDTFA or EDD case, and California has no accountant privilege of its own.
When a civil audit turns into a referral to IRS Criminal Investigation, the government routinely summonses the accountant, the workpapers and the notes from your conversations, and the accountant has to answer. The attorney-client privilege has no criminal exception, so the conversation you have with a lawyer about the years you did not report stays between you and the lawyer. That is why the first call in any matter with cash, unreported income or two sets of books should be to an attorney, before anyone talks to the CPA about it.
The Kovel arrangement: putting the accountant inside the privilege
A Kovel arrangement is an accountant retained by the law firm rather than by you, so the accounting work sits inside the attorney-client privilege. The name comes from United States v. Kovel, a 1961 decision of the Second Circuit holding that an accountant hired by a lawyer to help the lawyer give legal advice is covered by the same privilege as the lawyer. In practice we sign the engagement with the accountant, the accountant reports to us, and the workpapers belong to the file, which is how we put a CPA on a criminal tax case without handing the government a witness.
Two limits. The arrangement has to be set up before the accounting work starts, because it does not reach back to cover what your regular CPA already did or the returns as filed. And we usually do not use your existing CPA for it, since that person may be a witness about the original returns, so we bring in a separate accountant whose only job is the case.
Where enrolled agents fit
An enrolled agent is licensed by the IRS to represent taxpayers in audits, collections and Appeals, and is the right professional for straightforward collection work at a lower cost. Enrolled agents earn the license by passing the Special Enrollment Examination or through years of IRS experience, and they practice under Circular 230, the same Treasury rules that govern attorneys and CPAs before the IRS. They get the same limited section 7525 privilege, and they cannot take a case to court. A clean installment agreement or a simple Offer in Compromise for a wage earner is well within what a good enrolled agent does. Once the matter involves a legal dispute, penalties, a business or any criminal exposure, you have outgrown the license.
What each one costs
A CPA generally bills less per hour than a tax attorney, and for preparation and bookkeeping that is the right price. Tax attorney fees run $300 to $700 an hour for an experienced California tax attorney, or $2,500 to $15,000 and up as a flat fee for a defined task, and at Brotman Law flat fees start at $3,500 and hourly work runs $350 to $675 an hour. The comparison that matters is not the hourly rate but who can close the matter, because a CPA who takes an audit through Appeals and then has to hand it to a lawyer for Tax Court has cost you two fees. Our page on how much a tax attorney costs breaks the fees down by matter type.
When you need both
Many matters need a lawyer and an accountant at the same time, and the arrangement that works is the attorney directing the case while the CPA does the numbers. Unfiled returns inside a collection case are the common example, because the IRS will not consider an Offer in Compromise or an installment agreement until every required return is filed, so the CPA prepares the missing years while we negotiate the balance. A business audit where the books have to be rebuilt is another, and there the accountant works under a Kovel arrangement. Planning is the third: we structure the transaction and write the opinion, and your CPA models the numbers and files the returns that carry it out.
Can a CPA represent me in an IRS audit?
Yes. A CPA with Form 2848 on file can represent you in an IRS audit and at the IRS Independent Office of Appeals, and for a correspondence audit with clean records that is often the right choice. A CPA cannot take the case to Tax Court, and the section 7525 privilege does not apply in a criminal matter.
Do I need a tax attorney or a CPA for an audit?
A CPA when the only question is whether the receipts add up. A tax attorney when the dispute is over what the law requires, when the IRS proposes penalties, when the exam covers several years or a business, when records are missing, or when a criminal referral is possible. Our IRS audit attorney page covers that representation.
Can a tax attorney prepare my taxes?
Some do, and we handle complex returns tied to a dispute, a voluntary disclosure or a transaction we structured. For a routine return a CPA is the better value, because preparation is the center of that practice and most tax attorneys, myself included, are not the best preparers in the room.
Is a tax attorney more expensive than a CPA?
Per hour, usually yes, at $300 to $700 for an experienced tax attorney against a lower CPA rate. Per matter, it depends on where the case ends: a CPA is cheaper for preparation and a simple audit, and for a dispute headed to Appeals or court, the attorney is cheaper than paying a CPA first and a lawyer second.
Talk to us
If you are not sure which one you need, the free 15-minute call with our intake team will tell you, and we say so when a CPA or an enrolled agent is the better fit. Since 2013 we have represented 400+ clients in audits, and our criminal tax attorney and tax attorney pages explain the work. Book a free 15-minute call or call (619) 378-3138.
Sam Brotman, JD, LLM, MBA. Last reviewed September 2026.
