What Can I Do If My Tax Attorney Isn't Responding?
Reviewed June 1, 2025
Send a written request with a specific deadline, verify what you can independently in your IRS account, and know that you're entitled to your file if you decide to seek a second opinion.
Attorneys are busy, but you're still owed communication
Tax attorneys often carry large caseloads, and a case can genuinely be quiet while a filing or negotiation is pending. That's a different situation from an attorney who consistently doesn't respond to reasonable requests for an update.
What you can check without your attorney
You can independently confirm your filing status, whether payments have posted, and whether a payment plan is active, directly from IRS account data. This doesn't tell you what legal strategy is being pursued, but it does tell you whether the case looks active or dormant from the IRS side.
If the silence continues
Most state bar associations have a process for client complaints if communication breaks down entirely. Before that step, a written request with a specific deadline is usually the more effective first move.
See it for yourself, on an ongoing basis
Relief Monitor keeps watching your IRS account after this check, so you don't have to look this up manually each time.
Start monitoring