Donna wrote:

- quote -

I have never been on the receiving end of a Section 7609
summons. However, I have executed only two of them during
my IRS career. Neither were challenged. Both of them went
to banks.

1) Check to see if it is valid. If it doesn't give the
taxpayer the required 20 days (determined by the difference
of the date of issue and the deadline date; adding 3 more
days if the taxpayer copy is served by U.S. Mail to allow
for delivery), then it is not valid on its face (failure to
give time of the right to intervene and quash per 7609(b)),
and I would ignore it.

2) Contact the client taxpayer and notify them that you
have received it. Find out if they intend to seek its
quashing. Although that doesn't necessarily relieve you of
the liability to produce the records, may indicate that you
will give the records (with notice to the Court that you
have done so) to the taxpayer's attorney so that if the
summons is not quashed, he can surrender them to the
government counsel at court. It also gives the Court the
ability to an in-camera inspection should the court desire
to determine whether the summons should be quashed or
upheld.

3) As another response indicated (and if the taxpayer
doesn't attempt to quash it), deliver the requested records
at the latest time possible to still comply.

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Donna wrote:

- quote -

We were summoned to appear at a (now ex-)client's divorce.
The subpoena arrived on Thursday at the close of business
for a Monday morning hearing. I don't think the process
server was out the door before we had our malpractice
carrier on the phone.

They got us an attorney, who contacted the client's
attorney. It turned out all they really wanted was a copy
of our client file (presumably for the workpapers provided
by the client pertaining to his Schedule C business). We
made a photocopy of the entire client file (which contained
nothing remarkable, so we didn't complain about handing over
the whole thing), and delivered it to our attorney Friday
morning. And that was the end of it. No bill from the
attorney (covered by the malpractice insurance), no increase
in rates, no appearance in court.

That same (ex-)client later filed bankruptcy, and stiffed us
for about $600 in fees for said return, too.

Phoebe

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Donna wrote:

- quote -

This is from the IRS? And is in a NON-criminal matter? It's been
a while since I've received one of these, but here's what I'd do:

First, I would notify the client that I had received the
summons. Be sure to explain that if the client doesn't
intercede "officially," you will be obliged to comply with
the terms of the summons.

Second, I would do absolutely nothing OTHER THAN, or nothing
SOONER THAN, called for by the summons. Since the client has
the right to officially object to the summons, you don't
want to compromise the client's rights by doing anything
sooner than required.

If you have any other concerns about the matter, it would be
best to refer to your own attorney. Similarly, if this
appears to be a criminal matter (in my experience, such
subpoenas would be issued by a US attorney in that case), I
would do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING without talking to my own
attorney first.

MTW

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Has anyone every had to respond as a CPA to a third party
summons and if so, how did you handle it? Thanks.

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