You are waiting to receive a phone call from a taxpayer to schedule an audit interview appointment. On February 1st, the taxpayer faxes you a power of attorney indicating that her accountant will be representing her at the audit interview. After reviewing the power of attorney for accuracy, you call the taxpayer's accountant to schedule an appointment. The accountant informs you that due to tax season, he is busy preparing tax returns and will not have time to prepare for the interview until after April 15th. You know that IRS guidelines require interviews with taxpayers or their representative to occur within 30 days of first contact.

Given this situation, what would youMOSTlikely do? What would youLEASTlikely do?

1.) Ask your supervisor for advice on how you should proceed with scheduling the interview given the timing issues the taxpayer's accountant is experiencing.

2.) Call the taxpayer and tell her she needs to attend the audit interview since her accountant is not available within the required timeframe.

3.) Inform the taxpayer's accountant of the IRS's 30-day guideline for scheduling an interview and see if you can schedule an earlier appointment with him.

4.) Schedule the appointment on April 16th when the accountant is available in order to avoid any further delay in getting the appointment scheduled.