Is $300/hr reasonable to call the IRS on a client's behalf?

I have an income tax (only) client, who earns $400K/year, who seems upset with me for quoting $300/hour for a POA to call the IRS to straighten out his account (for a weird situation from before we were engaged).

I charge $325.00/hr. Clients who find value in my services have no issues paying the fee (including those with incomes much lower than $400,000).

Seems reasonable to me. Get a deposit if possible.

I have a client with similar income. Most of the work I do is tax related, and involves a lot of correspondence with IRS. They pay me over $10k/year and they certainly found me even more valuable when I told them they needed to force their spouse to agree to MFJ in 2019 while going through divorce, which saved my client over $30k in taxes. Other spouse was not pleased but oh well, as part of the agreement (and still part of the $30k savings), my client wrote a check to ex for the refund they would have received under MFS.

So, yes, there is plenty of value in such work and those not willing to pay for it are free to go elsewhere. Too many people have zero concept of how much time a seemingly simple tax topic can consume.

My stated rate is $300 an hour.
Depending on the client, and how much of a jerk they are, I try not to charge them to sit on hold.
If they are super pushy and demanding, I charge for every minute from when the phone goes off the cradle, until the call is over, including the time to fax the POA etc.
If they don't want to pay your tax season rate, give them the 800 number.
Someone making 400k, should have more value for their own time than $300/hr.
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Given how messed up the IRS is right now, and the fact that it might take you 2 weeks to actually get through to someone to talk to. I would not discount the rate.
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I currently have multiple clients with payment issues related to payments that were made and cleared in August 2020, but never applied to the account correctly. Even after multiple calls about the same issue, and multiple months waiting for a fix, the IRS is still sending payment due notices.

What does this case involve?

Can it be resolved with a letter instead of a call?

I usually bill about a half an hour's time to draft a letter and send it certified USPS. Letters are more efficient (for us) than calls.

I have an income tax (only) client, who earns $400K/year, who seems upset with me for quoting $300/hour for a POA to call the IRS to straighten out his account (for a weird situation from before we were engaged).

If they are already your clients, you need to look at the total relationship before you quote a fee for work related to issues prior to your engagement. Different stokes for different folks!

I have done many 1040X before I took over to fix some issue that could result in an audit etc down the road and it would become my headache. I roll the charges in my total bill that way the client is not complaining that I am nickle and diming them like many lawyers do for an e-mail or phone call response. Also they appreciate that you found an issue and fixed it for them. That one gesture will go a long way from them seeking the lowest cost provider in the future. I have seen ads floating in our area from newbies offering Sch C for $100 flat!