Almost every notice the IRS sends carries a response window printed on the page, and that window decides which options remain available to you. Answer it properly and most situations are far more workable than they look. Ignore it and choices quietly disappear.
In the upper right corner of every IRS letter there is a notice or letter number: CP2000, CP14, CP504, LT11. That code tells us precisely what the IRS wants, what stage of collection you are in, and how long you have to respond. Two letters that look identical to you can mean completely different things to us.
The second thing to find is the response deadline. It is the reason we ask clients to call the day a letter arrives rather than the week it expires. Almost everything is fixable inside the window. Outside it, options start closing.
Do not worry if you cannot find all of it. We can request your IRS records directly and reconstruct the timeline.
No promises about pennies on the dollar. Just what each option is, and when it actually applies.
A balance you cannot clear in one payment is a solvable problem, but only in the right order: get every required return filed, establish exactly what is owed for each year, then negotiate the arrangement. Doing it backwards is why people end up on a plan they cannot sustain.
The IRS will not approve most arrangements while returns are missing, and each unfiled year keeps penalties and interest running. We pull your IRS wage and income records, rebuild the missing years from what is actually reported, and file them.
You do not have to sit across the table from an examiner. We handle the correspondence, decide what has to be produced and what does not, and keep the audit inside the years and issues the IRS actually opened.
Penalties can often be reduced or removed for reasonable cause, and first-time abatement exists for taxpayers with an otherwise clean history. The request has to be argued properly, with the facts the IRS looks for.
Settling for less than the full balance is real, and it is also the most oversold product in this industry. It works when the numbers genuinely support it. We run your figures against the IRS formula and tell you honestly whether you qualify before anyone pays a fee.
Installment agreements come in several forms with different costs, disclosure requirements and consequences. The goal is a payment you can actually make every month, because a defaulted plan puts you in a worse position than no plan.
If paying anything would leave you unable to cover basic living expenses, collection can be suspended. It is not forgiveness, and interest continues, but it stops the pressure while you get back on your feet.
A lien clouds your property; a levy takes money. Both can often be released or prevented if we get involved before the notice window closes. Bring the letter the day it arrives, not the week it expires.
Unpaid employment taxes are the most aggressive collection area the IRS has, and they can be assessed against owners and officers personally. If your business is behind on withholding, this is the first call to make.
When a joint return understated tax because of your spouse’s actions, three separate types of relief exist. Which one applies depends on facts and timing, and the deadlines are strict.
If your share of a joint refund was seized for your spouse’s separate debt, such as student loans or child support, your portion can be claimed back with the right form and allocation.
Under the Freedom of Information Act you can request what the IRS actually has in your file. When a case does not add up, this is often where the answer is.
A signed authorisation lets us speak to the IRS for you and pull your complete account record for every year in question.
What is actually assessed, what is only proposed, which years are unfiled, what penalties are on the account, and how much collection time is left.
Missing returns get filed. Almost nothing can be negotiated until they are, so this is where most cases really begin.
Payment plan, abatement request, hardship status, appeal or offer, chosen on your numbers rather than on what sounds impressive.
Generally ten years from the date the tax was assessed. Several events pause that clock, including bankruptcy, a pending Offer in Compromise, and periods when collection is suspended. How much time remains on each year materially changes which option is smartest, which is why we read your account transcripts before recommending anything.
Yes, through an Offer in Compromise. It is also the single most oversold service in this industry. Acceptance depends on your income, allowable expenses, asset equity and remaining collection time measured against the IRS formula, not on how sympathetic your story is. We run your figures against that formula and tell you where you stand before you pay a fee to anyone.
Collection escalates on a schedule. Balance-due notices become intent-to-levy notices, which become a final notice carrying your right to a hearing. Once those windows pass, appeal rights and some options are gone, and the IRS can levy bank accounts and garnish wages without going to court. Doing nothing is the most expensive choice available.
Yes. Filing and paying are separate obligations with separate penalties, and the failure-to-file penalty is roughly ten times the failure-to-pay penalty. On top of that, the IRS will not approve most payment arrangements while returns are outstanding. File first, then deal with the balance.
No. Representation is a normal, expected part of the process, and every taxpayer has the right to it. In practice, correspondence handled by a representative tends to move faster because the IRS receives what it asked for, in the format it wanted, the first time.
It depends entirely on the number of unfiled years and the complexity of the negotiation. What we will not do is quote before we have seen your account record, and we will not take a case where the likely outcome does not justify the fee. You will hear both before you commit to anything.
Four quick questions. We call you back with a specific appointment time and the exact list of what to bring.
