Yes, please. Please provide us what we ask, when we ask for it. We aren’t punishing you by making you do busy work: we do the busy work. We are asking you to do things we can’t do or you are in a far better position to do. If you are confused as to why we are asking you to do things, just ask us.

Do your best. If you don’t provide us the information/documents by the date we’ve requested them, understand there very well might be consequences, though. For example, if you miss a deadline, the IRS might 1) levy (freeze) your bank account or 2) make-up a tax return that isn’t in your best interest so that it can try to collect your money or 3) send a wage levy (garnishment) Order to your employer. If you are going to miss a deadline, contact us and let us know. However, contacting us doesn’t mean that we can do anything about consequences that may result from missing a deadline. Further, if you consistently miss deadlines/fail to provide us information/documents, we may be forced to inform you that we intend to stop working on your case until you start helping us by providing us what we’ve requested. We don’t want to see that happen. We want to resolve your tax problems and need your help.

It’s a very rare situation where you are going to have to talk to the IRS or state. We handle talking to the IRS and state taxing agencies for you. If you are required to talk to the IRS or the state, we’ll let you know, prepare you ahead of time, and attend your conversation with you.

The amount you owe the IRS and your state changes every day. Just contact us and we’ll contact the IRS and/or your state to get an exact balance. As soon as we have the balance, we’ll get back to you. Don’t call the IRS or your state “just to get a balance.” Don’t call the IRS or the state. Period. The IRS is tricky! Your state is almost as tricky as the IRS! We emphatically request that you do not contact any taxing administration directly. Your contacting the IRS or your state directly will likely mess-up your case. As a result, we will likely withdraw our representation if you contact the IRS or your state taxing administration directly while we represent you

We usually attempt to resolve your state tax debt first because you usually can’t include an IRS repayment as an item in your state tax budget. If we set up your IRS payment first, you would have a higher payment to the IRS (because we didn’t include your state tax repayment). However, your allowable IRS expenses always can include a valid state tax repayment agreement expense. Sometimes we’re forced to deal with the IRS first, though. Each case is different and we’ll get your issues worked out. Your case can take many different routes, but we’ll get all of your tax issues resolved in the end. If you’ve got questions or concerns, just contact us.

Unless we’ve let you know otherwise, your case is moving along toward resolution. If you’re curious to know exactly what’s happening, contact us and ask us for a “Case Status Report.” We’ll get back to you within 5 business days with exactly what’s going on in your case. As there are many components to your case, don’t call us and expect a quick answer to the seemingly simple question, “What’s going on with my case?” We will give you your Case Status Report as soon as possible.

While you shouldn’t get phone calls from the IRS or state taxing agency after you hire us, the IRS and your state taxing administration might make a mistake and call you. If they do, politely inform the representative that that you’ve hired our firm to represent you, give them our name and phone number, and tell them to call us and not you from this point forward.

Yes, you will receive letters from the IRS after you hire our firm. The IRS is required to continue mailing you letters until your balance no longer exists. While you will continue to receive IRS letters, and some of them mean and scary, the IRS is supposed to send us everything that it sends to you.

Very likely. Watch your mailbox. Every time we receive an IRS letter concerning your case and within 3 business days, we’ll send you a copy of the same letter you just received along with a letter from us in plain English, explaining the IRS letter you just received. This does 3 things: 1) it lets you know that we received the same scary letter from the IRS that you just did, 2) it explains the IRS letter, and 3) it lets you know what we plan to do and/or if we need you to do anything. If you don’t get a letter from us within 3 business days of receiving an IRS letter, contact us.
There is only one exception to this “wait 3 business days before contacting us after receiving IRS letter” rule – if you receive a letter entitled “Notice of Levy.” This letter is not the same thing as a “Final Notice of Intent to Levy” or a “Notice of Intent to Levy on X” — these letters do not warrant contacting us. Only contact us immediately if you receive a letter entitled “Notice of Levy.”

Yes, you will receive letters from the state taxing administration after you hire our firm. Your state taxing agencies will continue mailing you letters until your balance no longer exists.

NO! We do not get copies of any letters you receive from your state taxing administration. Fax, e-mail, or regular-mail a copy of any letter you receive from your state taxing administration. The only exception to this rule is for payment coupons after we’ve entered into a payment arrangement on your behalf with your state.

It depends. We’ve provided you an estimate on your Representation Contract. Sometimes it can take one month, sometimes it can take one year or longer. Sometimes it makes sense to act quickly with the IRS, sometimes it makes sense to string-along the IRS for a while. Trust us. If you’re concerned about the time it is taking to resolve your case, contact us.

If you owe the IRS or your state money, they’re going to hold onto any tax refund you would receive until you don’t owe either of them money. If you owe the state money, but not the IRS, your IRS refund could very well be taken for payment of your back state taxes. The opposite is true, too – your state tax refund can be taken for payment of your back federal taxes. This is a rare circumstance where state and federal government actually work well together: if you owe somebody taxes, don’t expect to get refunds until all of the taxes you owe are fully paid. The good news is that the refund you were to receive will reduce the amount you owe the taxing administration. The only exception to refunds reducing your balance is where you are trying to claim a refund on a tax return that is filed more than 3 years late. The time to claim your refund expires after 3 years from the date the return was originally due.

Gather the following information and call our office immediately.

• For Bank Levies:
  • Name of the Administration that has Issued the Levy (for example, the IRS):
  • Bank Name:
  • Bank Fax Number:
  • Bank Contact Name [if Levy Release needs to be Sent to Someone’s Attention]:
  • Bank Address [if No Fax Number]:
  • Bank Routing Number:
  • Bank Account Number:
  • Amount of Funds Levied:
  • Date of Levy:
• For Wage Levies:
  • Name of the Administration that has Issued the Levy (for example, the IRS):
  • Employer Name:
  • Employer’s Payroll Fax Number:
  • Employer’s Payroll Contact Name [if
  • Levy Release needs to be Sent to Someone’s Attention]:
  • Employer’s Address [if No Fax Number]:
  • Next pay day:
  • Frequency of pay (i.e. weekly, bi-weekly, etc.)

NOTE: Until all unfiled tax returns are filed and we have provided your financial statement, we will likely be unable to lift your levy.

It is highly unlikely to be sentenced by a judge to serve jail time for failure to file or pay taxes. This is not to say that it does not happen, however. The federal and state governments are very serious about getting taxes repaid and will pursue criminal charges for flagrant and/or willful evaders of tax payment. If a state Sheriff issues an “Order to Appear” regarding your state tax debt, you must appear at the designated date/time/place OR have confirmed with our office that you do not need to appear. If we haven’t told you there is no reason for you to appear at a court date and you do not appear at the court date, the Court can issue a bench warrant for your arrest for failure to appear at the court date.