Strategic Tax Consultants for Complex Matters

Fees follow the work. A planning session before you sell a business or change entity type is a very different job from defending a three year audit or building an Offer in Compromise. The number of years involved, how organized the records are, and how close the IRS deadlines are all affect the scope. We look at the facts first, then give you a defined scope and fee before any work starts, so there are no surprises.

No. "Tax strategist" describes the work, not a license. A CPA holds a state accounting license that may cover audits of financial statements as well as tax. An Enrolled Agent is licensed federally, by the U.S. Treasury, specifically for tax, with unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS. Our founder is an Enrolled Agent, not a CPA, and focuses the practice on tax resolution, tax planning, GovCon accounting and CFO advisory.

The difference is the wide angle. Instead of answering one notice, we look at what caused it and what else it touches: other open years, penalties, payment capacity, payroll, and the tax effect of decisions you're about to make. For a business owner, that might mean fixing an IRS balance and, in the same engagement, changing estimated payments, cleaning up payroll deposits and planning next year's compensation.

Yes. The founder's Enrolled Agent license allows representation before the IRS on audits, collection cases, appeals, penalty requests and payment arrangements, for both individuals and businesses. We file a Form 2848 so the IRS will work with us directly, and from then on the calls and letters come to our office.

Read it closely and find the date. A CP504 is a warning; the final notice (LT11 or Letter 1058) is the one that matters most, because you generally have 30 days from it to request a Collection Due Process hearing. Gather the returns and notices it refers to plus your recent income records. We'll confirm filings are complete, check the balance, and push for a release, a payment arrangement or hardship status, whichever fits.

Frequently. First Time Abate relief can remove failure to file, failure to pay and failure to deposit penalties if your prior three years are clean. Reasonable cause relief applies when events outside your control, documented properly, stopped you from complying. The underlying tax stays, and so does most interest, but removing penalties can lower the total noticeably.

Most people who can't pay in full qualify for some kind of installment agreement. What's available depends on the balance, whether all returns are filed, and your income and allowable expenses. Before setting one up, it's worth asking whether something else fits better. If you genuinely can't afford a payment, Currently Not Collectible status may be the right step; if the numbers are tight enough, an offer might be.

Yes, in most cases. The IRS generally wants the last six years of required returns filed before it will approve an installment agreement or an offer. Filing also replaces any substitute returns the IRS built from third party data, which typically leave out deductions and credits. We prepare those returns with the larger resolution plan in mind.