Corina Cordova
Corina Cordova was a frugal, stubborn, hardworking woman. She also had a grandson with special needs. Corina lived on a fixed income and was under tremendous pressure from the IRS to pay back taxes. IRS Medic attorneys reviewed her circumstances, discussed her goals and suggested that she might qualify for non-collectible status. Corina decided she could save some money by dealing with the IRS herself. After the IRS levied her Social Security payments and her grandson’s savings account, she contacted us again.
Corina’s efforts to deal with the IRS had not turned out so well. She had agreed to pay $500 per month under a repayment plan, even though she couldn’t afford the payments. By the time she came back to see our attorneys, the IRS had levied her social security and was in the process of levying a bank account she jointly held for her disabled grandson. She was terrified.
Levies are very difficult to release, especially when a payment plan has already been established and then defaulted. However, our attorneys were able to document that the savings account was not hers but her grandson’s. Then we documented more allowable expenses and corrected some of Corina’s other mistakes. She qualified for non-collectible status, and within a week we secured a release for the bank account and for her social security payments.
It’s been a few years since Corina’s IRS adventure, but she still stops by our offices now and then. When you come to our offices, you may notice a fresh plate of her homemade cookies.
Diane Wilson
Diane Wilson, a self-employed certified financial planner, was in a jam. An investment property she owned had been on the market for awhile. She finally received a favorable offer, but the deal was in jeopardy because of some outstanding tax liens for $450,000. Although Diane believed she only owed a fraction of the amount, she paid in full so the property could close on time.
Diane came to IRS Medic, hoping our attorneys might be able to recoup some of the IRS payment. We determined that she hadn’t documented her capital gains properly over several years. Our staff filed amended returns, and Diane received $375,000 back from the IRS.
Magdaline Hauser
Magdaline Hauser ran a successful cleaning business. She was under audit, and the IRS estimated her back taxes would be $60,000, not including penalties and interest. IRS Medic attorneys represented Magdaline. The IRS ultimately agreed that instead of owing $60,000 plus penalties and interest, Magda was entitled to receiving $2,068.90 back.
Maurice Gartner
For many years Maurice Gartner never filed taxes, and it finally caught up with him when the IRS served his employer with a levy. An IRS Medic attorney contacted the IRS immediately, arranging for a release of the levy while we organized and filed all of his old returns.
Maurice owed more than $85,000 in back taxes to the IRS, not including the interest he would have to pay on his debt. Given the circumstances, we recommended that Maurice file bankruptcy. We were able to discharge most of the old tax debt, along with a judgment lien for medical expenses and some significant credit card balances. After the bankruptcy, Maurice only owed the IRS $10,000, which he was able to pay off in a year.
Valerie Cole
64-year-old Valerie Cole made $87,000 a year as an executive secretary for a hedge fund, and had just received a levy notice. The IRS was seeking $345,000 for unpaid employee taxes.
Several years before, Valerie’s friend Harland had convinced her to invest $600,000 in his business, Payroll Concepts, a payroll services firm. Harland suggested that Valerie also work at Payroll Concepts. The company added new clients, but still required additional infusions of cash to cover expenses. Over the course of six months, Valerie invested an additional $450,000.00 into the business, and she became the major shareholder of the company.
Payroll Concepts was still not making any profits, and then Valerie received a notice from the IRS, stating that the company was deficient in its 941 payroll deposits. She had written out the payroll deposit checks herself, and had personally given them to Harland to sign. She looked up the bank reconciliations and saw that the checks were cashed. She called the IRS to correct their error, and the agent insisted they did not receive any money. When Valerie received the check copies from the bank, she discovered Harland had cashed the checks himself and had embezzled the funds.
Valerie confronted Harland, who told her that he just needed to pay back some personal loans and the money would be paid back before the IRS did anything about it. Harland then told Valerie that he hired an attorney to handle this matter and that if she got any correspondence from the IRS to forward all of it to his attorney. She met with the attorney, signed several documents, and thought everything with the IRS was settled.
The business failed. Valerie lost her entire investment, and decided to take a job as an Executive Secretary in Greenwich. A routine credit check revealed the IRS had imposed a $345,000 federal tax lien against her. She hired a national ‘tax resolution’ firm, (one that frequently advertises on television). They charged her $10,000, told her she didn’t qualify for the Offer in Compromise program, and then failed to resolve her tax problems.
IRS Medic tax attorneys investigated her case and determined she was, in fact, in a good position to request an Offer in Compromise Doubt as to Liability. The IRS agreed to take a lower tax liability because there is doubt that Valerie actually owed the taxes. In the end, IRS Medic attorneys saved Valerie about $230,000 on her tax debt. If Valerie had not signed the papers provided by Harland’s attorney, it is likely she wouldn’t have owed anything at all. If you are in business with someone else, have your own personal attorney review any documents before you sign them. Remember: not all attorneys know tax law. If you’re signing anything relating to the IRS, consult with a tax attorney first, because the consequences can affect you for the rest of your life.
Verne Olson
Verne Olson, a 39 year-old divorced firefighter, had filed for bankruptcy using another tax firm. But it didn’t reduce his IRS tax debt because it wasn’t filed in a timely manner. As a result, Verne owed the IRS over $120,000. The good news is that we were able to get Verne into an installment agreement. Ultimately, Verne will only pay back 30% of what he originally owed. If Verne’s paperwork had been filed appropriately, he would have owed nothing.
Identities and certain facts have been changed to protect the identities of clients. These stories aren’t intended to be a promise of how your case will turn out. All facts are different, and, outside of tax or federal court, approval of the final resolution is up to the IRS.