The envelope you haven't opened. The years you haven't filed. The knot in your stomach.
All of it is fixable.
If you're reading this page, something's been weighing on you — maybe for months, maybe for years. Here's what we want you to know before anything else: you are not the worst case we've seen, you are not going to jail, and there is a defined, legal process for getting out of this. We walk people down it every year.
The part nobody talks about
Tax problems aren't really about math. They're about the weight of carrying them. We hear the same things from almost everyone who finally calls:
- "There's a stack of IRS envelopes I haven't opened. I honestly don't know what's in them anymore."
- "I haven't filed in a few years. Every year that passes makes it feel harder to start."
- "I check the mailbox with my stomach in knots. Every official-looking envelope ruins my day."
- "I'm terrified they'll garnish my paycheck or freeze my bank account — I have a family to support."
- "I'm embarrassed. I run a business. I should have this handled."
- "I don't even know how much I owe. The number in my head keeps growing."
- "I called one of those TV tax relief companies and got a pushy salesperson who wanted thousands up front."
The avoidance made sense. Fear does that. But the IRS problem you're carrying is almost certainly smaller, more boring, and more solvable than the version living in your head. The people we help are normal people — business owners, parents, hard workers — who hit a rough year or two and froze. The only thing that makes these situations worse is more time. The only thing that makes them better is a first step. This page is the first step.
What the IRS can actually do — and what it can't
Most of the terror comes from not knowing. So let's replace imagination with facts.
What the IRS can do (with warning, on a timeline)
- Charge penalties and interest that grow while you wait
- File substitute returns for you — with none of your deductions
- Levy bank accounts or garnish wages — but only after a series of required notices
- File a lien that affects your credit and property
- Keep your refunds and apply them to old balances
What the IRS can't or won't do
- Show up and arrest you for owing back taxes — owing money is not a crime
- Take your paycheck or bank account without notice — surprise levies on people actively resolving their case are not how this works
- Call and threaten you with police, demand gift cards, or ask for payment over the phone — that's a scammer, every time
- Refuse to work with you — payment plans and relief programs exist by law, not by mercy
- Hold it against you for getting representation — you have the legal right to have someone stand between you and them
The pattern to notice: everything scary on the left happens on a schedule, with written warnings, to people who don't respond. The moment you engage — or someone engages for you — you move out of the enforcement lane and into the resolution lane. That's the entire game.
Every kind of tax mess, start to finish
Unfiled back returns
One year or many. We pull your IRS transcripts to see exactly what income was reported under your name, then prepare accurate returns — often replacing IRS substitute returns that inflated what you "owe."
IRS notices & letters
CP14, CP2000, CP504, exam letters — we read them, tell you in plain English what they mean, and respond before deadlines. Bring us the whole unopened stack. We mean it.
Payment plans
Installment agreements structured around what you can actually afford — set up correctly the first time, so a missed technicality doesn't blow it up later.
Penalty relief
First-time abatement and reasonable-cause requests that can remove penalties entirely. Many people qualify; almost nobody asks. We always ask.
Levy & garnishment help
If the IRS is threatening — or has already started — taking wages or bank funds, there are fast-track steps to stop or release it while we work out the underlying case.
Hardship & settlement options
Currently-not-collectible status when you genuinely can't pay, and offers in compromise where the numbers truly support one — honestly evaluated, not oversold.
Business & payroll tax issues
Behind on payroll deposits or facing trust-fund penalties? These move faster and hit harder than personal cases — and need attention first. We handle both sides.
State tax problems
The FTB, CDTFA, and EDD have their own collection machines — in some ways more aggressive than the IRS. We resolve California and multi-state issues alongside the federal case.
Representation
Once you authorize us, the IRS communicates with us. The calls, the letters, the deadlines — they land on our desk instead of your kitchen table.
From "I can't even look at it" to resolved
Free, judgment-free consult
You tell us what you know — even if that's "almost nothing." No lectures. We've heard it all, and worse.
We pull the real picture
With your authorization, we get your IRS transcripts and see exactly what they see: what's filed, what's missing, what's owed. No more guessing.
You get a plan & a quote
A clear, written roadmap — what we'll file, what we'll negotiate, what it costs, flat and up front. You decide before anything begins.
We resolve it — and keep you out
Returns filed, agreements in place, penalties challenged. Then bookkeeping and planning so you never end up back here.
You've heard the radio spots promising to settle massive IRS debt for almost nothing. Here's the truth: those programs exist, but they fit a narrow set of financial situations — and the national firms running those ads often charge thousands up front before ever checking whether you qualify. We'll tell you honestly, after looking at your actual numbers, which options are real for you. Sometimes that's a settlement. More often it's a workable payment plan and penalty relief. Either way, you'll get the truth before you pay for anything — that's the difference between a local firm with a name to protect and a call center with a script.
Asked and answered — honestly
- Am I going to jail?
- Almost certainly not. Criminal tax cases involve deliberate fraud and are rare. Owing money you can't pay, or falling behind on filings because life fell apart for a while, is a civil matter — solved with paperwork and payments, not handcuffs. The fear of this question keeps more people frozen than any other, and for nearly everyone it has a two-word answer: you're fine.
- I haven't filed in years. Where do we even start?
- With transcripts. The IRS keeps a record of every W-2 and 1099 filed under your Social Security number, so we can reconstruct your income history even if your records are long gone. Generally the IRS looks for the last six years of returns to get back into good standing — often less daunting than people fear when they've been avoiding "everything."
- How much do I actually owe?
- Probably not the number in your head — in either direction. If the IRS filed substitute returns for you, their number ignores your deductions, dependents, and business expenses, and filing real returns often shrinks it substantially. The consultation and transcript pull get you a real number, which for most people is the single biggest relief of the whole process.
- Can they really take my paycheck or my house?
- Wage garnishment and bank levies are real tools — but they come after a required sequence of notices and only when someone isn't responding. Once you're actively resolving your case, enforcement generally pauses. Home seizures for ordinary tax debt are extraordinarily rare. The practical takeaway: engagement is protection.
- What does tax resolution cost?
- It depends entirely on the case — one unfiled return and a payment plan is very different from six years plus a payroll issue. What we promise: a flat, written quote before we start, after a free review of your transcripts. No open-ended hourly billing, no giant retainers to "get started," no surprises. If your situation is simple enough to handle yourself, we'll tell you that too.
- Will you judge me?
- No. Truly. Divorce, illness, a business that went sideways, addiction, grief, or just years of paralysis — we've sat across from all of it. You will not shock us, and you will not be lectured. You'll be helped.
- What if I can't afford to pay what I owe?
- The system accounts for this. Payment plans stretch balances over years. Currently-not-collectible status pauses collection when you genuinely can't pay. Penalty abatement shrinks the total. In the right circumstances, offers in compromise settle for less. "I owe more than I have" is the starting point for most of our resolution clients — not a dead end.
You've carried this long enough.
One free conversation — with me, Tina, not a call center. No judgment, no pressure, no payment. You'll leave knowing exactly where you stand and what it takes to fix it — and tonight, you'll sleep better than you have in a while.