Category: Blogs

When you stop responding to IRS notices, the agency doesn’t pause and wait. It moves through a defined sequence of escalating enforcement steps, each one narrowing your options. Understanding that sequence, and where you still have room to act, is

Missing a tax deadline rarely ends with a single notice. The IRS follows a structured escalation sequence, and each step in that sequence closes off options that were available at the previous one. Understanding where you are in that process

Reviewed by Patti O’Neill, CPA, MST | Updated: Summer 2026 If you’ve paid off a federal tax lien but it’s still showing up on your credit report or in a title search, you may need withdrawal, not just release. These

Reviewed by: Patti O’Neill, CPA, MST Last Reviewed: Summer 2026 | Updated to reflect current IRS guidance According to the IRS Data Book, the IRS collected more than $98 billion through enforcement actions in fiscal year 2023, and enforcement staffing

The audit notice is already stressful enough. What makes it genuinely dangerous is acting on advice from someone who sounds confident but doesn’t actually know what they’re doing with the IRS. Bad tax resolution advice doesn’t always look bad. That’s

The weight of an unresolved IRS problem doesn’t stay the same while you’re thinking it over. It grows. Penalties compound, collection windows narrow, and options that existed six months ago quietly disappear. Knowing when to move and when to hold

The tax resolution industry has a predator problem. Firms that charge thousands upfront, promise outcomes the IRS doesn’t actually offer, and disappear once the check clears are not rare exceptions – they’re common enough that the IRS itself publishes warnings

Reviewed by Patti O’Neill, CPA, MST Based on current IRS Offer in Compromise guidance, including Form 656-B, Forms 433-A and 433-B, and Internal Revenue Manual Part 5. An offer in compromise can permanently settle IRS tax debt for less than