IRS Tax Resolution in Exeter, NH | Liens, Levies & Back Taxes

The short version

IRS tax resolution means getting a collection case closed. There are only four ways that happens: you pay in full, you get an installment agreement, the IRS agrees you cannot pay right now, or it accepts an Offer in Compromise. I spent years as an IRS revenue officer closing these cases from the inside. I do the same work now from your side of the desk.

The letters start out polite. Then one arrives saying the Internal Revenue Service has filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, and it is suddenly public record that you owe money. A few weeks later your bank freezes an account, or your employer tells you part of every paycheck is going to the government.

None of it stops on its own. Interest keeps running, penalties keep stacking, and every notice you leave unopened is a deadline going past. Some of those deadlines are the only chance you get to appeal before the IRS acts. Waiting is the one thing that reliably makes the ending worse.

So the first thing I do is take you out of the conversation. You sign a Form 2848 Power of Attorney , I pull your account transcripts to find out what the IRS actually has on file, and from that point the Revenue Officer calls me instead of you.

What I handle

Notice of Federal Tax Lien

A lien is the government's legal claim against everything you own. It attaches to your house, your vehicles and your accounts, and it reaches property you buy later. It will not usually show on your credit report any more, but it will certainly surface the day you try to sell or refinance. There are three ways out depending on the situation: release once the balance is resolved, discharge of one specific property so a sale can close, or subordination so a refinance can go ahead.

Bank levies and wage garnishments

A levy is the IRS actually taking the money. A bank levy freezes the account and the bank sends the funds after a holding period, which gives you a narrow window to act. A wage levy takes part of every paycheck, and unlike a bank levy it keeps taking until somebody stops it.

If money has already come out of an account, call me today rather than tomorrow. That holding period is short and it is the best chance you get.

Installment agreements

A monthly payment the IRS will accept and you can actually live with. Those are two separate tests and both have to pass. Depending on the balance, the financial disclosure runs from almost nothing to a full Form 433-A with supporting documents. Setting one up badly is worse than not setting one up, because a defaulted agreement drops you back into collection with less goodwill than you started with.

Currently not collectible

If paying the IRS would leave you unable to cover basic living expenses, collection can be suspended. The balance does not disappear and interest keeps running, but the levies stop. This is the right answer more often than people expect, particularly after a job loss, an illness or a business closing.

Offer in Compromise

Settling for less than the full balance. This is the one the national firms advertise and the one most people do not qualify for. The IRS accepts an offer when it calculates that it cannot collect more than you are offering in the time it has left. That is arithmetic on your income, your expenses and the equity in what you own. If everybody qualified, nobody would pay their taxes. I will run your numbers and tell you where you stand before you spend a dollar on an application.

Penalty relief

A large share of what people owe is penalties rather than tax. The IRS has an administrative waiver called First Time Abate that removes failure to file, failure to pay and failure to deposit penalties for a single period when the three previous years are clean (IRM 20.1.1.3.3.2.1). It is not automatic and it is not granted just because you asked. It is worth checking on every case and it gets missed constantly.

How a case runs

You call and we talk. Bring the notices. The letter number in the corner tells me where you are in the process and how much time is left.
You sign a Power of Attorney. From that point the IRS contacts me, not you.
I pull your transcripts. What the IRS thinks you owe is often not what you owe. Missing returns, returns the IRS filed on your behalf, misapplied payments and penalties that should never have been assessed all show up here.
We get you compliant. Missing returns get filed. Nothing else can be approved until they are.
We build the financial picture. Income, expenses, assets. This decides which of the four outcomes you are eligible for, so it gets done properly rather than quickly.
I make the case. In writing, and in person at the IRS office when that is what moves it.

Why it matters that I am here

When a federal tax lien is filed it becomes public record, and within weeks you will be getting letters from Enrolled Agents, CPAs and attorneys all over the country explaining why you should hire them. That is a mailing list, not a recommendation. They found you the same way everyone else did.

I write to people in New England, and only to people in New England, because I want to be able to sit down with you. If a Revenue Officer in New England is working your case, you would not buy a car over the phone from four states away, and this is a good deal more important than a car. I can drive to the IRS office. A firm in Los Angeles is sending a fax.

What I will not do is promise you an outcome. Nobody can, because the answer depends on your numbers and on facts the IRS holds. I will look at your situation and tell you what is realistic, including the times when the realistic answer is that you are going to have to pay it. That is usually what people came in for anyway.

Common questions

How much do I have to owe before it is worth calling?

There is no dollar figure. What matters is whether the Internal Revenue Service has started collecting. If you have a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, a levy, a wage garnishment, or a Revenue Officer assigned to your file, the amount is beside the point. Call and I will tell you whether you actually need me.

Can the IRS really take money straight out of my bank account?

Yes. A bank levy freezes the account and the bank sends the money to the IRS after a holding period. A wage levy takes part of every paycheck until the balance is paid or somebody gets the levy released. Both come after written notice, which is why the notices matter so much.

Do I qualify for an Offer in Compromise?

Probably not, and anyone who tells you otherwise before looking at your finances is selling something. The IRS accepts an offer when it works out that it cannot collect more than you are offering in the time it has left. That is arithmetic on your income, expenses and assets, not a negotiation.

What happens if I ignore the letters?

Collection carries on without you. The IRS can file a lien, levy your accounts, garnish your wages and keep your refunds. Worse, ignoring the notices lets the appeal deadlines printed on them expire, so you lose options you had at the start and cannot get back.

Can you stop a wage garnishment that has already started?

Often, though it depends on why it started and what your finances look like. A levy is usually released once the account goes into an approved arrangement, or when the IRS accepts that it is creating a genuine hardship. Nobody can promise a release, and you should be wary of anyone who does.

Do I have to talk to the Revenue Officer myself?

No. Once you sign a Form 2848 Power of Attorney, the Revenue Officer deals with me instead of you. That is most of what people are actually paying for, and it is the fastest way to stop the calls and the visits.