Issue Resolution
As certified public accountants, we have the expertise and experience to help individuals and businesses who have received a letter or notice from the IRS or a state or local agency.
We understand that it is concerning and stressful to receive a tax notice, IRS letter, audit notice, or other correspondence from the IRS. We recommend you work with a proven CPA tax accountant to assist you and act quickly to avoid increased penalties and fees.
We have represented and negotiated on behalf of our clients with the IRS on a wide variety of tax issues. You are not alone and be assured that we will be by your side, walking you through the entire process to resolve the matter.
Watch this YouTube Video: Help with IRS Tax Problems
The response you need to provide might be simple, or it might be complex. LCW CPAs can help.
The Dreaded Letter from the IRS
The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies, and local entities will send a letter for any of the following scenarios:
- You miss a payment deadline for paying payroll taxes.
- You miss a deadline for filing payroll tax reports.
- You miss a deadline for filing your personal or corporate income tax returns.
- You miss a deadline for paying tax due from your personal or corporate income tax returns.
- You miss a deadline for filing and/or paying corporate franchise tax due.
- An amount paid is short or over what the IRS or another tax agency calculates as due.
- The agency notices a discrepancy on any of your tax returns and needs an explanation.
- You have been selected for an audit.
- You fail to respond to previous correspondence.
Important: The IRS will never send you an email about any of the above situations. You will receive a physical letter. If you get an email, it is a scam.
If the letter from the IRS states you have penalties and/or interest due, it is especially important to respond quickly so the penalties and interest will not accumulate and grow to a higher amount due. If you do not respond, the IRS and other tax agencies can apply liens, levies, garnishments, and seizures to collect payment. For example, they have frozen bank accounts so that the owner of the account cannot access their money. You do not want the situation to escalate to this level.
Failure to File Your Tax Returns
Sometimes life just gets in the way. You feel too busy or have experienced a divorce, illness, job loss, or death in your family that sidetracked you from filing your tax return on time. Perhaps you were overwhelmed with the tax filing process, or you did not have the money to pay your taxes and thought you should wait to file (this is NOT a good idea).
Watch this YouTube Video: Are you a year or more behind in filing your tax return?
You may have a special situation with your spouse where they promised to file and did not or they did not file correctly or did not pay the taxes due. In some cases, you can claim that you were the “innocent spouse” and get your account corrected.
Whatever your situation, we are here to work with you to relieve your burden and resolve the matter.
The IRS is aggressive about coming after non-filers and non-payers. So even if you do not owe that much in taxes, you want to file your taxes as soon as possible to prevent the penalties and interest from adding up.
Failure to Pay Taxes
If you owe money to the IRS but cannot pay, there are opportunities to work out an arrangement with the IRS to make payments over time. In accounting terms, this is called an Offer in Compromise, and often, we as tax accountants can negotiate the amount due to a reasonable total that you can pay.
Watch this YouTube Video: Owing the IRS Money
Owing money to the IRS can be overwhelming and stressful. LCW CPAs can help advise and negotiate with the IRS to help you resolve this matter.
If this is your first “offense” with the IRS, there may be an opportunity for you to be eligible for a First-Time Penalty Abatement, which waives your penalties completely.
There are options and at LCW CPAs, we have helped many clients who have not paid taxes come to a resolution. One option is to work out an Installment Agreement, similar to a loan, so payments are made until the debt is satisfied.
Working with a Tax Accountant
It is a serious situation to owe the IRS money. They do not fool around. We do not recommend you go it alone in trying to resolve your tax issue with the IRS. We recommend you secure a proven tax accountant to assist you in this serious matter.
A tax accountant is going to help you by doing the following:
- Respond professionally to IRS correspondence
- Contact the IRS on your behalf so you do not have to face them directly
- Function as a bridge or buffer between you and the IRS
- Get you caught up on filing late tax returns
- Understand the IRS Collections process and your rights
- Negotiate penalties, interest, and taxes due to lower your debt
- Work out a payment plan on any money owed to the IRS
- Fight for you on issues that come up, such as innocent spouse situations or positions taken on tax returns
- Help you get levies and liens removed from your assets.
Please be cautious when seeking a tax accountant to assist you with resolving a tax matter with the IRS. There are many unscrupulous companies online that advertise tax representation services. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. We also discourage you from representing yourself, since trained tax accountants who have the expertise and experience in communicating with and negotiating with the IRS are more likely to achieve a more favorable outcome for the client.
We provide accounting services, tax planning and preparation, audits, reviews, and compilations for individuals and businesses. Our clients are throughout most of eastern Massachusetts, the Merrimack Valley, south down to Woburn, west to Route 495 and east out to the seacoast. In New Hampshire, our clients are throughout Southern New Hampshire including Salem, Nashua, and Manchester, north up to Concord, and east over to the seacoast of New Hampshire.
As a progressive accounting firm, embracing technology to serve our clients effectively and efficiently is a priority to us. We offer consulting services and managed accounting services, including outsourced CFO and bookkeeping services, to businesses throughout the United States.
Why LCW CPAs
We offer many reasons why you should contact us to be your chosen CPA firm.
- We are local. As a local CPA firm, we offer the opportunity to build a working relationship where we get to know you and you get to know us. Maybe this sounds old-fashioned, but to us, it is the best way to work.
- We are progressive. We embrace improving and striving for better ways to help our clients. We utilize technology as an enabler to be more efficient and effective.
- We speak your language. Literally. We have many accountants fluent in multiple languages to best serve our diverse client base.
- We have a long-term view. We look to build relationships over time and seek to work with clients who value the benefits of a productive working relationship. If you are looking to secure a partner in the truest sense of the word, then we may be a great fit.
- We are experienced, credentialed, and knowledgeable. As CPAs, we offer expertise and knowledge to provide thoughtful guidance and advice.
- We offer a superior client experience where in every interaction you will experience our diligence, empathy, responsiveness, and the attention that you deserve. You can count on us to go above and beyond to do the right thing.
- We work with commitment and passion; we believe it is important to be good corporate citizens who are actively engaged in the community; we are deeply committed to the City of Lawrence and committed to helping our clients achieve their own American Dream.
We have used LCW …for tax preparation for 30 years. Very good reliable service and excellent problem solving when tax issues come up.
– Joe S.
Our trained and certified tax accountants will work diligently to find the best outcome on resolving your tax issues. Be assured that your situation is handled with the utmost confidentiality and privacy. Please contact us so we can work towards resolving this matter.