Civil penalties had pushed a business owner's IRS balance past $7 million; the final notice read $6.6 million. After multiple CPAs and tax attorneys got nowhere, we negotiated it down to a 12-month payment plan and had the lien released.
A business owner was referred to us after a run-in with the IRS that had produced significant civil penalties. With penalties and interest compounding, the balance had climbed past $7 million, and the last notice he received before he came to us showed $6.6 million, with a federal tax lien attached to everything he owned. He had already paid multiple CPAs and tax attorneys to fix it. Each engagement ended with more fees and more correspondence, and the lien stayed.
As Enrolled Agents we represent clients before the IRS directly. We pulled every transcript, rebuilt the compliance picture so every required return was filed, challenged the penalty assessments where the record supported it, and documented his true ability to pay against the IRS’s own collection standards. Then we negotiated with IRS Collections for a resolution he could actually complete rather than another plan destined to default.
The IRS agreed to a payment plan of roughly twelve months at about $1,500 a month. He paid around $21,000 in total against a balance that had exceeded $7 million, and the federal tax lien was released from the county and IRS records on March 4, 2020. He kept his business, his home and his credit, and he is now on a planning engagement so the situation cannot repeat.
Client details anonymized. Results are not typical and vary based on individual tax situations.
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