Radio Interview (June 28, 2024)

00:00
given the debate last night, lots of people had commentary about it, but there’s no debating the IRS. How’s that for a segue,
Steve? I like that. I’m going to use it.

00:10
Well it is true. The IRS really doesn’t leave this open for discussion. They will start sending you letters if you’ve not filed, if you haven’t paid your taxes for quite some time. You’re going to start to see some correspondence from the friendly IRS.

00:26
– Well, yes, you certainly will. What happens is, and they fell behind, they’re starting to catch up from COVID. They’re still kind of recovering from that.

00:37
And what’s happening, we’re seeing more and more people who after many years of really hiding under their sheets and hoping for the best are getting letters from the IRS. And these letters are saying,

00:48
if you don’t file return we’re going to take what we know what’s been given us and we’re going to file for you and they’re not taking all your deductions of course they don’t know your expenses and it could really run up a bill we’ve seen bills two three four times higher than they would have been had the taxpayer file themselves well we are speaking with Steven Klitzner the law office of Steven Klitzner tax

01:14
attorney and floridataxsolvers.com online and Steve let’s also give your local phone number since you are local to us yes I am 305 -682 -1118 yep I can remember that pretty easily as can most 305 -682 -1118 so more letters are coming out they’re kind of ramping up after the COVID slump there.

01:40
Are there more agents now on the job? Of course, we talk about this all the time, the 82 ,000 or whatever agents they’ve been talking about. Is that starting to make a difference with enforcement? Well, we are seeing more and more revenue officers.

01:53
Those are the collectors coming in. And then in many cases, they’re really just replacing people that have retired or moved on. But at least they’re trying to keep their numbers up.

02:07
Now revenue agents are the auditors and we are seeing more and more of them. It’s funny, years ago I’d see the same revenue agents all the time. Now I’m seeing new ones every single audit.

02:19
It’s a new revenue agent coming to audit people. So they really are getting back to business as usual. I really expect them to be filing the same amount of liens,

02:32
issuing the same amount of levies on bank accounts and wages as they were prior to COVID. Again, Steven Klitzner, tax attorney, floridataxsolvers.com, and to make an appointment of consultation,

02:45
305 -682 -1118. So Steven, you had mentioned new agents, however, you certainly aren’t new to the game by any means. Decades of as an IRS tax attorney on the advice report for the IRS.

02:59
Most recently, your resume is most impressive, but even though you may be dealing with somewhat of a few new faces there at the IRS, you kind of know the ins and outs.

03:10
You actually do know the ins and outs of how it all works, what they’re looking for, and how to get a solution that is in the best interest of the taxpayer. – Yeah, I think you just called me old.

03:21
I’m not sure I’ve got to play that back. – No, we’ll delete it, yeah. – But it is funny though, when I’m speaking to the territory manager in South Florida,

03:32
and I remember when he started out as a revenue officer, and I’ve watched him climb to the top. But yes, being around a while, the whole idea and what I do is I have to represent my clients first.

03:50
But I’ve also got to deal with the IRS because if we can’t make a deal, they’re the judge and jury. So we have to get along. We have to work together. And the one thing that the IRS and I always agree on on every case is we don’t want to set the taxpayer up for failure.

04:08
And whenever I say that to them they always back off a bit because they don’t want an installment agreement for 2 ,000 a month which they love when they know the taxpayer can only pay 1 ,000 a month or 500 a month so it’s my job to get to that point where my taxpayers going to be able to go on with their lives and still afford to pay the IRS.

04:08
Steven Klitzner with us tax attorney Florida Tax Solvers floridataxsolvers.com, 305 -682 -1118, floridataxsolvers.com. So you said earlier that you’re starting to see,

04:32
if I heard you’re correctly, more lack of filings of returns. Is that actually the case where people are filing less than ever or is it just more enforcement people catching up with those who don’t file?

04:57
I don’t know that we have more people. So I do know that people who haven’t filed tend not to file in the future, so when they miss a year and they want to take it on the next year and that year they fall a little behind,

05:13
not sure what to do, now we’re in the third year and they look at it and they’re so overwhelmed they don’t know where to begin, now it’s snowballs into something bad and the biggest problem they may have is,

05:25
If they’ve moved since the last time they filed the return while the IRS technically could find that out, that’s not their concern. They’re going to be writing very important letters to the old address.

05:38
So you’re getting certain rights on these letters. They’re going to your last known address when they finally catch up to you because now they’re ready to take your things. You’ve lost a lot of your rights and we’re playing catch up,

05:51
we’re playing please don’t hurt me as opposed to this is what we want to do, here’s our proposal Leo. And the fact that you had moved and didn’t actually receive those first round or that first round or other subsequent rounds of letters,

06:06
that’s not really a defense then. Right, it’s just like not picking up your certified mail or we see a lot of people just don’t open up their mail, hoping it won’t count against them, but it does. They’re only obligated to send it,

06:18
for the most part, to the address they have on file when you last filed a return six, seven, eight years ago. And then, yeah, when they finally catch up with you,

06:28
when they finally say, “Okay, now you owe the money, now they go to look where’s he banking, where’s he working, and now they’re going to start taking action.” Steven Klitzner,

06:39
tax attorney at 305 -682 -1118, the Florida Tax Solvers online, floridataxsolvers.com. So, Steve, we talk about individuals and whether they do or don’t file.

06:51
It doesn’t necessarily reflect on them. Personally, they may have just fallen into a bad circumstance, overlook something, whatever. The same thing can happen to businesses, though, and businesses can get in deep very quickly if they’re not on top of payroll taxes and classification of workers and the like,

07:08
it gets pretty complicated. Businesses, you know, we see a lot of business owners and they’re very good at the work they do. They’re even good at getting work and selling the work and high quality work,

07:23
but they’re not good at running a business and they don’t keep the right records. They don’t have a bookkeeper, an accountant, they don’t know how to take care of payroll taxes,

07:35
they don’t have a payroll tax service, and ultimately it’s going to catch up with you. Businesses are the most prone to immediate IRS action,

07:47
so if you’re not filing or paying payroll tax returns, it is pretty close to inevitable that the IRS is going to be assigning someone locally to come after you.

08:01
So you have to be very careful. And it’s tough, Michael, you know, it’s very difficult when you have other bills to pay and you can’t pay all your bills and you don’t pay the IRS this week with payroll taxes,

08:14
they’re not gonna find out about it for a few weeks or a few months or maybe even a year. So it’s very easy to put them aside but they are the worst creditor to have and you have to get on top of it as soon as you can.

08:28
Yeah, well and that’s the case with an individual as well as a business. Timing is everything and getting ahead of it from the outset certainly is much better for the client and for you when you’re representing them and you said those rights can go away that you have at the initial stages of the process.

08:48
Yes, yeah, those letters, some of them are just notice letters or threatening letters, but some of them say, here is your right. You have 30 days to exercise a request for a hearing,

09:01
or you have 90 days to protest the tax return we’re preparing for you, or to protest the audit that we’ve come after you on.

09:14
You have to be very careful because especially when they’re dealing in correspondence, it’s very hard to get someone’s ear. You write them back a letter, they don’t answer it.

09:26
They don’t care, they keep rolling along. It’s just not set up for an individual to handle a lot of these problems because They don’t know what they can do and sometimes we see a revenue officer on the case and he or she is very nice and trying to work with the taxpayer,

09:44
but they don’t tell them all of their rights. They don’t tell them about requesting a hearing. They basically strong arm them and you have to be very careful. Yeah. Steven Klitzner with us,

09:55
floridataxsolvers.com and the phone number to 1118 South Florida and the entire Florida Keys, representing taxpayers and business taxpayers before the IRS.

10:08
So Steven, the other thing I was going to ask about, we hear a lot of — well, not necessarily here, but you can hear elsewhere — advertisements for out -of -town firms that claim to be able to almost erase your IRS debt.

10:22
There’s these terms like fresh start programs that are bantied about, is there really such a thing as getting, you know, forgiveness from the IRS and getting a drastic reduction that you can just walk away from?

10:34
Well, yes, but it’s not like people think. If you watch The Office, there was an episode where Michael wanted to go bankrupt and he walked out of his office and said,

10:45
“I declare bankruptcy,” and that’s not how you do it. And it’s the Same with the Fresh Start program. You can’t just call and say, “I want a Fresh Start.” The reality is the Fresh Start was a program that the IRS added to for several years,

11:00
but it was less added to in 2012. It’s no longer something that we say, “Oh, oh, we’ve got the Fresh Start program because it’s over 12 years old.” It’s now part of their culture,

11:15
part of the internal revenue manual. But it was a program that helped people settle cases for less and a lot easier. It’s still in effect, unlike those radio ads for these nameless and faceless out -of -town companies,

11:30
they don’t — it’s not a brand new program that’s going to expire. There’s nothing new about it. Just be very careful of speaking to these sales salespeople from out of state programs who I guarantee no matter what you tell them you want to do,

11:47
they will say you can do it. When the reality is, all they’re doing is taking your money. There’s a couple of those companies, they charge people every month until the case is over.

11:58
They have no incentive of resolving the case. It could be around for years and years. And guess what? No one’s on it. And no one’s actually working on their case. I’ve talked to revenue officers in South Florida and their managers.

12:12
They have no respect for these companies. They know they’re not going to get what they need from them. And as far as their concern, they can bypass them and talk directly to the taxpayer.

12:23
When I represent somebody, they can never call my client because I’m always talking with the IRS. I stand in their shoes, and that’s a big difference. >> Yeah, and it’s a tremendous piece of mind as well.

12:35
Certainly knowledge is power, and there are so many nuances to the IRS, the tax code, and penalties that can be put upon the taxpayer as a result of not filing or late filing or not paying.

12:47
One example of those complexities is the questions about social security income. Now, a lot of seniors may also be listening to us right now. They have a Social Security income.

12:58
They may think that that could be exempt from a levy. Is that the case? The IRS can take 15 % of your Social Security income.

13:09
There are some times where they could technically go more. It’s rare. It really is something where you don’t, if you don’t cooperate with someone locally. But the system, the computer,

13:20
will send out a letter and start taking 15%. And unlike other levies, where when the statute of limitations runs, the levy stops, the social security levy goes on forever.

13:33
So that’s something 15 % really adds up. And a lot of people, they’re living check to check. They can’t afford the 15%.

13:44
We’ve got to get it released. Most of the people where they’re going after the Social Security can be considered a hardship and currently not collectible. So, you know, that’s what you have to watch out for.

13:55
That phantom levy where all of a sudden you’re losing money every month. Yes. Steven Klitzner, tax attorney at floridataxsolvers.com, 305 -682 -1118,

14:08
local representation for you before the IRS and that phone call can certainly give you a lot of peace of mind and turn around your tax problems. So, Steve and I apologize I was not alluding to you being old I was just alluding to your vast qualifications one of which I see that you are admitted to the United States Supreme Court and just slightly off topic but the Supreme Court I guess is supposed to have their

14:32
final day of hearings and decisions today that could be extended, but I’m sure there’ll be some things of interest that a lot of people will be watching before the Supreme Court.

14:44
– Well, I’m gonna tell you a secret. – Yes. – How I got into the Supreme Court. – Okay. – I filled out a form and sent it in, because what happens is you have to be a lawyer,

14:55
at least when I did it for five years, you have to have someone you know in the Supreme court and that person just has to say okay I vouch for him so their name is on your certificate and you know what next time I want to tell you a good story about my argument in the supreme court.

15:14
Let’s save that for another time but I am a member and I get a kick out of lawyers who make an announcement that they’ve just been admitted to the supreme court. The only I mean,

15:25
the form now and the form when I did it, there was no question what’s your email address. That’s an additional question, and if you can answer that, they’ll let you in the Supreme Court.

15:35
But remind me on that. It’s a very good story about my day in the court and how I finally had my big argument in the Supreme Court of the United States. Well,

15:46
and we certainly want to hear that story at a future date as well. That does sound fascinating, but it does still not minimize your qualifications to represent people with tax issues.

16:00
And more to the point, the United States tax court is something that, and an entity that some people may find themselves in front of, taxpayers do have the option to represent themselves without an attorney,

16:12
but that’s probably not a great idea. Well, usually not you can do it it is set up to try to help taxpayers But again, you don’t know all of your rights and we I practice a lot in the United States tax court The great thing about tax court is it’s it’s if you’re what a federal court You have to pay the tax and then you got to go to court people can’t usually afford it in the in tax court You can argue your

16:40
case, you can make your case and not have to put any money in and have the court decide. Most cases in tax courts settle, we get fantastic deals in tax court,

16:51
not every case can go there. You have to have a ticket to get to tax court, but we’ve been quite successful there and that’s somewhere where we practice a lot in. That also requires,

17:03
if you’re not a lawyer, We have to take a very difficult test where maybe 10 % of the people pass it, if you’re a lawyer, they let you right in. It’s worth going to law school just to be a member of the tax court.

17:16
Well, you certainly paid your dues and again, as mentioned, your qualifications are very sound. So we encourage anyone with tax questions, tax issues, call Steven Klitzner, tax attorney at FloridaTaxSolvers 6 -8 -2 -1 -1 -1 -8 so I think we covered a number of different topics here but I would encourage people even though that the tax filing deadlines for this year have passed that doesn’t mean that your tax problems are

17:43
going away they will continue and the IRS will find you. Yes they will there and they’re there it’s amazing and it’s the funny thing about it is I’ll have some clients gonna take a quick break and we’ll see if we can just wrap up with Steven just a moment and keys talk 9691025 the talk of the keys did get interrupted there and somehow cut off with Steven Klitzner but he is back on the line and again speaking of

18:18
phones 305 -682 -1118 the phone number for floridataxsolvers.com. So Steven, we were talking about the IRS. Individually, we’ll catch up with you if,

18:28
you know, if they want to. Yeah, and it’s not always what you owe. It’s just the unlucky draw, the wrong lottery that you hit. And, you know,

18:39
the fact is that it’s very easy. It’s human nature not to do anything if they’re not coming after you. But that’s why I offer free consultations.

18:49
I tell some people do nothing based on the facts. Other people, let’s get the records. Let’s see what’s going on. I can get the records online and never call the IRS. The last thing you want to do is call the IRS just to ask them a question.

19:04
I’ve seen that happen and all of a sudden here they come. That’s why when I get records from them. I get it online. Don’t wake anybody up. I don’t want anybody all of a sudden sending the case to the field.

19:17
So that’s what we do. And sometimes we sit back. Sometimes we go forward. It just depends. Every case is an individual case with individual facts. And,

19:27
you know, we have to guide it toward that. It’s not a cookie cutter approach to it. Yeah. Well, be proactive, be prepared. Doing nothing is the worst thing you could do.

19:38
So Steven Klitzner, floridataxsolvers.com, the tax attorney at 305 -682 -1118. Thank you so much for your perspective and your knowledge and insight here.

19:49
Again, Steven, and we look forward to hearing about your endeavor in front of the Supreme Court soon. All right, perfect. I can’t wait. Thanks, Michael. Have a great day. You do the same, sir. Thank you very much.

20:00
Steven Klitzner, tax attorney at floridataxsolvers.com online. Available to you locally for your consultation, 305 -682 -1118.

20:10
You will certainly get a lot of your questions answered and your fears alleviated by having Steven Klitzner in your corner, 831 now. On good morning keys, we return in just a moment.