Radio Interview (April 18, 2025)

Listen to this interview – MP3

Host 00:00
And good morning keys keys talk 9691025 the talk of the keys good Friday it’s 75 degrees and 83 for your high sunny skies tonight low 74 mostly clear and breezy on Saturday high of 83 sunny and breezy Easter Sunday 83 sunny as well so that’s looking good no major incidences to report up and down us one either so that is also good news we’re going to turn to Steven Klitzner now law office of Steven Klitzner the floridataxsolvers.com. Good morning Steven how are you today?

Steven Klitzner 00:30
Well, great Michael how are you doing

Host 00:33
Doing well thank you another bright sunny day and you know as you had mentioned earlier before we got on the air everybody has been accustomed to tax day being April 15th for individuals anyway we did get a little reprieve for Florida residents due to the hurricanes they now have till May 1st to file but why procrastinate it just makes it a little more difficult for you I think people are better off to assume that April 15th or shortly thereafter is their true deadline

Steven Klitzner 01:04
That’s right you know the May 1st gave everybody a little bit of a buffer and even the accountants weren’t as crazy this year they’re the ones I was talking to but now in Florida all the deadlines are moved to May 1st the so if you file and pay May 1st there’ll be no failure to file there’ll be no failure to pay you’re still in good shape of course if you’re not able to file you can get a an extension just to file not to pay

Host 01:35
Yeah that’s right not to pay you do have to still pay your estimates even if you get that extension

Steven Klitzner 01:40
That’s right and you know in the estimated taxes you just mentioned it’s very important to talk to your tax preparer about what estimated taxes you need to pay this year it’s based on last year’s income and a lot of times I see tax preparers give the the taxpayer little coupons and don’t really explain to them.

This is something you have to do. It’s not voluntary. You have to make your estimated payments. So this year, it’ll be May 1st, then June 15th, September 15th, and January 15th. For those of you who do not have withholding taxes, to pay in their taxes for 2025.

Host 02:24
Steven Klitzner, law office of Steven Klitzner PA, the floridataxsolvers.com online. Locally, you can contact Steven at 305-682-1118. You know, I have a few accountant friends who traditionally had booked a cruise or a trip or something like that, starting like April 16th or 17th. Hope they didn’t do that in advance this year, because Florida, they’re still at their desk.

Steven Klitzner 02:51
Yeah, a lot of them. That’s true. They do actually go on vacation April 16th. You can’t hear from them then may 1st they start up all over again.

Host 02:59
That’s true. Well, hopefully they can get a refund if they had booked it in advance this year because they’re still working. So, you know, that may 1st deadline might have made people a little complacent.

We asked that they don’t do that. Also, some of the news of cutbacks at the IRS and layoffs and early, you know, severance, all that kind of stuff may have also made taxpayers a bit complacent thinking that while they’re now off the hook for not having filed or not having paid taxes, they may feel that they’re going to fall through the cracks or get a reprieve due to those cutbacks. But that is not necessarily the case.

Steven Klitzner 03:36
Now, and here’s the latest with the IRS. They have about 100,000 employees. And word is they’re going to get rid of 25,000 or so. Now, I see different reports. One report said in the last buyout email where you can resign and get paid till September, 20,000 IRS employees took that.

What they’re looking at now are folks that have been with the IRS for 20 years and they’re over 50 years old. These are called the experienced people. When they get rid of them, it’s going to be left with a lot of people who need training.

I don’t know that that’s true. I do know that starting today is the first phase of cutting out IRS people. The second phase will be in August. And what they’re looking at, you know, they’ve already gotten rid of the new people.

So that’s a big problem. When I speak to the IRS, I often get, they often say to me, Steve, are you hiring anybody asking for a friend? They’re really afraid that they’re going down. Back in COVID, we learned to say to everybody when you’re leaving, when you’re finishing a call, you say, be safe. So I’m starting to say that now to IRS people I talked to at the end, it’s like, be safe. I know what you mean, they’re very afraid, and we’ll see what happens the next time the hammer drops.

Host 05:10
Well, yeah, it’s a tenuous situation for many of them. But that doesn’t mean that they’re going to take the eye off the ball and let taxpayers go by the wayside. In fact, one would speculate that maybe they’re going to be a little even more assertive in their job to try to gain job security.

Steven Klitzner 05:26
Yeah, they’re not making any really better deals. They are trying to move things a little quicker. But it’s not like it’s Easter time there and they’re giving away chocolate bunnies. You still have to go through everything and make sure that you dot the I’s and cross the T’s. And a lot of folks are like, well, the IRS isn’t going to be coming after me. Why should I file? And the problem with that is if you don’t file, there’s no statute of limitations. The IRS can come after you indefinitely to make you file your returns.

And if you owe $10,000 and don’t file and don’t pay and wait to hear from the IRS and in four or five years they come after you, it’s almost 20,000, you know, and they’re not waiving the penalty and interest. So taking the attitude, I don’t care, they’re never going to come after me is a bad one. And if you do owe money and you filed your returns, they have 10 years to collect. And if you want to take that chance and nothing’s going to happen for 10 years and you’re just constantly looking over your shoulder, I don’t know that that’s a good idea. The time to take care of your taxes is now.

Host 06:39
Yeah, Steven Klitzner, Law Office of Steven Klitzner, PA at floridataxsolvers.com, 305-682-1118. That’s a good point. We’ve talked about it before. Why look over your shoulder and just, you know, hold your breath every time you go to the mailbox, you know, waiting to see if another IRS letter is going to occur.

Instead, Steven Klitzner and his years of expertise representing clients before the IRS, that’s the key. He will represent you as well so you don’t have to talk to the IRS or deal with, you know, all of the communication that comes your way. Steven takes that off your plate and deals with them with expertise and their relationships. Even though we talked about cutbacks at the IRS, there are still those there at the commission or at the IRS that you’ve had those relationships with in South Florida for many years.

Steven Klitzner 07:33
It’s true, you know, and I have to call all the time to see if people are still there, you know, there’s a few over there. I don’t, it’s like, are you there today or are you there tomorrow? And they don’t know what to do, you know, they’re in limbo too, so we’ll see how things are.

But, you know, they’re very far behind. I saw one statistic on identity theft cases. They’re working on the ones from October, 2023. They’re a year and a half behind on those. So they’re falling behind, but they will wake up now. And then the other thing is how is AI going to get involved here? They lose people, they go to AI. Is AI going to be out of control? Is the computer going to start just levying people and filing liens? We don’t know yet. And so it’s a good time not to have an IRS problem because you don’t know what’s going to happen next.

Host 08:30
Yeah. So we’ve talked about collections for the IRS. How about IRS audits? We’re continuing to see those, I would assume.

Steven Klitzner 08:37
We are. Now, the good news for taxpayers is that they came out with an announcement and some of these new audits that they haven’t really developed. may just get closed out. They may just send them back to the IRS for the time being, but the existing audits just aren’t going away.

They are taking longer because every time I turn around, there’s a new auditor on the case, the last one’s gone. And so we are seeing that, but audits are still happening. If you file a return that is really looks bad on its face, that looks too good to be true, there’s a good chance you’re gonna get audited on that. And penalties and interests are gonna be a lot. It’s gonna cost you a lot more if you don’t do the return right.

Host 09:26
Yeah, and speaking of not doing the return right, some people may try to get away with something that’s questionable, but others may just make an error on their tax forms that results in a tax liability. They maybe let that liability go, don’t feel they have the ability to pay it. And then it just kind of steam rolls from there. But just because somebody got behind on taxes doesn’t mean that they’re a bad person or a bad business individual. There are circumstances that leads to these situations.

Steven Klitzner 09:58
Yeah, so many good people fall behind because they’re just overwhelmed. They don’t know what to do. Maybe they don’t have the money at that point, but you just have to put a priority on the IRS, even though they’re not coming after you, the day after you don’t pay like other creditors might, they’re just not someone that you want to be on their list. You don’t wanna be on their Christmas card list.

Host 10:23
No, no, even to the point of they can not renew your passport, they can take collection action, levies, fines, et cetera. It’s not something that you wanna get the slippery slope, find yourself on that anytime soon, that’s for sure.

From the very first letter you get from the IRS, we’ve said it before, you need to address it and reach out to Steven Klitzner to find out what your situation may actually be and he can represent you and your best interest before the IRS. Look it’s floridataxsolvers.com, 305-682-1118. So yes, we are in tax time. May 1st is the deadline for Florida residents.

But one other thing we should bring up is get current on your taxes, address the current tax year so at least the IRS sees that there’s some compliance and some good faith in moving forward and then you have the ability to talk to you who will then talk to the IRS about your situation in the past. But moving forward getting off on the right foot is really important.

Steven Klitzner 11:34
Yeah at the very minimum start today, with today, going forward, file, don’t owe, and then I can deal with all the past stuff no matter what Joe. We can deal with it, and we can make a deal that you can afford. Some people can afford to pay the IRS $100 a month, a thousand, 10,000. Some people can’t afford to pay anything, and that’s what we’re going for.

We’re not going, if you can’t pay them $1,000 a month, we’ll make a deal where you don’t pay them $1,000 a month. And some people who are really in dire straits, we can do an offering compromise, and they can settle for a lot less going forward.

But even when you settle with an offering compromise, you’re entering into a contract. And the contract says for five years, you must file on time and pay on time. You’ve got to be good going forward.

Host 12:33
Very important to know. Again, floridattacksolvers.com, Steven Klitzner, the law office of Steven Klitzner, 305-682-1118. So I know it’s been a busy time for you with tax season, but people’s tax problems don’t really have a season, so it’s been busy for you year round.

Have you had the opportunity to continue with any of your lectures around the country with enrolled agents? I guess the enrolled agents are probably not going to a lot of seminars right now. They’re just trying to keep their job.

Steven Klitzner 13:04
Yeah, well, yeah, most of the time, this time of year, I don’t do a lot of seminars. A few webinars, but now that the tax prepares, the CPAs, enrolled agents, tax attorneys are kind of done with tax season.

Now it starts gearing up. And I’ve got several trips planned this year where I’ve been booked. I’ll be in Texas a few times here in Florida, Niagara Falls, where else we going this year? Utah, also I haven’t been there in a long time.

So I would say it’s always, it’s fun to do the seminars. I don’t have a whole lot of time to see anything when I’m there, but the best is I look for, I hope we have a seminar in a. town where they have an in and out burger. That’s kind of that’s that’s what I’m looking for.

Host 13:51
That’s a highlight. Well, good to know. And again, we just want to emphasize you were formally you served on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council, in addition to all your other accolades and accomplishments.

And hence, even the IRS looks to you for advice. So that certainly speaks well to taxpayers seeking your advice and counsel and representation. They just call 305-682-1118 law office of Steven Klitzner, floridataxsolvers.com right here in South Florida and the Florida Keys representing taxpayers before the IRS.

So Steven, I think we’ve touched on highlights this morning something or anything else we should have mentioned though at this time.

Steven Klitzner 14:36
Now, as usually got me pumped up for today, I can’t wait to start working. I get so excited after we talk. So I do and I do have a big day today.

Host 14:49
Yeah, well, you certainly deserve to be pumped up. You’ve accomplished a lot and you’ve helped scores and scores of people over the years before the IRS and you’re ready to take on even more. So 682-1118, make that 305 area code. Steven Klitzner floridataxsolvers.com. That is so well with that. Certainly we wish you and your family a very happy Easter season.

Safe travels when you do that. And we will talk again very soon. We appreciate your expertise and perspective because everybody certainly has some interaction with the IRS, some worse than others. So if it becomes that way, we encourage people to seek you out.

Steven Klitzner 15:35
Yep. I appreciate it. Always a pleasure.

Host 15:38
Thank you, sir. Same here. Take care. Bye bye. Bye now. Steven Klitzner, the law office of Steve Klitzner tax attorney floridataxsolvers.com online one more time 305-682-1118 to get a free consultation directly with Steve and his staff about your IRS situation.

It is 8:48 now. Keys talk 9691025. The talk of the keys and we’re going to take a quick break for Old Town Bakery and the Old Town Bakery break whereby you can step into Old Town Bakery. And when you do, you’ll take a step back to a simpler, sweeter time.

No doubt about it. Where your local bakery was the heart of the neighborhood. And you’ll see what I’m talking about when you step into Old Town Bakery as that. Well, it takes you back to a time where fresh baked treats, pastries, cookies, brownies, freshly baked every morning.

And that’s what they do at Old Town Bakery plus their hot delicious coffee and sandwiches as well. So take a break at Old Town Bakery for a bakery break. Or you can go online and you can get pick up a delivery and skip the line there as well. Online there at oldtownbakerykeywest.com. That’s oldtownbakerykeywest.com. Or visit the corner of Eaton and Grinnell in Old Town for Old Town Bakery and take that break yourself. Perfect thing to do on this.

Good Friday or Easter Sunday. Nice treat for the entire family. Make it part of your routine as well. It is 8:48 Keys Talk, 9691025. The Talk of the Keys will return with more of Good Morning Keys in just a moment.