Radio Interview (July 17, 2024)

Host 00:00
Welcome to Good Morning Keys, I’m Keith Stott, 96 .9, 1025. Now time to get to a familiar voice and familiar name, Steven Klitzner, FloridaTaxSolvers.com, Law Office of Steven Klitzner, and by the way, local phone number for appointments consultations, 305-682-1118.

Host 00:22
So good morning to you. We just heard your commercial a little while ago, and a lot of very informational points to it. But bottom line, don’t lose sleep over IRS tax problems. You need competent help and representation when facing the IRS.

Steven 00:38
That’s exactly right. You really do because, as I always say, the IRS won’t tell you your rights. They just want to collect the money. You need to exercise your rights so that you get a fair deal.

Host 00:53
They won’t tell you exactly that they are there to collect as much money as possible.

Host 00:58
But you and your office and your team know the IRS, you know the agents who they’re dealing with, and you know the playbook as well. So really, that is a significant advantage that the taxpayer just does not have.

Steven 01:13
Well, that’s true. And, you know, there’s a document, a long document, it’s a manual, and it’s called the Internal Revenue Manual. And this is the IRS playbook. This is something you need to know so you know what the IRS can and can’t do.

Steven 01:30
And they’ll deviate from that playbook. They don’t always follow it. And it’s my job to hold their feet to the fire. Well, we’ve talked about your qualifications in the past, but you’re also admitted to the United States Supreme Court.

Host 01:44
Now, that sounds very, very impressive. And you actually have a particular instance that you were going to tell us about.

Steven 01:52
Right. You know, when I was a young lawyer, I wanted to put as much on the wall as I can.

Steven 01:58
So I became a member of- of the United States Tax Court, where I do practice a lot in, Southern District of Florida, Federal District Court. These were very nice things, but nothing was nicer than having a document saying that I was admitted to the United States Supreme Court.

Steven 02:17
So when I was a lawyer for five years, I had my boss sponsor me, and I got my little certificate that I proudly hung on the wall, saying that I can actually practice at the United States Supreme Court.

Host 02:33
So a couple of years ago, when I was on the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Council, and I met with the IRS in Washington DC several times a year, I went over to the Supreme Court the day before our first meeting started, because I wanted to go take the tour.

Steven 02:53
I’m a member, let me go through here. So I get there, it was a little late in the afternoon, and as I get there, the doors closing to the Supreme Court room and the gentleman in front of it was standing there he had just closed the door and I walked up and I said I’d like to go for the tour and he said well everyone just got in that’s the last tour of the day I’m sorry you have to come back tomorrow which I couldn’t do and I said but they just walked in I can just walk in right behind him he said no once they’re in nobody else can go in I said but I see them they’re right beyond the door I’ll be very quiet I’ll open up the door very quietly I’ll walk in no one will even know I’m there he goes can’t go in that’s it once the doors closed it’s closed I said can I is there anybody I can talk to he says I am the final word I’m sorry you can’t go in and I was a very upset with that but then I realized something after all these years of being admitted to the Supreme Court I finally had a chance to argue my case at the United States Supreme Court now I lost he didn’t let me in but how many lawyers can say they were able to argue at the Supreme Court not that many

Host 04:13
well and had you persisted you may have had to represent yourself in criminal court as well

Steven 04:18
well that’s true I’ve never been in the Washington DC Criminal Court you know had I thought about that maybe I would have taken that leap but that was my that was my one chance very few cases of course ever go to the US Supreme Court or get argued there but I had my chance and just couldn’t make a good enough argument if he would have allowed me to give him a written argument maybe I would have had a chance but he said get out

Host 04:44
well that is noteworthy you were at the Supreme Court though and you argued your case many other cases you have argued very successfully and argued the well in defense of a number of taxpayers over the- Here’s we are speaking with Steven Klitzner,

Host 05:01
PA, East Tax Attorney, FloridaTaxSolvers.com online, 305-682-1118. Well, in addition to being admitted to the United States Supreme Court, Steven , also your charting charter member, Make That American Society of Tax Problem Solvers, member of Continuing Professional Education Committee, recipient of the organization’s Top Practitioner Award, something that I’m sure they don’t give out easily.

Host 05:27
You talked about having things on your wall as a young attorney. You must have many certificates and commendations on your wall these days.

Steven 05:36
Well, now I’ve got pictures of my, I didn’t have a family then.

Steven 05:39
Now I have all my family on the wall. Although there’s a couple of grandchildren who aren’t on there. They weren’t born yet when we finished the wall and I can’t bring them by the office. I don’t want them to see that I left them out.

Host 05:52
Good point. So let’s kind of go back in time just a little bit. We’ve talked a lot about when. a taxpayer or someone who should be a taxpayer, and maybe they’re not doing it as they should, they get a letter from the IRS.

Host 06:06
And that kind of starts what really won’t stop until, you know, you do take some action as a taxpayer. So don’t ignore those letters. That’s one of the first mantras that you often talk about.

Steven 06:18
Right, because a lot of those letters give you rights that expire after a certain period of time, sometimes 30 days, sometimes 90 days.

Steven 06:28
And once they expire, my job becomes a lot more difficult. We no longer have an absolute right to stop the IRS. We have to kind of play defense. And you never want to play defense with the IRS. You want to be able to have the leverage so that they can’t do anything until you’ve had a chance to make your argument.

Steven 06:50
And yeah, you’re right. I do pretty well for my clients much better than I do for me when it comes to arguing their cases.

Host 06:56
Yeah, well, that’s okay. You certainly do fight for your clients, you stick up for their rights, you inform them.

Host 07:03
And a lot of taxpayers really aren’t informed about what their rights are. And as you said, from the start here, the IRS isn’t going to really tell you that either. Again, it’s Steven Klitzner, tax attorney, law office of Steven Klitzner, also known as Florida Tax Solvers at FloridaTaxSolvers.com 305-682-1118.

Host 07:23
So some taxpayers may seem Steven, they may think rather, that they don’t have enough money to pay the IRS. So they may be hesitant to call you as well thinking that if they don’t have the money for their IRS, how are they going to get representation and pay for you as well?

Host 07:38
How do you address that?

Steven 07:40
Well, I always charge a flat fee and I work with my clients with paying me. I can’t always wait for them to pay me in full, because by that time, they may be homeless by the time the IRS gets done with them.

Steven 07:53
So I get started right away and we work out something because when Someone says, well, there’s not much they can do, I don’t have anything. That doesn’t mean the IRS won’t grab whatever it is in your bank account, whatever your wages are, and they could do that even though you don’t think you have anything to pay them.

Steven 08:15
You probably don’t. There’s a good chance you don’t. But unless we show the IRS what you do and don’t have, if they’re ignored, they’ll just deal with it from there. A lot of times, the IRS is sick and tired of contacting the person, calling them, writing them a letter, and they feel, okay, I’ve got to get their attention, let me just start taking things.

Steven 08:40
And that’s what we, of course, have to avoid all the time. And is it a 10 -year look back? I think you’ve mentioned it before, but they can only go about 10 years. Yeah. There are certain things that extend the 10 -year period of time.

Steven 08:54
And one of the first things I do… especially when I see older years are owed, is figure out when does that statute of limitations run. Every year, my clients save millions of dollars with the statute of limitations where they’re under the radar or the IRS, we get the IRS just to give up on them because there’s nothing to get and ultimately the 10 years runs and we pop the champagne because that truly gives someone a new lease on life and that 10 years is over.

Steven 09:29
And, you know, when they’re on the radar and the 10 years are coming up, now it’s really a fight against time because the IRS is trying to protect themselves and get as much as they can before their time limits up.

Host 09:44
Steven Klitzner is a tax attorney, the law office of Steven Klitzner, 305-682-1118 practicing in the Florida Keys and South Florida directly and locally as well protecting young rights before the IRS.

Host 09:59
And also you can protect your rights by contacting Steven if you were called up to the Supreme Court.

Steven 10:06
Yeah, if you have a case in front of the U .S. Supreme Court, I guarantee I’ll refer you to a lawyer that can help you.

Host 10:14
Well, everybody has their specialty. You’ve been there.

Steven 10:17
That’s right.

Host 10:18
You can certainly say that. So corporate taxes, payroll taxes, we have a lot of business owners listening to us right now, but corporate taxes are certainly a big deal when it comes to payroll taxes, unpaid payroll taxes, et cetera.

Host 10:32
What is the personal liability of the business owner when it comes to corporate tax liability?

Steven 10:39
Well, even if you have, if you owe payroll taxes, even if you’re a corporation, you’re going to be responsible for the portion of the payroll taxes that you withheld from the employees for Social Security medication.

Steven 10:57
care and withholding. The IRS looks at it and says wait a minute you gave your employee all their money and then you held some in trust for us that you withheld from them give us our money. Now most of the time the business doesn’t have the money that’s why they didn’t pay it but the IRS looks at it as you stole our money.

Steven 11:16
We want that from you personally so if you owe a hundred thousand dollars in payroll taxes sixty sixty five thousand of that of that amount part of the whole will be or could be your personal responsibility.

Steven 11:32
The big trick with payroll taxes is we’ve got to get it just like any other tax we have to get it under control going forward and then we can deal with the past. It’s much easier to deal with the past once the IRS knows that from here on out you’re going to be compliant.

Steven 11:52
file on time, pay on time. So that’s the big secret. There’s many businesses we have where the IRS is going after them, they’re levying the business, they’re levying their receivables. Once we get involved and get them current, the IRS will put the past not collectible because they can’t pay it.

Steven 12:09
Just be good going forward. So a corporation, LLC, etc., doesn’t necessarily shield the individual business owner then? No, not for the trust fund taxes, the money withheld from the employee. The business owes it all.

Steven 12:24
The owner owes about 60 -65% of it. Most businesses are S -corporations, so they don’t owe any income tax. Some are C -corporations, which may owe, but on an S -corporation, whatever the business profits goes directly to the owner’s tax return, and he or she owes taxes on that.

Host 12:48
Indeed. Steven Klitzner, the tax attorney, law office of Steven Klitzner at 305-682-1118. Lots of resources available to you online at FloridaTaxSolvers.com. But it all begins with taking control of your situation and calling Steven Klitzner, 305-682-1118.

Host 13:10
In action is certainly not a good plan to go by, and we’ve talked about that many times. So we are in the political season here, Steven. We could have a change in administration or not. There’s always talk about taxes and changes that may come if there’s a change in federal administration.

Host 13:30
Do you foresee any changes coming up with people’s taxes, tax rates, tax liabilities, et cetera, if there is a change at the federal level? Because, again, we keep hearing about all the additional IRS tax agents.

Host 13:46
Are people possibly waiting to see if there’s going to be a change before they address their own tax problems?

Steven 13:52
Yeah, I really don’t know that whatever happens in Washington in the fall is going to matter, especially short -term.

Steven 14:02
You know, if you’re a politician, if you’re running for office, you always want to say the things people want to hear. And the best thing to say is, we’re getting rid of the IRS. Don’t worry about it.

Steven 14:12
And the reality is, is the IRS is the only agency that collects money for the government. They can’t get rid of it, nor will they. And they’re not going to give everybody immunity who owes the IRS money.

Steven 14:24
So they’re still going, no. The only question is, is what direction the IRS is going to take over the next few years? They do have additional resources. They do have additional money. They have hired new people throughout, including collectors and auditors.

Steven 14:41
But I don’t really see that changing. You know, they say they’re going to go after the highest earners. Their idea of high earners may not be what the average person, an average person may think, well, I’m not a high earner.

Steven 14:57
And in fact, under the IRS, they really are.

Host 15:02
Well, bottom line is there’s a lot of unanswered questions and there’s a lot of aspects of the IRS that the individual taxpayer just doesn’t understand. You need competent representation to inform you of your rights and to protect those rights.

Host 15:17
FloridaTaxSolvers.com is where you go. Steven Klitzer, tax attorney in Florida, 305-682-1118. Free consultation is where it all starts. So Steven, we’ve covered a number of good topics again this morning and thank you also for at least fessing up as to how you did fair at the US Supreme Court.

Host 15:37
I’m sure if you were given the opportunity though, you probably would have prevailed.

Steven 15:41
Well, I appreciate your confidence. I should have brought you with me. I could have used a witness. Well, next, if it ever happens again, you let me know.

Host 15:50
We’ll get on a call and we’ll go there. So thank you very much for being here, Steven. We’ll talk soon. Take care.