Radio Interview on KeysTalk

Host 00:00
We now say good morning to our friend Steven Klitzner. He is Floridataxsolvers.com, the law office of Steven N. Klitzner, PA. Good morning to you, sir. How are you?

Steve Klitzner 00:00
Hi, Michael. Good morning. I’m great.

Host 00:11
Yes, so welcome back. You know, it is already March 12th, it is, and we are looking at looming deadlines for taxes, are we not?

Steve Klitzner 00:22
Yes, we are. We’ve got corporate taxes on the 15th of March. Yes. And we’ve got personal taxes on April 15th.

Host 00:30
Yes, we certainly do. Well, a number of people are scrambling to get at least an extension or their full taxes filed by those deadlines, but some other people have never even filed or have not filed for many years, and that can create some fairly big problems.

Steve Klitzner 00:47
That really can, especially when the IRS has information that they’ve made money. They may have been 1099, W -2, they may have sold property, had gambling winning, sold stock. Maybe they had a credit card forgiven for a large amount of money.

Steve Klitzner 01:06
The IRS has all those records, and if you don’t file a return, they’ll file for you. And if they don’t know where you currently live because you haven’t filed a return in so long, they’ll be sending all these notice letters to an old address, and before you know it, they could be taking your bank account, and you never even knew about it because you’ve moved from where you were last.

Steve Klitzner 01:30
So you have to be very careful and get yourself back on track.

Host 01:34
So, Steven, let’s give the local phone number, too, because you’re right here in South Florida as a local practitioner solving these tax problems.

Steve Klitzner 01:42
Right. It’s 305-682-1118. I never got a catchy number. That was what I got at the time. It should have spelled something out like Axlaw or something, but 305, yeah, that’s right. All these accounts I know, their numbers all end in 1040, but my number is 305-682-1118.

Host 02:09
And again, online Floridataxsolvers.com, so say you didn’t file taxes for a number of years or maybe didn’t pay everything that’s owed, etc.

Host 02:18
This process of the IRS contacting that person would start with letters, is that right?

Steve Klitzner 02:25
It would. It would. They don’t make any telephone calls anymore. They don’t never send you an email. They don’t even knock on your door anymore.

Steve Klitzner 02:35
They stop doing that. Initial contact always comes with a letter.

Host 02:40
And the fact that you didn’t get that letter, whether you didn’t change your address or whatever it might be, that is really not a defense, is it?

Steve Klitzner 02:47
No. You know, some people come to me and they say, they sent me a certified letter, but I fooled them. I didn’t pick it up. And some people even get the letters. And they don’t open it because they figure if they don’t open it, it won’t count against them.

Steve Klitzner 03:00
But it really, surely does. I can’t tell you how many times someone comes to my office with a stack of mail, all unopened. And it always smells like smoke. And there’s coffee stains. They’re drinking coffee.

Steve Klitzner 03:16
They’re not opening up the letter because they’re afraid. They’re scared. But that’s the opposite is what you should do. You need to open up the letters, especially the certified ones, because they give you certain rights.

Steve Klitzner 03:30
But I get it 100 percent. People are overwhelmed and they’re very scared of what is going to happen. And in the last few years, with the IRS not taking as much action, people feel a little more complacent.

Steve Klitzner 03:44
They’re not afraid. They get a letter. They may not be as afraid. But since December 2023, the IRS is back in business. They’re sending letters. And this time, they mean it.

Host 03:58
Well, it was kind of the calm before the storm where people may have gotten complacent and thinking that they were going to kind of get off scot -free without paying taxes or penalties, et cetera.

Host 04:07
But that is not the case. The IRS has tens of thousands of additional agents and they want their money.

Steve Klitzner 04:14
They do. And it doesn’t matter how much you owe. When they’ve got you and they’re working on your case, whether they sign it to a revenue officer or the people at the 800 number send you a letter, it doesn’t matter that you owe $10 ,000 or $10 million.

Steve Klitzner 04:35
You’re on the radar. They want to collect.

Host 04:38
Again, speaking with Steven Klitzner, Floridataxsolvers.com, 305-682-1118. That’s 305-682-1118. So say you get a letter, whether it’s one letter or you’ve let it pile up.

Host 04:56
The important thing is to get a hold of it, get help early, be proactive, and part of that really means getting professional help from yourself, but really defense is most important.

Steve Klitzner 05:09
There’s no question. You know, most of what I do, the taxpayer can’t do, but occasionally somebody calls me, my consultations are always free, and they tell me what’s going on, and I say, you know, that’s the best you can do. I can’t do better than that.

Steve Klitzner 05:24
They may owe $20 ,000, and they’re paying $300 a month, and they can afford it. I tell them, you have as good a deal as you’re going to get, but other people are in a deal that’s a really bad deal for them, that’s setting them up for failure, and that’s something they need us for.

Steve Klitzner 05:43
Also, offers in compromise. When you’re trying to settle for less, very complicated. Very difficult for someone to do on their own. There’s just too many pitfalls. There’s too many traps. It needs to be done Right.

Steve Klitzner 05:57
I mean we use software to do it And if we didn’t have the software we go back to the days where we did it by hand It was really difficult so you can imagine how tough it’s going to be for someone individually to try it on their ow.

Host 06:11
Again, it is Steven Klitzner Florida tax solvers com locally 305-682-1118 so as you mentioned there are some cases where some people might be able to get away with it By doing it themselves and addressing the IRS and what is owed themselves, and if that is the case You would consult them to do just that but as you mentioned there are many many instances Where people don’t have the tools or the skill set really to deal with the IRS?

Host 06:40
I mean you know you don’t do surgery upon yourself without having the skill set and it Beyond just the skills and the experience that you have which is quite extensive you have the relationships directly with the IRS agents as well.

Steve Klitzner 06:53
Yeah, there’s there’s no revenue officer to doing collections or revenue agent who handles Audits in South Florida that I haven’t dealt with before You know and and if they’re new then I certainly know who their manager is I probably knew their manager when they were a revenue officer so that really does help because They know when I’m on the case We’re looking to resolve it.

Steve Klitzner 07:21
You know when someone hires one of those companies 2 ,000 miles away who are faceless and nameless and Revenue officers dealing with them, but they basically not that they can ignore them But they just they know they’re not going to get the case done They become much more aggressive when I’m on the case They can back off a little bit knowing that we’re gonna try to come to a resolution that the IRS will accept and more importantly that my client can afford and accept

Host 07:56
Indeed Steven Klitzner he is uh… Floridataxsolvers.com online and uh… we had talked about this a little bit before but I’d alluded to your qualifications that make you uniquely qualified for dealing with the IRS including uh…

Host 08:12
you were admitted to the united states supreme court united states tax court united states court of appeals it goes on and on and uh… I was looking for it that we talked about it before but you are also if i can find it here the advisory body uh… designed to focus on broad policy matters uh… talk about that just a little bit

Steve Klitzner 08:30
Yeah I was appointed to the internal revenue service advisory council was a three -year term the term just ended and I was chair of my subcommittee and we met with the IRS five times a year and at the end of the year we reported directly to the commissioner.

Steve Klitzner 08:47
I had a chance to meet him and talk with him. And that really did give me an insight in how the IRS is thinking from the top. Now, unfortunately, the message the top sends down, like a game of telephone, by the time it gets to the lower levels, the message can be a little bit lost. It’s my job to keep that message going. But it’s important that when you’re dealing with somebody, and I don’t really call the IRS the adversary per se, they are, but we have to try to work together.

Steve Klitzner 09:22
We try not to make it adversarial if possible. But when you’re working with someone in that way, you have to understand what they think and what they think is important in order to do best for yourself.

Host 09:37
And there are some instances where it may even go to a tax court. And that is something that you are absolutely uniquely qualified to handle.

Steve Klitzner 09:48
Yeah, tax court is a great place, different than regular court people might be used to. It’s a great place really to get your best possible deal with the IRS. You don’t have to go to trial to get your best deal, but when you’re in court, they take it much more seriously. And it’s not like court that people know about.

Steve Klitzner 10:10
There’s no depositions and the client’s not really put out. There’s almost no interrogatories or any discovery. Everything is done a little more informally. Everything is stipulated to, there’s no jury trial.

Steve Klitzner 10:25
But the idea in tax court is to resolve the case because the IRS doesn’t wanna try those cases. They wanna resolve them too. So that’s really where we get our best deals. Not every case can go to tax court, but the ones that can, we do very well with.

Host 10:40
Yeah, so again, Steven Klitzner speaking with us, the Floridattacksolvers.com online and it is 305-682-1118. So there are a number of different solutions available should someone get into tax problems. But let’s talk about offers and compromise for a moment because some people are, I think, misled when they hear some marketing from far away firms that talk about, you know, you can reduce your amount, you owe, we can get you off the hook, that kind of thing.

Host 11:10
There is something called an offer and compromise that you can deal with. Talk about that specific solution.

Steve Klitzner 11:16
Well, and that’s the thing. I mean, you know, you have to do an analysis first. Not everyone’s eligible for an offer and compromise. I have people that owe $100 ,000 that we settle for $100 and other people owe twice that and they pay every penny. It’s all based on ability to pay. It’s not a business decision, not even common sense. We look at property. The IRS wants 80% of the value of your property. minus what you owe on it. We look at your money. The IRS wants basically your savings, investments, IRS 401Ks, the majority of that.

Steve Klitzner 11:54
Some people have neither property nor money, and they can make a better deal. The people that have a house with equity, someone will say to me, I have a house, and I said, well, what’s it worth? And they tell me how much you owe, it’s paid for.

Steve Klitzner 12:07
I say, this is horrible news. Because the good news is the bad news. What’s good for you is bad for your case. What’s bad for you is good for your case. The other thing they look at is income. Do you have the ability to pay this over time?

Steve Klitzner 12:21
If you owe so much money, which is ironic, the more you owe, the easier it is to get a deal. If you owe so much money that I can show, it can never be paid, and we offer everything now that they’re ever going to get, the IRS will accept it.

Steve Klitzner 12:37
But every case is different. Cases where people owe, we had a case where we settled for $100, where they owed as much as $455 ,000. We’ve had cases where they owed $200 ,000, we settled for $37 ,328, because it’s all based on exact numbers.

Steve Klitzner 12:57
And everybody, as I say, has a different case. And here’s the reason, and people have to understand this. If you could just call the IRS, or just make a deal with them, three, four, five years down the road, no one would ever pay their taxes.

Steve Klitzner 13:14
If word got out about that, it would create some chaos. They don’t want to send the wrong message that if you don’t pay your taxes, no problem, we’ll waive interest, we’ll waive penalty, we’ll make you a deal, we’ll take 60 cents on the dollar, doesn’t work that way, it’s based on the individual.

Host 13:30
Again, Steven Klitzner speaking with us, Floridattacksolvers .com. You can request an appointment online with Steven Klitzner and certainly get to your tax problems back on the right track and getting a solution to them.

Host 13:44
You’ve said before too, Steve, that getting current, getting paid, let’s say, with the current year is really what they want to see. So you kind of got to get started with what you’re currently due first to the IRS.

Host 13:59
So with the tax deadlines coming up, would it be true that you would consult people, look, just get the taxes in that are for the current term and then let’s start working on what’s owed after that?

Steve Klitzner 14:11
Yes, the IRS will always deal with you in the past as long as you’re caught up and you’re good going forward. Then they’ll look at the past, you know, with the business, with payroll taxes. If you can’t keep filing and paying your payroll returns, they do want to put you out of business because they’re not getting any money now and it’s getting worse every quarter.

Steve Klitzner 14:35
But if you get caught up, if you’re good going forward. They’ll work with you on the past. Sometimes you might be uncollectible on the past. That’s fine. Just stay current now going forward.

Host 14:48
Yeah, well, and get it addressed. Excuse me. And, you know, get, get going really is kind of the word. Um, Steven Klitzner, Floridattacksolvers .com, 305-682-1118. So, uh, again, filing deadline is coming up. And just because people haven’t filed in the past or have fallen behind doesn’t mean that they’re bad or bad business people or whatever.

Host 15:12
Everybody has a different circumstance, but the important thing is to address it.

Steve Klitzner 15:16
Yeah. You know, I spoke to a lady last week and she hasn’t filed in a couple of years. She owes for old tax returns along with her husband, but things happened in their life. He lost his job. They were taking money out of their 401k and couldn’t pay the taxes on it. They were really living less than, than, than they could afford. They couldn’t even pay their bills. They were borrowing money to pay their bills. That’s why they fell behind. But now he has a job. The job looks like it will start paying money. We’ve got to catch them up and make a deal to pay off the old taxes. We’re not going to be paying off a lot of them. It’s probably going to be a, a partial pay installment agreement where they’re only paying a couple hundred dollars a month, but at least they’re now in the good graces of the IRS. They’re not going to get levied.

Steve Klitzner 16:09
No one’s taken their bank account. Their passport is safe because if you owe over $62 ,000, your passport’s at issue and, and they’re back in the good graces. The IRS understands this is what we can get now, but these people are now good people and they’re filing going forward.

Host 16:29
So that’s really the important thing. Yeah. And it also is really the level of stress must be reduced greatly just to take it off of their shoulders and put it squarely in. your situation and you know within your jurisdiction because again you are the one that’s qualified to do this and People can get on with their lives knowing that this has been addressed

Steve Klitzner 16:50
And everyone’s got a different toleration for the pain some people say look I borrow in the money I’m just paying the IRS. I can’t deal with this anymore And then I remember I had one client a while back. He said can I just go to jail? They forgive it that way But then I met it as soon to be ex -wife, and I understood more why I wanted to go to jail But it doesn’t work that way. Yes, you’ve got to deal with it and but you know It’s one of those things. It’s like the old Attage of eating a frog first thing in the morning and getting it done with once you take hold of it It’s never as tough as you thought it would be and you feel so much better Because you’re not looking over your shoulder or checking your bank account to see if the money’s still there every day.

Host 17:38
Well yes and the IRS is not going to go away they’re going to continue to pursue you till they get their money so the best thing to do floridataxsolvers.com online 305-682-1118 right here in South Florida the expertise of Steven Klitzner a tax attorney and again make sure you make those deadlines of uh… March 15th for corporate and uh… April 15th for personal tax filing deadlines are coming up but uh… get in touch with Steven right away to address any tax problems you have from previous uh… periods as well so Steven I think we’ve covered uh… some of the topics here today there will be certainly more to talk about in the future anything you’d like to mention at this time.

Host 18:18
No, I don’t think so as usual high really appreciate being on your show uh… and and I should i got you really say nice things about me I should bring you around when I go places might go to a networking family have you come with me Michael I don’t have to talk I would uh… I’d be happy to do that well it’s my firm belief that uh…

Host 18:38
there are a lot of people throughout the entire keys of course we cover from key west all the way up into Miami but there are a number of people out there who may be uh… have ignored their IRS tax problems for too long and could truly benefit from your expertise and uh…

Host 18:53
I’ve come to appreciate your uh… well not only the the background that you have in the skill set that you bring to the topic but also your diligence and dedication to really working in the best interest of your client that comes through most obviously I appreciate it sir so thank you you have a wonderful day sir and we’ll talk again

Steve Klitzner 19:12
You too thanks.

Host 19:13
Take care by now Steven Klitzner he is uh… tax attorney floridataxsolvers.com online requested consultation as well as you can call them directly 305-682-1118. This is good morning keys we return in just a moment