Radio Interview (September 27, 2024)

Host 00:00
Let’s get to Steven Klitzner. He is back with us. He is the IRS tax attorney, the law office of Steven Klitzner, P .A., and good morning to you, Steven.

Steven Klitzner 00:10
Well, good morning, Michael. How are you doing today?

Host 00:12
I’m doing well. So, I was on your website and it’s trying to chat with me, so I guess I’d rather chat with you as well. You can get right on that website and chat with the experts as well, by the way, floridataxsolvers.com or better yet, call locally, 305 -682 -1118.

Host 00:32
So Steven, we’ve talked in the past about tax problems and how they can occur, but it’s a little bit more imperative now because we’ve got another deadline coming up with October 15th.

Steven Klitzner 00:43
Right. Many people have filed an extension, so they didn’t file April 15th. Now they must by October 15th. If you don’t file, the penalty based on the money you owe is 4 .5% a month until it hits 22 .5%. So it’s necessary if you did an extension to file by October 15th. Now that is not, and that was not, an extension to pay.

Steven Klitzner 01:19
Payment was due April 15th. You’re getting hit now with half percent a month penalty, even if you file and pay by October 15th. You’re also getting hit with interest, which is now 8%. So if you haven’t filed and you did an extension, make sure you get it in by October 15th.

Steven Klitzner 01:39
Pay it as soon as you can. You’ll get a small bill for penalty and interest, which you also should just take care of.

Host 01:46
So the penalty and interest is on the tax amount due that you did not pay. Is that right?

Steven Klitzner 01:50
Yeah, you know, and many folks don’t file the extension and write away for it. and a half percent plus a half percent for not paying plus interest it really adds up fast.

Host 02:06
Wow so the IRS is not likely to forgive those interests and penalties are they?

Steven Klitzner 02:10
Never on the interest the interest is the interest penalty they’ll forgive if you have reasonable cause you know people call me all the time and they say all right well here’s what I owe well what about the penalty of interest I’m just telling you the tax that’s all I’m going to pay I’m not paying more my answer is yeah you kind of are because they don’t just waive it penalty you can get waived if it’s the first time but interest goes up every single day if you send them a check by the time it clears you may get a small bill for more interest that didn’t clear them.

Host 02:45
So if you don’t pay that interest it can continue to compound and they can come after you for that alone.

Steven Klitzner 02:51
Yeah really Ken now of course if it’s a small amount they don’t come after you maybe they’ll keep a refund they’re not going to levy your account for a few dollars but you know you will get those bills and they’re very consistent with that.

Steven Klitzner 03:05
I had a guy call me and he worked in a car dealership in the finance department and he said will they waive penalty and interest and I had to say to him this I had to say wait a minute if someone is late paying on the car do you just say don’t worry we’ll waive the interest and the penalty if someone’s late and they call you and it’s the first time yeah you’ll waive it but you’re not going to continue to waive it if they continue to be late and that’s really how the IRS is they don’t make business decisions where they just say okay just give us this it’s like here’s our number here’s what we want.

Host 03:45
Steven Klitzner is with us the IRS tax attorney law office of Steven Klitzner PA 305 -682 -1118 your local community -based tax attorney but certainly has well national renown and resources as well so Steven talk about the difference between the S corp and the C corp for small business owners in terms of deadlines.

Steven Klitzner 04:09
Right well the the S corp doesn’t pay taxes whatever the S corp profits goes directly to the owner with the K1. C corps also pay taxes and the deadlines for those even with the extensions has now passed so you know it’s important that if you have an S corp if you have a C corp I really urge people if they can file on time with the corporations in March and the personal in April get it filed on time don’t just do an extension push your accountant get a good accountant get them the information.

Steven Klitzner 04:51
early and push to get it done on time. One of the reasons is because if you do an extension, the IRS has three years to audit, you give them another six months to audit. Just try to get it done on time and it’s it’s great when you get your return done in April because you don’t have to think about it all summer.

Steven Klitzner 05:12
You don’t have to call your accountant in September. You don’t have to work on it the last minute in October. So early is better than late in my mind.

Host 05:21
Yeah, yeah and it’s it’s the C -corps that can get extended to October 15th or is it the S -corp? It’s the C -corp.

Steven Klitzner 05:27
Oh no, it is the C -corp and yeah and the C -corp can get their extension too and you know most small businesses are S -corps. Most of the time when a client calls me and tells me they have a C -corp, I ask them why and they say I don’t know.

Steven Klitzner 05:44
We just set up that way or they say it was supposed to be an S -corp. Generally S -corps are better for for the regular the regular business

Host 05:53
Interesting as you said then uh… profits uh… do flow through to the uh… individual uh… stakeholders but uh… the losses do go through to their taxes as well right

Steven Klitzner 06:03
Right absolutely you know some people don’t choose not to incorporate and what they do is they put their business on their schedule see on their return and that has some advantages although i think if you look at it most of the time yes court has more tax advantages but one big disadvantage about doing it on your own return on your schedule see your business you have more of a chance of getting audited then if you’re an escort best crops don’t usually get audited and uh…

Steven Klitzner 06:38
may still have a small chance don’t get me wrong it’s a very small percentage of audit but it’s more likely if you put your business on your own return

Host 06:48
Uh… that’s interesting to Steven Klitzner law office of Steven Klitznertax attorney floridataxsolvers.com online 305 -682 -1118eight so the IRS well it seems like they continually get more aggressive yet more agents get more resources were hearing during election season he would said earlier is that what was it say what you want pay later is that right uh…

Steven Klitzner 07:15
Well politicians this time of year say what they need to say to get elective doesn’t matter which side uh… you’re on that you say what you what will make people happy then you deal with it later it’s like oh yeah i forgot about that alright let me deal with that and it’s very hard i mean some of the promises can’t go through because remember president comes in and says i want this tax cut i want this done tax -wise congress has to pass it both both uh…

Steven Klitzner 07:48
the senate and the house have to pass it Nowadays, without majorities, it’s very hard to get cooperation on both sides of the aisle. So it’s real hard to get things passed unless you have the majority in the Senate, the House, and in the White House.

Steven Klitzner 08:05
But you know, and we’ve seen some promises from both sides about no tax on tips. I think I’m going to have to just charge people like a dollar an hour and have them tip me the rest of the money. I don’t know that that could ever go through.

Steven Klitzner 08:23
Tips are part of taxes. You know, no tax on overtime. That sounds good also. But I don’t know that Congress would ever pass no tax on overtime. That’s part of your earnings. That’s part of your income.

Steven Klitzner 08:38
But that’s not up to me. And whatever law they pass, I’ll just deal with. when it comes to taking care of my client’s IRS problems.

Host 08:46
Yeah, well, and it is interesting. They’re all talking about tax cuts and making it easier on the taxpayer, et cetera.

Host 08:53
We also all know, excuse me, that there’s a pretty large debt to deal with, so the IRS is not gonna get soft and take less money over time. And you said deal with it later as some of the, well, what some of the politicians are doing, unfortunately, a number of taxpayers do that as well, and they just deal with it later.

Host 09:12
They get a letter from the IRS, put it aside, it starts to stack up. And before we know it, it’s too late to deal with it, really.

Steven Klitzner 09:21
Yeah, it really is. Well, when I say they won’t waive penalty unless there’s reasonable cause, they never waive interest, I guess the question is then what am I doing?

Steven Klitzner 09:32
What am I doing for my client? Well, some of them can’t afford to pay and they’re either not collectible or we could do an offer in compromise. And those that can afford to pay generally need time. And it’s my job to keep the IRS off their back and protect them from the IRS levying their bank account, their income, taking away their passport.

Steven Klitzner 09:55
Those are the things I need to do when I’m on the case to kind of quarterback it, to kind of manage it so that the taxpayer can go on with their lives and still make arrangements to pay back the IRS over time.

Steven Klitzner 10:09
Some people pay it all. Some people, we make a deal and they pay less. Some people, the 10 -year statute of limitations runs and a lot of it is forgiven.

Host 10:19
Yeah, Steven Klitzner, tax attorney of the floridataxsolvers.com online, located in South Florida and practicing throughout the Keys as well, helping many taxpayers resolve their tax problems with the IRS.

Host 10:33
And you had mentioned, well, what do you do for your clients? You also really, you’re kind of the buffer between them and the IRS, if I can say, you have the relationships with the IRS. IRS agents here locally.

Host 10:46
They respect you. In fact, you’ve been a noted key speaker at a number of seminars with IRS tax agents, et cetera. You have a very good picture on your website that you look like you’re kind of running for president there in a red tie and speaking to a crowd, so I wanted to commend you for that.

Host 11:01
Point being, though, that you’re very, very credible, very respected by the IRS, and they certainly, again, you are able to solve those problems in a way that this simple taxpayer just cannot.

Steven Klitzner 11:15
Yeah, and then because this is all I do and I’ve been doing it so long, there’s no revenue officer on collections or revenue agent on audits or managers or area directors or territory managers or appeals officers that I haven’t dealt with before,

Steven Klitzner 11:30
unless they’re brand new, and then I introduce myself and start that relationship. And the relationship, of course, I’ve got to advocate for my client. And I also have to balance cooperation because you have to cooperate, you’re under the law, you must cooperate and give the IRS what they’re entitled to.

Steven Klitzner 11:52
But that doesn’t mean we roll over. We have to make the best deal for our clients and not set them up for failure.

Host 12:00
Well, Steven, we had talked about unfiled returns. Again, another deadline coming up very soon for those who have filed an extension.

Host 12:10
But unfiled returns really can compound upon themselves. But the first step to try to resolve that is start on the right path and get a file on file. And that’s what the IRS wants to see and then deal with the rest of it, right?

Steven Klitzner 12:25
Right. You have to get them filed first. And very often, you know, people are under the radar and the IRS is leaving them alone. But the IRS has started to go out and come in and say, we’re going to go after non -filers.

Steven Klitzner 12:43
They’re generally looking at non -filers with more income. They’ve collected millions of dollars already with their new program to go after non -filers. That doesn’t mean the person with a hundred thousand dollar 1099 who hasn’t filed is safe because the computer hits the button and all of a sudden the IRS says, if you don’t file your return, we’re going to file for you.

Steven Klitzner 13:08
And of course, if the IRS files for you, they don’t take any business deductions. They don’t take any dependents. They put just single everything that’s best for them. And you’re going to generally pay a lot more tax if they file for you.

Steven Klitzner 13:23
So the idea is before you even get the first letter at the very least, get the returns prepared. I always tell people they only have to go back six years. They don’t have to file in 2024. They don’t have to file 2017 and before next in a few.

Steven Klitzner 13:43
months will be they don’t have to file 2018 in before but at the very very least get started get the returns prepared it may not be as bad as you think it is and you’ll be able to sleep at night

Host 13:55
Yeah Steven Klitzner law office of Steven Klitzner tax attorney 305 -682 -1118 for a consultation and you’ve said also the IRS is very good at finding non filers they’re not going to just let you go on forever not paying taxes and it’s gonna catch up with you the first thing to do when you get that first letter is to call Steven Klitzner and he will advise you on the best course going forward so again October 15th that extension deadline will be coming up and also audits will be continuing ongoing no matter what the deadline

Steven Klitzner 14:32
yes and and well I’m gonna give you one stat the IRS has collected 1 .3 billion dollars from high income high -wealth individuals since the Inflation Reduction Act.

Steven Klitzner 14:46
And in the first six months, they recovered $172 million from 21 ,000 high -income people who haven’t filed their returns. So yes, that’s their focus, but the little guy is not exempt either. These are people who are making at least $400 ,000, but that does not mean you are safe if you made less. Get ahead of this.

Host 15:14
Yeah, and it’s interesting that high -income earners do have the ability to hire an accountant to take care of this, but some of them just let it go by the wayside for whatever reason.

Steven Klitzner 15:24
Right. Well, because everybody gets overwhelmed, and after a year, two years and you fall behind, you just don’t know what to do. I get it 100 percent, but whether it’s because the IRS makes you do it or more favorably to you, whether you take it upon yourself to do it, you’ve got to get going and put this behind you, no matter what your age.

Steven Klitzner 15:49
If you’re 30, 40, 50, you’ve got a lot of years ahead of you. Why are you looking over your shoulders? If you’re 60, 70 years old, you don’t need this in your later years. You want to relax. You want to enjoy your life.

Steven Klitzner 16:01
You don’t need to be worried that the, well, they’re not ringing doorbells, but that the letter’s coming, and here comes the IRS. Because when they take control, it’s a lot more difficult than when we take control.

Host 16:15
Well, again, speaking of taking control, Steven Klitzner, tax attorney, floridataxsolvers.com, 305 -682 -1118, practicing for many years and representing taxpayers in South Florida and Monroe County as well.

Host 16:29
And let’s also mention, again, emphasizing that you are local, you’re involved in the community, as opposed to an 800 number calling somewhere, and we’ve all heard different solicitations for other…

Host 16:42
firms that say they will solve your tax problems, they don’t have the local relationships, the knowledge that is respected worldwide to deal with your case like you can.

Steven Klitzner 16:51
Yeah, the common thing, the first thing a lot of people say to me is I hired this outfit out of Colorado or California and I thought I don’t know, but it sounded good and I should have known.

Steven Klitzner 17:04
I should have realized they weren’t going to help me, you know, the local IRS people when they see one of these national companies, they just roll their eyes because they know they’re not getting cooperation.

Steven Klitzner 17:16
They know things aren’t going to get done and it’s just you’re throwing away your money. If you’re going to throw away money, just give it to the IRS on the debt, you’re better off doing that than hiring one of these companies who you’re never going to hear from again.

Host 17:31
Well again, Steven Klitzer, it’s 305 -682 -1118. There’s a lot of different reasons that people get into tax problems, not filing, falling behind on their payments, etc. The best course of action is to call Steven Klitzner and he can advise you where to go and what to do and also don’t think that if I can’t pay my taxes, how can I pay someone like Steven Klitzner?

Host 17:55
This really is the best course of action and pre -consultation is the way to start.

Steven Klitzner 18:00
Right, absolutely. I always give a free consultation, tell you everything you need to know. If it’s something that doesn’t make sense to hire me because it’s not enough money, I’ll tell you what to do.

Steven Klitzner 18:11
But more times than not, people do need me and I charge a flat fee, it covers everything to the end of the case and I work with my clients to pay me over time. We don’t like to wait too long but of course, we’ll work with them.

Steven Klitzner 18:25
I need to get started on many cases immediately which is in my client’s best interest and when I charge a flat fee, they also know that I have a real interest in resolving their case as opposed to letting it hang around for years and years.

Host 18:43
Yes, indeed. Steven Klitzner, tax attorney 305 -682 -1118 and floridataxsolvers.com online. So, Steven, also timely information today. We appreciate you lending your expertise to us. Is there anything else that we should mention at this time?

Steven Klitzner 19:01
No, it’s my pleasure as always, Michael. I appreciate it and stay dry and stay well.

Host 19:07
Well thank you. Taxes are a topic that affects everyone listening so it’s important to gain knowledge about that and we certainly appreciate your expertise as mentioned, 305 -682 -1118.

Host 19:19
Meet Steven Klitzner at floridataxsolvers.com. Steven, thank you very much. Have a great weekend. We’ll talk soon.

Steven Klitzner 19:25
You too. Thanks.

Host 19:26
Bye now.