The Collector(IRS).

Every single one.

Flagged. Filed. Dated. Indexed to a Social Security number that now sits near the top of an enforcement priority list.

Here is what the man on the other end of my phone did not understand when he started this in 2014. The IRS does not debate you. It does not write back to argue your legal theory. It does not send a representative to explain why you are wrong.

It waits.

Twelve years of affidavits asserting his labor was not gross income. Twelve years of citing 26 USC 83. Twelve years of interpreting IRS silence as agreement.

The Collector was not agreeing.

The Collector was building a file.

Under IRC Section 6702, every frivolous submission carries a five thousand dollar penalty. Assessed administratively. No court. No hearing. No warning shot. Just a bill.

He mailed twelve of them.

Do the math.

That is sixty thousand dollars in penalty exposure sitting on top of whatever taxes he actually owes. And on top of twelve years of Substitute for Return assessments the IRS has been quietly preparing in the background, using his gross income, with zero deductions, zero credits, zero exemptions.

He had no idea any of it existed.

He thought he was protected.

He called me because a CC-63 letter showed up holding his refund and for the first time in twelve years, the silence broke.

That letter was not the IRS playing games.

That was The Collector clearing his throat.

If you are a federal employee and you have unfiled returns or an open enforcement issue, I need you to read this next part carefully.

The IRS runs a program called FERDI. The Federal Employee/Retiree Delinquency Initiative. They cross-reference federal payroll records against tax filing compliance data. They know who you are. They know where you work. They know you have not filed.

Federal workforce reductions are happening right now at a scale this country has not seen in decades. An open tax compliance issue is the cleanest, quietest reason an agency can give to let someone go. No performance review. No HR battle. No appeal.

Just a flag and a final paycheck.

The thirty-day warning to get compliant used to be standard. It is not standard anymore.

Here is the good news.

This is fixable. Every year of unfiled returns is fixable. The penalties are negotiable with the right reasonable-cause argument. The SFR assessments can be replaced with real returns that actually reflect what you owe. The refunds that are still inside the three-year window can be recovered.

But none of that starts until you step inside the door.

You cannot negotiate with The Collector from the outside.

If you are ready to step inside, here is how you reach me.

Call 909-570-1103. If you are bleeding right now, this is the fastest door. Pick up the phone.

If you want to start by telling me what you are dealing with in writing, go to CallTaxEA.com and book a time. Either way, I will see it the same day.

The Collector does not take holidays. Neither do I.

To your survival,

Carlos Samaniego, EA Enrolled Agent | NTPI Fellow The Tax Debt Detective

P.S. The man who called me that morning is now filing twelve years of returns. We are also building a reasonable-cause argument to fight the frivolous filing penalties before they assess. He waited twelve years to make that call. If any part of this email sounded like your situation, do not wait twelve years. Do not wait twelve days. The paper trail you built is the case against you. The paper trail we build starting now is the case for you.

The post He Mailed the IRS the Same Letter Twelve Years in a Row. Guess Who Was Reading Them. appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

Ray was 65 years old when the letter arrived.

It had been forwarded from his old California address — the house he’d sold after his wife died, after the heart attack, after the doctors told him to slow down or else.

$47,488.74.

Tax year 2018.

A year he had already paid.

He knew he’d paid it. He had the return. He had the receipts. He had proof.

So he did what most people do.

He hired someone to fix it.

Then he hired someone else when the first one disappeared.

Then a third company — the confident one with the big website and the toll-free number — told him an Offer in Compromise was the move.

Settle for pennies on the dollar. Classic resolution play. 

Ray believed them.

He paid them.

Three companies. Three checks. Thirty thousand dollars total.

When I pulled his file I found $312,909 in assets and $3,629 a month in residual income that none of them had disclosed on his offer.

The IRS would have found that in fifteen minutes.

That OIC wasn’t a rescue plan.

It was a live grenade dressed up as a life raft.

Ray had spent two years, thirty thousand dollars, and what was left of his health trusting the wrong people.

Does any part of Ray’s story sound familiar?

The ignored notice.

The company that went quiet after cashing your check.

The promise that never turned into a resolution.

If you are sitting on an IRS problem right now — whether it’s been six weeks or six years — I want to talk to you.

Not to sell you something.

To tell you the truth about where you actually stand.

Because the truth — even when it’s hard — is the only thing that gets you out of this.

Book a call with me directly at CallTaxEA.com 

Or call me 909-570-1103 . Real person. Real answers.

Until tomorrow,

Carlos Samaniego EA
TaxDebtConsultant.com 

Tax Debt Consultant

P.S. My voice is gettting stronger by the day. Its still only at 70% but will be back soon.

The post He paid $30,000 and got betrayed three times. appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

THE PROMISE THIEF

A Tax Underworld Story

CHAPTER ONE

The letter was postmarked six weeks ago.

Frank almost missed it.

It had gone to the old California address first — the house he’d sold after the funeral, after the hospital, after the doctors started using words like stent and permanent damage and you need to slow down. The forwarding address had caught it eventually. Slow mail from a slow bureaucracy.

He set it on the kitchen table in his Florida rental and stared at it for a long time before he opened it.

$47,488.74.

Tax year 2018.

He read it again. Checked the entity name. Coastal Meridian Services. That was him. That was his company. The one he’d built over thirty years with his hands and his reputation and not much else. The one he’d kept running through his wife’s illness, through her death, through his own body trying to quit on him.

He said one word out loud.

I won’t print it here.

CHAPTER TWO

Here’s what Frank knew for certain.

He had paid 2018. He had the return. He had proof of payment. He had hired a professional — a licensed preparer — who had filed everything correctly, sent the check, and closed the year.

He knew this the same way he knew his own name.

So the letter made no sense.

He made a call. Left a message with the first company. Nobody called back. He called again. Got a voicemail that sounded like it hadn’t been checked in months.

The Behemoth had sent the notice.

But the first wound came from inside the house.

He found a second firm. Big website. Testimonials. A toll-free number with a hold message that sounded like somebody cared. He paid them. They told him they were working on it.

Then they went quiet the way companies go quiet when they’ve already deposited your check.

Frank waited.

Nobody came.

He found a third company. This one had answers. Confident answers. The kind of answers a tired, grieving, half-rebuilt man desperately wants to hear. They told him the OIC was the move — Offer in Compromise, settle the debt for pennies on the dollar, textbook resolution.

They filed it.

They told him to be patient.

They told him this was how it worked.

Frank believed them.

He was 65 years old and worn down to the bone and he just wanted someone to handle it.

He paid them too.

Three companies. Three checks. Three promises.

CHAPTER THREE

Meet the Promise Thief.

He doesn’t break into your house. He doesn’t threaten you. He shakes your hand, takes your money, and vanishes — leaving you exactly where you started, except now you’re broke, more exposed than before, and running out of time.

The Promise Thief doesn’t wear a mask.

He wears a polo shirt and hands you a business card.

He knows you’re scared. He knows you’ve been hiding from that IRS notice sitting on your kitchen counter. He knows that fear makes people desperate — and desperate people don’t ask hard questions.

That’s his business model.

Frank had paid three of them a combined $30,000.

And he was worse off than the day the first letter arrived.

CHAPTER FOUR

I pulled the OIC off the portal.

Sat down with the numbers.

And felt that particular kind of cold you only feel when the damage wasn’t done by the IRS.

The offer listed Frank’s assets at something close to nothing. It listed his monthly residual income at a figure that would make a man with $2,629 left over every month stare at the page in disbelief.

What the offer didn’t list — what the Promise Thief had quietly, professionally, deliberately omitted — was $412,909 in assets.

Real assets. Documented assets. Assets the IRS would find in approximately fifteen minutes once they got serious about looking.

I stared at that number.

Then I stared at it again.

The IRS hadn’t built this trap.

The trap was already loaded and cocked when Frank walked into that third office, checkbook in hand, looking for someone to finally save him.

He hadn’t found a rescuer.

He’d found a man who handed him a live grenade and told him it was a life raft.

An OIC with $412,909 in assets doesn’t get negotiated down.

It gets rejected. Flagged. Investigated.

And the man who filed it was long gone — onto the next Frank, the next desperate phone call, the next check.

CHAPTER FIVE

Frank called me from Florida on a Tuesday morning.

He was calm the way people get calm after they’ve been hit too many times to panic anymore.

“I don’t care what it costs,” he said. “I just want someone to actually fix it.”

I hear that line a lot in this business.

But Frank meant it differently.

He wasn’t negotiating price.

He was telling me he had nothing left to lose.

Except he did.

Coastal Meridian Services was still running. Still had his name on the door. Still the thing he’d dragged himself back to after the hospital, after the graveside service, after the worst two years of his life.

It was the last thing standing.

And the IRS was three moves away from taking it.

CHAPTER SIX

Here’s what nobody told Frank.

Not the first company. Not the second. Not the Promise Thief with his confident answers and his OIC paperwork.

Nobody told him that hiding from the IRS — even unintentionally, even through bad advice, even while paying other people to handle it — makes everything worse.

Every sunrise the problem sits unsolved, the Penalty Pig feeds.

Interest compounds. Flags get added to files. The window for real solutions gets smaller.

The IRS isn’t waiting for you to feel ready.

They’re just waiting.

And while Frank was trusting the wrong people, the clock never stopped.

THIS IS WHERE THE STORY CHANGES

Frank’s case isn’t unique.

I’ve seen this pattern a hundred times. Good people. Real problems. Wrong hands.

The IRS sends a notice. Fear kicks in. Someone Googles “tax relief” and finds the Promise Thief — dressed up as a law firm, a resolution company, a team of experts who’ve seen it all before.

They take the money. They file something. They disappear.

And the person who needed help is left holding a worse situation than they started with.

If you are hiding from an IRS notice right now — shoving it in a drawer, letting it forward to an old address, hoping it resolves itself — I wrote something for you.

It’s called Stop Hiding From The IRS.

It’s free.

No catch. No sales call required to unlock it. No form that routes you to a closer.

Just the truth about what the IRS actually does, how the process actually works, and how to stop being afraid of an envelope.

Because the envelope isn’t your biggest problem.

The Promise Thief is.

And the longer you wait, the more time he has to find you first.

GET YOUR FREE COPY AT STOPHIDINGFROMIRS.COM

The post The Promise Thief: How Three Tax Companies Took $30,000 From a Grieving Widower and Left Him Worse Off Than Before appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

April 15 is 23 days away.

My team handles IRS resolution.

That’s our main mission. But we also prepare tax returns for our clients that has past due returns.

And Liz just told me we have room for a few more clients before the deadline hits.

So if you still need your 2025 return filed, this is your window.

Here’s the situation in plain English.

If you can get us your documents by April 1, we can guarantee your return is filed by April 15.

No scrambling. No last-minute panic. Done and filed.

If you can’t get everything together by April 1, we can file an extension. But I need you to understand something important about extensions that most people get wrong. 

An extension gives you more time to file. It does not give you more time to pay.

If you owe money, that balance is still due April 15.

Whether we file an extension or not.

The extension just keeps you from getting hit with a failure-to-file penalty on top of whatever you owe. The payment obligation doesn’t move.

So don’t sit on this thinking an extension buys you breathing room on a tax bill. It doesn’t work that way. 

What it does do is protect you from one more penalty piling on. And in the tax world, every penalty you avoid is a win.

Here’s what to do right now.

Email Liz directly at Liz@TaxDebtConsultant.com.

Tell her you need your return done. She’ll reach out to you, get you set up, and we’ll take it from there.

No long intake process. No complicated forms. Just email Liz and let her handle the rest.

23 days goes fast.

Especially when you’re busy and the last thing you want to think about is taxes.

But unfiled returns are how IRS problems start.

Don’t hand them that weapon.

Email Liz now at Liz@TaxDebtConsultant.com.

Let’s get it done.

Carlos Samaniego, EA The Tax Debt Detective TaxDebtConsultant.com 

Have questions about tax debt in addition to filing? Call us at 909-570-1103 or visit CallTaxEA.com. 

The post Tax Filing Urgency appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

“Treat what kills first.” 

Not what hurts most. Not what’s loudest. Not what the patient is asking you to fix.

What kills first.

I learned that in an ambulance. Eleven years of lights-and-sirens, crash scenes, cardiac arrests, and trauma calls. And the one lesson that separated the good medics from the dangerous ones was this:

Follow the protocol. In order. Every time.

Skip a step and you get hurt. Your patient gets hurt. Sometimes they don’t make it.

I’ve watched people die from survivable injuries because someone panicked and jumped ahead.

I’ve also watched people survive injuries that should have killed them because someone stayed calm, followed the protocol, and didn’t get seduced by the noise.

The Tax Underworld works exactly the same way.

Every week I talk to people who called another firm first. Paid $15,000 upfront. Were promised an Offer in Compromise in 90 days.

Six months later they’re worse off than when they started. More penalties. More interest. An OIC that got rejected because the foundation wasn’t built. A Revenue Officer who moved because nobody stopped him.

Here’s why that happens.

You cannot negotiate a settlement when you’re not compliant. The IRS won’t even talk to you.

You cannot stabilize a case when active levies are still running. You’re bleeding out on the negotiating table.

You cannot rescue someone who’s still in freefall.

The order matters. It’s not optional. It’s not flexible based on what the client wants to hear.

Triage. Stabilize. Rescue.

In that order. Every time. No exceptions.

Most firms skip straight to Rescue because that’s where the big fees are. That’s where they can sell you the dream. Pennies on the dollar. Settle your $80,000 debt for $4,500. Sign here.

What they don’t tell you is that none of it works without the first two phases being solid.

I built the 3-Phase IRS Rescue Protocol because I got tired of watching people get hurt by firms that skipped steps.

I built it because I was trained to follow protocol when lives are on the line.

And I’ll tell you the same thing I told every patient I ever put in the back of my ambulance:

I’ve got you. We’re going to do this right. And we’re going to do it in the right order.

If you’re sitting on IRS notices and you don’t know where you actually stand, that’s step one. Find out. Stop guessing. Stop letting panic make decisions for you.

Call us at 909-570-1103. We answer. 

Or go to CallTaxEA.comand book directly. 

No pressure. No upsell.

Just the truth about where you stand and what happens next.

Carlos Samaniego, EA
The Tax Debt Detective
TaxDebtConsultant.com 

The post The EMT who skipped a step (and what it cost) appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

A guy called me last Tuesday.

Let’s call him Ray.

Ray had done everything right.

He owed the IRS about $62,000. He didn’t run. He didn’t hide. He called us, we built his case, and we got him into an Installment Agreement he could actually afford.

$480 a month. Approved.

Ray was breathing again.

Then, three weeks later, a letter showed up.

Notice of Federal Tax Lien. 

Ray called me in a panic. Voice tight. Could barely get the words out.

“Carlos. I thought we had a deal. Why are they doing this to me?”

I’ve heard that question a hundred times.

So let me answer it right now.

Here’s the truth most people never get told: 

When you owe the IRS more than $10,000, they file a lien.

Almost automatically.

Doesn’t matter if you just signed a payment agreement.

Doesn’t matter if they’ve agreed you’re in financial hardship and placed your account in Currently Not Collectible status.

They still file the lien.

Why?

Because a lien is not punishment.

It’s not the IRS saying “we don’t trust you” or “the deal is off.”

It’s the IRS protecting their legal position in line. 

Think of it like this.

You owe money to five people. One of them files a legal claim against your property before the others do. If you ever sell that property or go through bankruptcy, they’re first in line to get paid.

That’s what a federal tax lien is.

The IRS staking their claim before your other creditors do.

That’s it.

It does not mean they’re coming to take your car tomorrow.

It does not mean your payment agreement is canceled.

It does not mean you failed.

So what does a federal IRS lien actually mean in real life? 

Here’s what most people don’t know.

Federal IRS tax liens no longer show up on your credit report.

That changed years ago. The three major bureaus stopped reporting them.

So your credit score? Probably not touched.

But don’t relax too fast.

The lien is still public record. Title companies see it. Lenders see it. If you try to sell your house, refinance, or open a business line of credit, the IRS is sitting right there at the closing table with their hand out first.

That’s where it hurts.

Not your credit score. Your ability to move.

Now. If this were a California FTB lien? 

Different story entirely.

CaliClaw files liens too. And theirs DO hit your credit report.

Still.

A California FTB lien can drag your score down hard and stay on your report like a bad tattoo until it’s released.

That’s why I always tell clients:

Federal IRS lien equals a cloud on your title.

CaliClaw lien equals a cloud on your title AND your credit.

Two different beasts. Two different urgencies.

If you’re dealing with both the IRS and the FTB at the same time, which happens more than people think, you need someone who knows how to fight on both fronts simultaneously.

What can you actually do about a lien? 

A few things, depending on your situation.

If you’re in a payment plan and you’ve been compliant, you may qualify for a lien withdrawal once your balance drops below $25,000 under the right conditions.

A withdrawal doesn’t just release the lien. It removes it from public record entirely. Like it never happened.

If you’re in hardship status, we can sometimes get a lien subordinated or discharged on a specific asset. Meaning it steps aside just enough for you to refinance or close a sale.

And in some cases, we go straight for an Offer in Compromise to settle the whole balance for less than what’s owed. Once it’s paid or settled, the lien releases within 30 days.

None of this happens automatically.

You have to know what to ask for, when to ask, and how to ask it.

Ray calmed down after I walked him through all of this.

He still didn’t love the lien.

Nobody does.

But he understood it wasn’t a death sentence. It was a yellow flag, not a red one.

He’s still on his payment plan.

We’ve already started the paperwork to get his lien withdrawn once he clears the threshold.

He’s going to be fine.

If you got a lien notice and you’re not sure what it means for your specific situation, call us.

We’ll pull your transcripts, look at where you stand, and tell you exactly what your options are.

No guesswork. No panic. Just a clear picture and a real plan forward.

Call us now at 909-570-1103. We answer 24/7.

Or if you’re not ready to talk yet, book directly at CallTaxEA.com and we’ll reach out to you.

Carlos Samaniego, EA
The Tax Debt Detective
909-570-1103
TaxDebtConsultant.com 

P.S P.S. Tomorrow I’m going to tell you about a lien most people never see coming. The IRS doesn’t send a notice for this one. There’s no letter in the mail. It attaches to everything you own the moment your tax bill goes unpaid. The IRS calls it the Automatic Statutory Lien. I call it the silent lien. And it’s already there whether you know about it or not. Watch for my email tomorrow.

The post Why did the IRS file a lien if we already have a deal? appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

Felt it the last two days of the trip. Ignored it. Flew home. Told myself I’d sleep it off.

That was a week ago.

The last three days were brutal. Coughing attacks so intense my throat felt like raw meat. No sleep. Maybe two hours here, ninety minutes there. Body running on fumes.

yesterday morning, I woke up at 5:30 AM and realized I had slept six hours straight. More than the last three days combined.

I thought: I’m turning the corner. I’m getting better. 

Got up. Made coffee and I almost screemed. Throat still painful.

But I felt human again.

That’s when Liz looked at me and said: “You need to see a doctor.” 

I got angry.

“I’m fine. I’m getting better. I do not need to see doctor” 

There it is. The old Carlos.

The same guy who knew he had a tax problem back in 2008 and told himself it would just resolve itself.

Somehow. On its own. Without anyone finding out.

It didn’t. It compounded for years…

Eight minutes after that conversation I called my doctor.

Told him what was going on. He didn’t hesitate.

Prednisone. Two other medications. “We need to get ahead of this before it gets worse.”

Eight minutes.

My friend George, RN for over 20 years, said it plain:  

“Don’t let small things become bigger than they should be.”  

I’m pushing 60. I’m not the 20-year-old who could grind through anything on stubbornness alone.

One week of ignored symptoms almost turned a cold into something that could have destroyed my health.

Doctor’s orders: limit talking for 72 hours. 

So I’m working. Just not talking.

And I’m thinking about every single client who felt the warning signs, had a few good days, and said “See? I told you. I’m getting better.”

Meanwhile the IRS is three moves ahead, building a case, stacking penalties, getting ready to make their move.

A few good days is not the same as resolved.

Feeling better is not the same as fixed.

The difference between a cold and a hospital stay was eight minutes and one phone call to my doctor. 

The difference between a tax problem and a levy cleaning out your bank account is the same decision.

Your Liz is talking to you right now through this email.

Listen to her.

Go to TaxDebtTriage.com. 

Take the eight minutes. Before this gets worse than it needs to be.

You want to talk now. Go to CallTaxEA.com
Liz is ready to talk to you and get your story. 

Carlos Samaniego EA
The Tax Debt Detective
Call us 909-570-1103

The post Liz was right. I was being an idiot. appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

Something I caught in Puerto Rico. Still with me almost a week later.

I came into the office today only to handle an IRS Appeals call. Then straight back home to rest.

But I had to share this story with you.

Because I got a call last Thursday that reminded me why I do this work even when I feel like death.

(This is a composite story from patterns I’ve seen dozens of times. Not one specific case—but a version of the same mistake I see repeatedly.) 

The Call 

Client’s voice shaking.

“Carlos, I don’t understand. I moved to Texas three years ago. How can California still come after me?” 

2019 – The Great Escape 

Client owns small construction company. Crushing California taxes.

Does what thousands do every year. Packs up. Moves to Texas.

Files final California return. Updates driver’s license. Registers to vote.

Done. California in the rearview.

Or so he thought.

2022 – The Letter He Never Saw 

FTB sends audit notice to his old California business address.

The one his accountant still had on file.

Mail forwarding expired two years ago.

FTB doesn’t care. Last known address is all they’re required to use.

No response? They assume you’re hiding. Assess tax. Add penalties. Start collection.

All without him knowing.

Last Thursday – $89,000 Gone 

Logs into his Texas bank account.

Empty.

California FTB levy. For tax years 2020, 2021, 2022.

Years he didn’t even live there.

Here’s What Destroyed Him 

Business still had California address on file with FTB.

Final 2019 return never properly closed his California nexus.

FTB saw income from California clients. Decided he still had taxable presence.

Sent notices to California address.

No response. Assessed tax. Levied.

He found out when his account was drained.

Reason #2: Geographic False Security 

You think moving out of California means California is done with you.

Wrong.

CaliClaw has a 20-year collection window. Twice as long as the IRS.

If you have ANY business connection to California—clients, property, business addresses—they can still claim you owe.

Worse? If your address on file is still California, you’ll never see the notices.

They’ll assess. Add penalties. Levy.

All while you’re in Texas, Nevada, Arizona thinking you escaped.

The Three Fatal Mistakes 

Mistake #1: Leaving your business registered at a California address after you move.

Mistake #2: Not filing a final return that explicitly closes your tax nexus.

Mistake #3: Assuming FTB will find you. They won’t. Last known address is enough.

This Pattern Is Everywhere 

I’ve handled versions of this at least 47 times.

Nevada residents. Arizona residents. Oregon residents.

Six-figure levies. Frozen accounts. Businesses destroyed.

All thought moving meant safety.

None updated addresses correctly with FTB.

If You’ve Moved Out of California 

Ask yourself:

Did you file a final return ending your tax residency?

Did you close all California business registrations?

Did you update your address with FTB in writing?

If you answered no or you’re not sure, you’re vulnerable.

CaliClaw is hunting. Your old address is the bait.

Tomorrow: Reason #3 

Incomplete Financial Disclosure. When clients hide assets from me. The IRS finds out. Case detonates.

Today: Did you really escape California? Or are you still on their radar?

Find out before they find you.

See yourself in this pattern? 

→ Call: 909-570-1103
→ Book: CallTaxEA.com
→ Assess: TaxDebtTriage.com 

Tomorrow: Email #3 drops whether you’re ready or not.

Carlos “CaliClaw Hunter” Samaniego, EA
The Tax Debt Detective

P.S. — Now I’m going back to bed. But this couldn’t wait. Moving out of California doesn’t end your tax problems. It moves them into the shadows until they strike. Call me before the levy hits.

The post Left California 3 years ago. They found him Thursday. appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

Took the family out there for a few days. My daughter especially — watching her enjoy herself made every minute worth it.

Somewhere on the way home, I picked up a nasty cold that followed me right back to the office.

So here I am, tissues on the desk, slightly miserable, but genuinely fired up.

Because before I left, I got news I didn’t get to share with you.

A client of mine just got word that his Offer in Compromise was accepted by the IRS.

He came to me carrying $153,000 in federal tax debt.

The IRS came back and told us they’re willing to settle it for $15,900.

Ten cents on the dollar.

It’s not finalized yet — but this family is about to be free.

That’s not a fluke. When I took him on, I believed he had a 90% chance of qualifying for a strong offer.

We don’t submit offers we don’t believe in. We investigate, we verify, we build the case — then we go in.

I wanted to share that before I get into what’s on my mind today.

Right now, things are getting harder for a lot of people.

Tariffs. Layoffs. Prices climbing.  

Driving home from the airport, I almost choked when I saw gas prices pushing close to $6 a gallon in Los Angeles.

Six dollars. I’ve been gone a few days and that’s what I come home to.

The news cycle is relentless and none of it feels good.

I talk to people every week who are stressed about the economy, worried about their jobs, wondering what’s coming next.

And somewhere on their kitchen counter, there’s an IRS notice sitting unopened.

Here’s what I need you to understand.

The Collector doesn’t watch the news. 

The IRS is not pausing enforcement because the economy is rough.

The FTB is not waiting for things to settle down. Penalties are accruing today. Interest is compounding today. The clock on your collection statute is running right now, while you’re reading this, while the headlines scroll, while everyone waits to see what happens next.

Ben Settle — one of the sharpest direct response writers I’ve ever read — told a story once about a salesman who kept whistling and closing deals while his entire office was paralyzed by recession news. S

omeone finally asked him how he was doing it. He looked up and said: “There’s a recession?”

That’s not arrogance. That’s focus.

The people who come out of hard times in better shape are the ones who stop watching the noise and start handling their actual situation.

And here’s the part nobody talks about:

Tough economic times are actually one of the best times to work with the IRS. 

When people are struggling financially, the IRS has real tools available — hardship status, reduced settlements, Offers in Compromise.

The numbers that qualify someone for serious relief get easier to meet when income is down and expenses are real.

The client I just told you about? He almost didn’t call.

Figured his situation was too far gone.

It wasn’t.

Yours probably isn’t either.

If you’ve got unfiled returns, a balance you’ve been avoiding, or a notice you haven’t opened — let’s find out exactly where you stand before this gets worse.

Start here: TaxDebtTriage.com 

Or call us now: 909-570-1103 — we pick up.

Back to the tissues and the inbox.

Talk soon,

Carlos Samaniego, EA
The Tax Debt Detective
909-570-1103 | TaxDebtTriage.com 

P.S. —The IRS is not waiting for the economy to improve. Neither should you.

P.P.S This Friday at noon, we will be doing our “Tax Debt Live” broadcast at 12 noon on Youtube.

The post $6 gas, $153k debt, and one family about to be free appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.

The GAO — that’s the Government Accountability Office, the people whose entire job is to keep federal agencies honest — just released a report that should make every single person with an IRS problem lose sleep tonight.

Read it yourself right here: IRS Has No Plan to Reduce Backlog of Taxpayer Correspondence, Watchdog Finds 

Here’s the short version:

The IRS has no plan to reduce its backlog of taxpayer correspondence. And without a plan, the IRS risks not effectively reducing its backlog and may provide less timely service to taxpayers. Bloomberg Tax 

Read that again.

No plan.

Now here’s what that means for YOU.

While the IRS sits on millions of unanswered letters, penalties keep growing. Interest keeps compounding. The Penalty Pig keeps eating.

And you keep waiting — hoping, praying that your situation is somehow “in process.”

It’s not.

The IRS is sitting on a backlog 129% larger than before the pandemic. In December 2019, the agency had about 871,000 items on its to-do list.

By December 2024, that swelled to 1.5 million items. Then the staff cuts hit. Now they’re sitting on 2 million items. CFO Brew 

2 million.

And nobody’s coming to save you.

Here’s what makes this dangerous in a way most people miss:

The IRS not answering YOUR letter doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten you.

It means the left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

Revenue Officers still have active cases. Levies still process. Garnishments still hit. The automated collection system doesn’t care about the backlog in correspondence. It just fires.

I’ve seen this movie before.

Client gets a letter. Doesn’t understand it. Writes back. Hears nothing for four months. Assumes it’s handled.

Then one Tuesday morning, their bank account is empty.

The Bank Levy Vulture doesn’t wait for the correspondence team to catch up. It just circles your account and strikes when you least expect it.

The GAO also found that throughout 2025, thousands of IRS staffers resigned or retired early. The agency had seven different commissioners and acting commissioners over the course of a year. Accounting Today 

Seven commissioners in one year.

Nobody’s steering the ship. Nobody’s answering the mail. And the clocks on your collection statutes are still ticking.

Here’s the hard truth:

A disorganized IRS is not a safer IRS.

It’s an unpredictable one. And unpredictable is the most dangerous thing you can face when you owe the government money.

This is exactly when people who are hiding — people sitting on unfiled returns, unopened letters, old addresses, and false hope — get blindsided.

I know. I was one of those people.

For eight years I told myself the IRS was too busy to notice me.

They noticed.

Don’t make the same mistake.

If you have IRS letters you haven’t opened, returns you haven’t filed, or a payment plan you’ve fallen behind on — now is the time to move. Not next month. Not after tax season. Now.

Because the IRS may be disorganized in correspondence.

But they’re perfectly organized when it comes to collection.

Two ways to find out exactly where you stand:

If you just want to see where you stand with the IRS, go to TaxDebtTriage.com right now. Takes five minutes. Costs nothing to find out what you’re dealing with.

Ready to talk? Call us now at 909-570-1103 (we answer 24/7) or book directly at CallTaxEA.com. 

Don’t wait for the IRS to figure out its plan.

Make yours first.

— Carlos Samaniego, EA
The Tax Debt Detective Tax Debt Consultants LLC

P.S. The backlog means YOUR letters may be sitting in a pile somewhere. But the levy notice that follows won’t be. Get ahead of this now. 

The post The IRS just admitted something that should terrify you appeared first on Carlos Samaniego, Enrolled Agent.