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Plain answers about the IRS — from someone licensed to face them.

Specific, accurate, expert-written guidance on IRS notices, tax resolution, audits, and the planning that keeps you out of trouble. Nothing recycled, nothing generic, no "pennies on the dollar" theater. Written and reviewed by James McIntosh, EA, NTPI Fellow.

Browse: All posts IRS Notices Resolution Strategy Audit Defense Penalty Relief Tax Planning For CPAs & Attorneys

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Resolution Strategy
10 min read

Owe the IRS $10,000+? Here’s What Actually Happens Next.

A step-by-step walkthrough of the IRS collection timeline — what each notice means, when wages or bank accounts can be levied, and the four legitimate resolution paths most taxpayers don’t know they have.

JM
James McIntosh, EA
NTPI Fellow  •  Posted [Date]
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Latest

Recent posts

IRS Notices

What to Do If You Get an IRS CP504 Notice (Step by Step)

CP504 isn’t the final notice — but it’s the one that gives the IRS authority to start grabbing state refunds. Here’s the 30-day window and exactly what to do inside it.

6 min read Read →
Resolution Strategy

Why I Tell Most Clients an Offer in Compromise Is the Wrong Move

The "pennies on the dollar" pitch is real for ~10% of taxpayers. For the other 90%, an OIC is a slow, expensive way to get rejected. Here’s how to know which group you’re in.

8 min read Read →
Audit Defense

Field Audit vs. Office Audit vs. Correspondence Audit: What Each One Actually Means

The format of your audit tells you a lot about how serious the IRS thinks the issue is — and how aggressively you should defend it. Here’s the practical difference.

7 min read Read →
Penalty Relief

First-Time Penalty Abatement: When It Actually Works (and When It Doesn’t)

FTA is one of the easiest fee-vs-savings wins in the whole tax code — if you qualify. Here are the four boxes you need to check, and the trap that disqualifies most filers.

5 min read Read →
IRS Notices

The 6 IRS Notices You Should Never Ignore (and What Each One Triggers)

Every IRS letter has a specific procedural deadline attached. Here are the six that start clocks you can’t un-start, and what happens at the end of each.

9 min read Read →
Tax Planning

S-Corp Reasonable Compensation: How to Set It Without Inviting an Audit

The single most common audit trigger for owner-operators. Here’s the IRS’s actual framework for evaluating "reasonable" — and the documentation that protects your number.

11 min read Read →

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