The IRS sent you something. Here is what to do.
This is the resolution arm of THE TAX CUTTERY® — an Enrolled Agent practice, federally licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all fifty states. Built from Part III of the firm's 564-page treatise. No scare marketing. No settlement theater. The law, the deadlines, and the exits.
IRS problems do not improve with time. Interest compounds daily. Penalties accrue monthly. Each unanswered notice is a later stage in collections, not a polite reminder. A consultation starts the process now — so the next move is chosen from your transcripts and deadlines, not from panic six letters from now.
Start a conversation — right now BUY THE BOOK
Or read a free excerpt → · FAQ
Start with the letter in your hand
Different letter? The full decoder covers 39 notice types →
Or start with where you are in the machine
- How the IRS Works — understand who you are actually dealing with before you respond to anything
- Examination — respond to an audit without handing the examiner the case
- Appeals — use the IRS's own settlement office instead of accepting an examiner's answer
- Substantiation — know what proof the IRS can demand and what happens when records are imperfect
- Collections — stop or survive liens, levies, and garnishments — and pick the right resolution
- Penalties — get penalties abated instead of paying them by default
- Your Rights — know what the Taxpayer Bill of Rights guarantees and what a licensed practitioner owes you
Many of these you can run yourself. Some you should not.
Part III of the Guide is the solution map this site is built from — notices, collections, penalties, appeals, substantiation. The exits are in the Code, not in a sales script. If the letter is a reminder or a matching notice and your records are in hand, start with the book. If the letter is a final notice, a levy, an audit, or a Revenue Officer, start the consultation now. Either way, do not wait. The machine does not.
You can often run from the book
- Name the notice (chips / decoder)
- First-time penalty abatement if you meet the tests
- Streamlined installment agreement if you are under the IRS thresholds and in filing compliance
- Answer a CP2000 with records you actually have
- Currently Not Collectible as a documented hardship request
- Know your rights (TBOR) before you call
Bring an EA (license is the tool)
- Collection Due Process request inside the 30-day window
- Levy / garnishment already pulling
- Revenue Officer in the field
- Examination — do not hand the examiner the case
- Offer in Compromise — numbers test, not an ad
- Form 2848 — IRS must deal with the representative
The IRS will not wait. Neither should the first step.
THE TAX CUTTERY® is an Enrolled Agent practice — licensed by the U.S. Treasury with unlimited rights to represent taxpayers in examinations, appeals, and collections, in all fifty states. The firm works in writing: you get answers you can keep, check, and hold us to. The on-demand consultation starts that process now.
Start a conversation — right now BUY THE BOOK
General information about federal law — not advice on a specific return, and no outcome is promised. Whether any resolution fits you depends on your facts.