Stupid Client

[jainen]

>>how to proceed with an OIC<<

Hey, Terry--you spent an hour and a half just trying to get Collections to accept your Power of Attorney! They even told you they couldn't care less whether the guy files or not! Okay, they were lying about that last part, but honestly, what are your expectations about getting an Offer in Compromise through?

You still want to talk OIC? Here's the deal. FULL 100% payment of everything due since 2000 with P&I, and they will let earlier years go. File a complete financial statement (Form 433-A). Pay at least 20% of the total balance due in the same envelope as the Offer. Don't have that check bounce. Use automatic electronic withdrawal for a payment plan that will pay off the total within three years (okay, five years if he will pay 30% up front). Sign a waiver of the statute of limitations for collection. File all tax returns on time during the payoff period. Any default will void the agreement and they will go after the entire balance due immediately. And they make no promise about criminal charges.

[mcb39]

I had a client (deceased a year ago Dec at age 58) who got into a mess before I met him. He then became my client for about 19 years. He had owed the IRS somewhere in the area of $20,000. He had a payment plan in place, and religiously paid $500 a month for 10 years, which equals $60,000. At that time, he still owed $17,000. The IRS forgave the debt at that point. It took us another two years to get the debt off of his credit report, so he could borrow money to purchase a newer semi. (SE trucker). He never would talk about the original trouble other than that it had something to do with a relative who was doing his bookkeeping. It took me most of the years that I knew him to get him to trust me enough to do his bookkeeping. Then he has a stroke and dies. One of the saddest funerals I ever attended.

Now, wife, from whom he was separated but not divorced., is not filing at all. She consulted me several times after the death, but never brought me the rest of the bookkeeping for 2008 and never heard from her in 2009 until April 15, 2010, when she shows up on my doorstep and says, "Remember Me?" I sent her to a friend of mine who needed clients and filed an extension for her. So far, my friend hasn't heard from her since. Perhaps this will offer some insight into my cynicism in regard to these kind of clients. They have everything to lose, but it doesn't seem to matter. After all the time he spent building his business back up; she is apparently willing to throw it away.

This is not the only such case that I have had over the years. My experience is that many non-filers are not concerned with the IRS until they get caught. Had to file four years in April because one of my good clients happened to marry a guy who hadn't filed from 03 through 06. Got nailed when they filed jointly and the IRS held their large refund until the returns were filed. He hadn't owed much and even had a couple of small refunds. He JUST didn't file.