Atlanta IRS Tax Audit Casse

When Katie and her boyfriend opened their construction business, they were optimistic and excited about working together to follow a shared passion. The couple got married soon after starting their business and continued to run it together for nine years.

And when things started to fall apart in their personal relationship, neither Katie nor her husband wanted to let the business go.

“After the divorce, we decided to keep working together,” Katie says. “Neither one of us wanted to give it up. But it didn’t work.”

After two more years of contention and conflict, Katie made the decision to walk away—and it wasn’t easy. “I just threw up my hands and said ‘this is it,’” she says.

Katie decided to pull out completely and let her ex-husband operate the business on his own.

However, when it came time to file her taxes for the year, her ex was uncooperative in providing her with documents she needed—and so was the CPA they’d used together when they were married.

“The CPA wouldn’t give me documents because ‘he didn’t want to be involved,’” Katie says. “But that meant I was missing a lot of information when I went to complete my taxes.”

Katie did the best she could with the information she had. But she wound up listing some income on the wrong line on her tax return, and that triggered an audit.

Katie hired one of Atlanta’s largest law firms to help her with the audit. And from the beginning, it did not go well. “I just felt like they were pushing papers around,” Katie says.

The head of the law firm assigned Katie’s case to an associate—who left the firm not long after.

Katie’s case got reassigned, and then reassigned again, and she rarely got a chance to meet with the person working on it. This went on for years—during which Katie kept paying a hefty monthly bill.

A Letter from the IRS Arrives

Finally, the IRS decided to take action. They started sending Katie collection notices—to the tune of $1.2 million.

“I was shocked by the amount of money I owed, and I was scared that I could lose everything,” Katie says.

And then Katie got another shock. Not long after the IRS started sending her collection notices, her law firm called to say they could no longer represent her—because of a conflict of interest.

Apparently, they had found old records from a case involving her ex-husband that had occurred many years before. They no longer worked with him in any capacity, but they still refused to work with her further.

The firm tried to recommend her to another firm, but Katie wanted to vet her next lawyer herself. After talking to multiple people in the industry, Alyssa’s name came up in a Google search—and Katie went in for a consultation.

A Tax Lawyer Who Cares About Your Story

“From the start, Alyssa seemed really interested in my story,” Katie says. “She was very diligent in asking questions, collecting all the facts and going through all the documentation.”

Alyssa didn’t give Katie any reassurances—just promised to do the best she could. And then she jumped in with both feet, getting in touch with her contacts within the IRS to go over Katie’s case.

First, Alyssa managed to get the entire state tax on Katie’s bill eliminated. Then, she got Katie into a payment plan for the remainder. Alyssa told her that when the IRS accepted her plan, it restarted the clock on collections—and that at a certain point, the debt would be forgiven.

Originally, Katie owed $1.2 million.

“Given my payment plan, what I’ll wind up paying by the time the tax debt is forgiven is just about 3% of the original bill,” Katie says. 

“Alyssa is a strong advocate for all of her clients,” Katie adds. “She’s definitely going to take an interest in your story and get all the way down in the weeds to understand what went wrong, taking your personal circumstances into consideration. I would absolutely recommend her to anyone in a similar situation.”

If the IRS is Giving You Nightmares, Give Alyssa a Call

An experienced Atlanta tax attorney can help you handle your audit and get on with your life. Give us a call at (404) 551-5838 today to schedule your free, confidential consultation.