Home

About

Contact Form

Tax Links

Expertise: I have the necessary expertise to secure financial information relating to my clients and analyze that information in the best light on behalf of those clients. Outside of a full payment of the taxes, penalties and interest (which, if you could pay all that, why would you need me?), there are generally three options open to the common person. The first is an installment agreement--an amount paid regularly that is acceptable to both the client and the IRS or other tax agency. Second, if the client has more necessary living expenses than income, the agencies can be convinced to report the accounts uncollectible (and this status may be reviewed periodically in the future to determine whether an installment agreement may then be more appropriate). But, the uncollectible status is a reprieve: the agency will leave the client alone to allow the client to get on with his/her life. Third, there are times when the IRS and state agencies may grant an offer in compromise. When the client's financial circumstances are such that the government agrees that the offer of $X is more than they could hope to collect themselves, an offer in compromise is accepted.

I cannot recommend the advisability of bankruptcy to any client because I am NOT an attorney and am not qualified in that area. But, I can say that if a client has income taxes that are old enough (generally, three years) those taxes may be discharged in bankruptcy. There are complications, of course, but escaping tax debt thru bankruptcy is a possibility some people should explore.

Then, of course, there is the issue of the statute of limitations for collection. The IRS has ten years, basically, to collect the taxes a client owes. After that date in time is reached, the IRS can no longer collect on a delinquency. Interestingly, the Franchise Tax Board has a twenty-year statute of limitations, and the EDD has forever.

About Larry: Born 1945 in Gary, Indiana. Attended high school in very small town (Boone Grove) in Indiana where I was active in sports, lettering in cross country, basketball and track. Graduated Purdue University in 1968 with teaching credentials (English). Enlisted in Navy 1968 and served in Vietnam during that war as a Vietnamese linguist. Taught for three years upon return from war and joined Internal Revenue Service as a revenue officer in 1975. Served in the IRS for 30 years as a revenue officer, group manager, revenue officer examiner, special procedures advisor, and as an offer in compromise specialist. Retired in 2006 and started Black Diamond Offer Solutions in 2008. With the economy in the dumps nationwide, I realized that many folks were going to have trouble paying their bills--and especially their tax bills. I thought I could be the affordable help that many people would need.

Larry

Jeanne and Larry. We have been married 38 years and have one son and one granddaughter. Jeanne is from Vietnam.