What is included
- IRS notices: CP2000, CP14, CP501–CP504, LT11, CP161, CP162 and the rest
- State and county letters: assessments, collection notices, wage garnishment, sales and use tax
- Late-filing and late-payment penalties, including per-owner partnership and S-corp penalties
- Foreign reporting penalties: Forms 5471, 5472, 3520, 8938 and FBAR
- Penalty relief: first-time abatement, reasonable cause and the procedural relief rulings
- Form 2848 power of attorney, so the agency deals with us instead of you
- A real balance owed goes on to our IRS audits and tax debt service for a payment plan or settlement
- Secretary of State late annual reports, administrative dissolution and reinstatement
- Identity verification letters (5071C), identity theft (Form 14039) and IP PINs
The letters we handle
A government letter is only frightening until somebody reads it properly. Nearly every notice says three things: which agency is writing, what they believe is wrong, and the date by which you have to answer. Once those are clear there is a procedure for it — and usually more than one way out.
IRS letters — individuals
- CP2000 — income on file with the IRS does not match your return (1099s, stock sales, interest)
- CP14, CP501 and CP503 — balance due and the reminders that follow
- CP504, LT11 and Letter 1058 — final notice before a levy, together with your right to a hearing
- CP11 and CP12 — the IRS changed your return and the refund or balance moved
- Letter 5071C and 4883C — identity verification before a refund is released
- Identity theft cases (Form 14039) and IP PIN requests
Businesses and employers
- CP162 — a late or incomplete partnership or S-corp return, charged per owner per month
- CP161 — an unpaid balance on a business return
- Payroll tax notices: 941 and 940 balances, deposit frequency changes, failure-to-deposit penalties
- Notice 972CG — late or incorrect W-2s and 1099s
- Letter 226-J — the employer shared responsibility payment under the ACA
- Late or rejected S-corp elections (Form 2553), repaired under the IRS relief procedures
- Letter 1153 and Form 4180 — the trust fund recovery penalty, assessed against an owner personally
Foreign reporting penalties
- Forms 5471 and 5472 — $10,000 or more per form, per year
- Forms 3520 and 3520-A — foreign gifts, inheritances and trusts, where the penalty is a percentage of the amount
- Form 8938 and FBAR (FinCEN) penalties
- Delinquent international information return procedures and the streamlined filing compliance procedures
State, county and city
- NCDOR assessments, notices of collection and wage garnishments
- Sales and use tax assessments, registration and back-filing in other states after an economic nexus letter
- State unemployment insurance (NCUI) penalties and rate notices
- County business personal property listing penalties and local business licences
Company compliance
- Secretary of State late annual reports, administrative dissolution and reinstatement
- Registered agent and registered address notices
- FinCEN beneficial ownership (BOI) reporting questions and notices
How we handle it
- We read it with you. In the free first consultation: which agency, what they want and what the real deadline is — many notices allow only 30 days.
- We take over the correspondence. With Form 2848 or 8821 we deal with the IRS or the state directly, so the calls and the letters are ours, not yours.
- We check their numbers against yours — brokerage statements, K-1s, bank records, the return itself. A good share of notices are simply wrong, or need one missing form.
- We answer, and we ask for relief: a written response, an amended return where one is needed, first-time abatement or reasonable cause. If the balance is real, we move on to a payment plan or settlement under our IRS audits and tax debt service.
- We close it out and prevent the next one, confirming the account is back to zero and fixing the filing that caused the letter.
Why clients bring these to us
- Bilingual: photograph the letter and send it in. We explain it in Chinese and answer the agency in English.
- A licensed CPA represents you — we go on the power of attorney, rather than only translating the mail.
- This is routine work here. From the everyday CP2000 to per-owner partnership penalties and foreign reporting penalties, we work these cases year round.
- Cross-border penalties are our specialty: 5471, 5472, 3520, FBAR and 8938, where a single missing form starts at $10,000.
- Everything is tracked: upload the notice to the client portal, and the response, the filings and the agency reply all stay on file.
- A flat fee, quoted after we read the letter and before any work begins.
A real case: a $25,000 penalty reduced to $0
A client, who agreed to let us share the result with identifying details removed, received an IRS penalty of about $25,000. We checked the notice against the IRS account records, rebuilt the timeline of filings and payments, organized the supporting documents and followed the case through. The penalty was adjusted to $0.
Read the case: IRS penalty of $25,000 reduced to $0. One result does not guarantee the same result in another case.
Three things to do the day the letter arrives
- Keep the envelope and every page, and note the notice number in the top right corner and its date.
- Do not call and agree to a figure, and do not pay it straight away — some notices are miscalculated.
- Get it to us before the deadline. Early means more options; several relief routes and appeal rights disappear once the date passes.
Facing an IRS audit, or owe more than you can pay at once? See IRS Audits, Tax Debt & Payment Plans.
Outcomes depend on the facts of your case and on the agency, so nobody can promise that a penalty will be removed. What we do promise is that the response goes in on time, in the right form, using every relief route you qualify for.
Tell us your situation. We will tell you the fee.
A few short questions, a written quote within one business day, and a free 30-minute consultation if you would rather talk it through first.