Case Studies

The Kind of Work We Do

Illustrative scenarios showing how federally licensed IRS Enrolled Agents lower tax bills, settle IRS debt, stop garnishments, and clean up the books for individuals and businesses in all 50 states.

Tax Resolution

$41,000

IRS debt settled

Freelancer settles $52k tax debt with an Offer in Compromise

Challenge: A self-employed designer had three years of unfiled returns and a $52,000 IRS balance with a levy notice on the way.

Consultant cuts self-employment tax with an S-Corp

Challenge: A consultant clearing about $130k in profit was paying the full 15.3% self-employment tax on everything, with no strategy in place.

Read the full story

Audit Defense

owed after audit

Small business wins a full IRS audit

Challenge: A retail LLC received a field audit notice questioning $60,000 of deductions and was terrified of a huge bill.

Paycheck garnishment stopped in 72 hours

Challenge: A nurse had 25% of every paycheck garnished by the IRS and could not cover rent.

E-commerce seller recovers years of deductions

Challenge: An Amazon seller had self-prepared for years and missed home office, mileage, and inventory write-offs.

Non-resident owner avoids a $25k penalty

Challenge: A foreign owner of a US LLC had never filed Form 5472 and faced a $25,000-per-year penalty.

Rideshare driver settles $58k for $11k

Challenge: A full-time rideshare driver owed $58,000 across four years and had never made estimated payments.

Laid-off engineer clears six-figure balance

Challenge: A software engineer laid off during a downturn owed $39,000 and feared a lien on his home.

Restaurant owner escapes crushing tax debt

Challenge: A restaurant hit hard by the pandemic carried $71,000 of payroll and income tax debt.

Single mom resolves years of back taxes

Challenge: A single mother with two 1099 jobs owed $34,000 and was terrified of losing her refund every year.

Contractor settles decade-old IRS balance

Challenge: A general contractor had ignored a growing balance for years that reached $57,000 with penalties.

Read the full story

Installment Agreement

$420/mo

affordable payment

Nurse trades a scary bill for a simple plan

Challenge: A traveling nurse owed $27,000 and could not afford the lump sum the IRS demanded.

Read the full story

Installment Agreement

Lien avoided

no lien filed

Small shop avoids a lien with the right plan

Challenge: A retail owner owed $46,000 and a Notice of Federal Tax Lien was pending.

Read the full story

Installment Agreement

$310/mo

partial-pay plan

Retiree settles debt on a fixed income

Challenge: A retiree on Social Security owed $41,000 and could not handle standard payments.

Read the full story

Installment Agreement

72 hours

plan approved fast

Freelancer gets breathing room in three days

Challenge: A freelance photographer with a $19,000 balance was days from enforced collection.

First-time penalty relief wipes out fees

Challenge: A W-2 employee who filed late once faced $8,400 in failure-to-file and failure-to-pay penalties.

Business recovers penalties after a bad year

Challenge: A consulting LLC missed two quarters of deposits during a family crisis and was penalized $14,200.

Late filer clears penalties in one letter

Challenge: A taxpayer who moved overseas filed two years late and was hit with $5,600 in penalties.

Estate avoids steep late-filing penalties

Challenge: An executor filed a final return late and faced $19,000 in penalties on the estate.

Read the full story

Audit Defense

owed after audit

Consultant wins a correspondence audit

Challenge: A consultant’s home-office and travel deductions were flagged in a mail audit.

Read the full story

Audit Defense

no change

Landlord defends rental-loss deductions

Challenge: A landlord with three rentals was audited over $40,000 of passive losses.

Read the full story

Audit Defense

clean audit

Cash-heavy salon passes an income audit

Challenge: A salon owner faced an audit questioning underreported cash income.

Trucker cuts an audit bill by 86%

Challenge: An owner-operator received a $22,000 proposed assessment over per-diem and fuel deductions.

Read the full story

Audit Defense

fully sustained

Doctor’s S-corp survives a payroll audit

Challenge: A physician’s S-corp reasonable-salary was challenged in an employment-tax audit.

Warehouse worker stops a paycheck levy

Challenge: The IRS was taking 25% of a warehouse worker’s pay, leaving him unable to pay rent.

Bank levy reversed and funds recovered

Challenge: A small vendor woke up to a frozen account after a $9,800 bank levy.

Contractor lifts a levy before payroll

Challenge: A contractor’s operating account was levied the week payroll was due.

Teacher ends a state and IRS garnishment

Challenge: A teacher faced simultaneous IRS and state garnishments totaling 30% of pay.

Read the full story

Currently Not Collectible

$0/mo

collections paused

Disabled veteran placed in hardship status

Challenge: A disabled veteran on fixed benefits owed $31,000 and could not pay anything.

Read the full story

Currently Not Collectible

Protected

income shielded

Caregiver gets collections halted

Challenge: A full-time caregiver with minimal income was being pressured for a $24,000 balance.

Expat catches up on six years of returns

Challenge: A US citizen abroad had not filed for six years and feared severe penalties.

Non-filer discovers he was owed refunds

Challenge: A man who stopped filing assumed he owed — he actually had refunds waiting.

Gig worker files five years at once

Challenge: A delivery driver had five years of unfiled 1099 income and a stack of IRS letters.

Read the full story

Back Taxes

SFR reversed

Substitute return replaced, balance cleared

Challenge: The IRS filed a Substitute for Return giving a driver a $28,000 bill with no deductions.

Marketing agency saves with S-corp election

Challenge: An agency netting $160k paid full self-employment tax on everything.

Real estate agent restructures for savings

Challenge: A top-producing agent had no entity and paid 15.3% on all commissions.

Physician moonlighter cuts SE tax

Challenge: A doctor with $220k of 1099 side income was overpaying self-employment tax.

Freelance developer formalizes an S-corp

Challenge: A developer clearing $110k had no tax structure and irregular estimates.

Startup launches with the right foundation

Challenge: Two founders were about to operate with no entity and no EIN.

Contractor forms an LLC in a week

Challenge: A handyman going full-time needed liability protection and a business identity.

New consultancy starts as an S-corp

Challenge: A consultant wanted the S-corp benefit from the very first dollar.

E-commerce seller gets a year of clean books

Challenge: An Amazon seller had a shoebox of transactions and no usable records.

Catch-up bookkeeping uncovers lost write-offs

Challenge: A Shopify store had never tracked expenses and overpaid for two years.

Restaurant gets audit-ready books

Challenge: A restaurant’s books were months behind and inconsistent.

Growing shop fixes tangled payroll

Challenge: A shop with five employees had payroll tax deposit errors piling up.

New employer avoids payroll penalties

Challenge: A first-time employer was about to mishandle withholding and deposits.

Agency nails year-end filings

Challenge: A marketing agency struggled with W-2 and 1099 year-end reporting.

Business owner captures the full QBI deduction

Challenge: A profitable owner was leaving the 20% QBI deduction on the table.

Solo owner opens a Solo 401(k)

Challenge: A one-person business had no retirement plan and a high tax bill.

Read the full story

Tax Planning

$31,000

depreciation captured

Investor runs a cost-segregation study

Challenge: A rental investor was depreciating a property the slow way.

Read the full story

Tax Planning

estimated penalty

Consultant ends estimated-tax penalties

Challenge: A consultant kept getting hit with underpayment penalties every April.

Couple builds a multi-year tax plan

Challenge: A dual-income couple had no strategy and a surprise bill each year.

Crypto trader cleans up gains and losses

Challenge: A trader had hundreds of transactions and no cost-basis tracking.

Family secures ITINs as a Certifying Agent

Challenge: A family needed ITINs to file but feared mailing original passports.

Foreign owner dodges a 5472 penalty

Challenge: A non-resident owner of a US LLC had never filed Form 5472.

Expat becomes FBAR-compliant safely

Challenge: A US expat had unreported foreign accounts and feared harsh penalties.

Read the full story

Non-Resident

withholding recovered

Non-resident recovers over-withheld tax

Challenge: A foreign investor had excess US tax withheld on royalties.

Divorcee freed from ex’s tax liability

Challenge: A newly divorced client was pursued for taxes on her ex’s hidden income.

Injured spouse keeps her share of the refund

Challenge: A wife’s refund was seized for her husband’s pre-marriage debt.

Newlyweds optimize their first joint return

Challenge: A newly married couple was unsure how to file and worried about a bill.

Uber/Lyft driver maximizes gig deductions

Challenge: A rideshare driver was missing mileage, phone, and platform-fee deductions.

Realtor couple unlocks real-estate tax breaks

Challenge: A realtor couple owned rentals but claimed few of the available breaks.

Owner-operator captures full per-diem

Challenge: An owner-operator was under-claiming per-diem and equipment depreciation.

Read the full story

Content Creator

owed, refund instead

YouTuber turns a big bill into a refund

Challenge: A creator with brand-deal 1099s expected a large bill.

Therapy practice restructures for savings

Challenge: A group therapy practice had no entity strategy and rising taxes.

Online seller resolves multi-state sales tax

Challenge: A growing seller triggered sales-tax nexus in several states unknowingly.

Food truck captures overlooked deductions

Challenge: A food-truck owner missed fuel, commissary, and equipment write-offs.

Uber Eats courier settles a surprise balance

Challenge: A delivery courier owed $42,000 after years of untracked 1099 income.

Laid-off retail manager clears IRS debt

Challenge: A retail manager who lost her job owed $29,000 with mounting penalties.

Read the full story

Installment Agreement

$390/mo

manageable plan

Barber sets up an affordable payment plan

Challenge: A barbershop owner owed $23,000 and dreaded a lump-sum demand.

Startup gets first-time penalty relief

Challenge: A new LLC missed a filing during launch chaos and was penalized $6,700.

Read the full story

Audit Defense

no change

Photographer wins a Schedule C audit

Challenge: A wedding photographer’s equipment and travel deductions were audited.

Daycare lifts a bank levy fast

Challenge: A daycare’s account was levied days before payroll.

Owner uses the Augusta Rule correctly

Challenge: A business owner hosted meetings at home but never documented it.

Family business hires the kids the right way

Challenge: A family business wanted to employ their teens but feared doing it wrong.

High earner opens a defined-benefit plan

Challenge: A solo professional netting $400k had maxed the usual retirement options.

Couple optimizes health-account tax breaks

Challenge: A couple with a high-deductible plan wasn’t using an HSA.

Software firm claims the R&D credit

Challenge: A dev shop was doing qualified research but never claimed the credit.

Read the full story

Tax Planning

home-sale gain

Couple excludes their home-sale gain

Challenge: A couple selling their home worried about a big capital-gains bill.

Engineer plans around vesting RSUs

Challenge: A tech employee faced a surprise bill from vesting RSUs.

Employer captures the WOTC hiring credit

Challenge: A growing employer hired eligible workers but never claimed the credit.

Read the full story

Worker Classification

Reclassified

1099 fixed

Business fixes worker misclassification

Challenge: A company treated real employees as 1099 contractors and faced exposure.

Artist proves a real business, not a hobby

Challenge: An artist’s losses were at risk of being disallowed as a hobby.

Read the full story

1099-K

reconciled

Seller resolves a scary 1099-K mismatch

Challenge: An online seller got a 1099-K far larger than actual profit.

LLC catches up on state franchise tax

Challenge: An LLC ignored annual state franchise-tax filings.

New parents claim every child benefit

Challenge: New parents weren’t sure which child-related credits they qualified for.

Winner reports jackpot without overpaying

Challenge: A casino winner got a W-2G and feared a huge bill.

Disaster victim uses federal relief provisions

Challenge: A client in a declared-disaster area faced deadlines and a casualty loss.

Heir handles an inherited IRA correctly

Challenge: An heir risked a costly mistake on an inherited retirement account.

Dental practice restructures and saves

Challenge: A dental practice had no entity strategy and rising taxes.

Personal trainer captures gym deductions

Challenge: A trainer missed equipment, certification, and mileage write-offs.

Touring musician untangles multi-state tax

Challenge: A musician performing in many states had a filing mess.

Read the full story

Entertainment

athlete refund

Semi-pro athlete turns a bill into a refund

Challenge: An athlete with prize and sponsorship 1099s expected to owe.

Small farm captures Schedule F breaks

Challenge: A small farm missed depreciation and input deductions.

Author organizes royalty income and expenses

Challenge: A self-published author had messy royalty income and no expense tracking.

Online coach forms a tax-smart S-corp

Challenge: A course creator netting $120k had no entity strategy.

Nonprofit catches up on Form 990

Challenge: A small nonprofit missed several 990 filings and risked losing status.

Construction LLC restructures for savings

Challenge: A construction LLC paid full SE tax and had no plan.

Dropshipper cleans up books and taxes

Challenge: A dropshipper had no bookkeeping and a looming deadline.

Read the full story

Real Estate

$7,900

landlord depreciation

Landlord fixes years of missed depreciation

Challenge: A landlord never depreciated their rental properly.

Salon owner elects S-corp and saves

Challenge: A salon owner netting $95k paid full self-employment tax.

Indie app developer optimizes deductions

Challenge: A solo app developer missed software, hardware, and home-office deductions.

Small fleet restructures and cuts tax

Challenge: A three-truck operation had no entity strategy.

Read the full story

Events

wedding planner

Wedding planner turns owed into refund

Challenge: A wedding planner with 1099 income expected a bill.

PT practice adds a tax strategy

Challenge: A physical-therapy practice had rising taxes and no plan.

Private tutor captures education-business breaks

Challenge: A tutor with side 1099 income tracked nothing.

Chiropractor restructures the practice

Challenge: A chiropractor paid high self-employment tax with no strategy.

Mobile pet groomer cleans up the books

Challenge: A mobile groomer had no records and a deadline looming.

Loan-signing agent optimizes taxes

Challenge: A notary signing agent missed mileage and supply deductions.

Read the full story

Audit Defense

no change

Cash restaurant survives a sales audit

Challenge: A cash-heavy restaurant faced a state sales-tax audit.

Massage therapist settles back taxes

Challenge: A therapist owed $22,000 across several slow years.

Insurance agent captures the QBI deduction

Challenge: An agent was missing most of the qualified business income deduction.

Franchise fixes a payroll tax mess

Challenge: A franchisee had months of payroll deposit errors.

Read the full story

Facing something similar? Let's talk about your situation.

Book a Free Consultation Call (562) 925-7100

These case studies are illustrative examples of the types of matters we handle and the tools we use. They are composites created for explanation and do not describe specific clients, and the figures shown are examples rather than actual client outcomes. Every case is different: your result depends on your own facts and on IRS determinations, and no particular outcome is promised. See our disclaimer.

Get Started

Ready to Keep More of
Your Money?

Stop stressing about the IRS and start building wealth. Fill out the form to connect directly with a Libre Tax Strategist.

Direct Line

Daily 7am-10:30pm

(562) 925-7100

Email Support

For document submission & inquiries

[email protected]

Request a Consultation

Step 1 of 6

What is your name?

Taxation Services

Accounting & Admin

Resolution & Rescue

Need Immediate Help?

Menu

Taxation

Accounting

Resolution

Need Immediate Help?

The Kind of Work We Do

Freelancer settles $52k tax debt with an Offer in Compromise

Consultant cuts self-employment tax with an S-Corp

Small business wins a full IRS audit

Paycheck garnishment stopped in 72 hours

E-commerce seller recovers years of deductions

Non-resident owner avoids a $25k penalty

Rideshare driver settles $58k for $11k

Laid-off engineer clears six-figure balance

Restaurant owner escapes crushing tax debt

Single mom resolves years of back taxes

Contractor settles decade-old IRS balance

Nurse trades a scary bill for a simple plan

Small shop avoids a lien with the right plan

Retiree settles debt on a fixed income

Freelancer gets breathing room in three days

First-time penalty relief wipes out fees

Business recovers penalties after a bad year

Late filer clears penalties in one letter

Estate avoids steep late-filing penalties

Consultant wins a correspondence audit

Landlord defends rental-loss deductions

Cash-heavy salon passes an income audit

Trucker cuts an audit bill by 86%

Doctor’s S-corp survives a payroll audit

Warehouse worker stops a paycheck levy

Bank levy reversed and funds recovered

Contractor lifts a levy before payroll

Teacher ends a state and IRS garnishment

Disabled veteran placed in hardship status

Caregiver gets collections halted

Expat catches up on six years of returns

Non-filer discovers he was owed refunds

Gig worker files five years at once

Substitute return replaced, balance cleared

Marketing agency saves with S-corp election

Real estate agent restructures for savings

Physician moonlighter cuts SE tax

Freelance developer formalizes an S-corp

Startup launches with the right foundation

Contractor forms an LLC in a week

New consultancy starts as an S-corp

E-commerce seller gets a year of clean books

Catch-up bookkeeping uncovers lost write-offs

Restaurant gets audit-ready books

Growing shop fixes tangled payroll

New employer avoids payroll penalties

Agency nails year-end filings

Business owner captures the full QBI deduction

Solo owner opens a Solo 401(k)

Investor runs a cost-segregation study

Consultant ends estimated-tax penalties

Couple builds a multi-year tax plan

Crypto trader cleans up gains and losses

Family secures ITINs as a Certifying Agent

Foreign owner dodges a 5472 penalty

Expat becomes FBAR-compliant safely

Non-resident recovers over-withheld tax

Divorcee freed from ex’s tax liability

Injured spouse keeps her share of the refund

Newlyweds optimize their first joint return

Uber/Lyft driver maximizes gig deductions

Realtor couple unlocks real-estate tax breaks

Owner-operator captures full per-diem

YouTuber turns a big bill into a refund

Therapy practice restructures for savings

Online seller resolves multi-state sales tax

Food truck captures overlooked deductions

Uber Eats courier settles a surprise balance

Laid-off retail manager clears IRS debt

Barber sets up an affordable payment plan

Ready to Keep More of
Your Money?