How BestTaxPro™ reports client results

Where the numbers come from

When I publish a client result, the figure comes from records in the case file. Depending on the matter, that may include:

• IRS account transcripts
• IRS determination letters
• Offer in Compromise acceptance letters
• Penalty relief determinations
• Refund records
• State tax records
• Other documents that support the result

I don't create a “savings” number from memory. I don't publish what someone might have saved. And I don't make a number bigger because it would make a better headline.

If I say a client's IRS balance was one amount and the matter was resolved for another, I should be able to show where both numbers came from.

The client has to agree to the story

A good result does not automatically become marketing material. For an identifiable client story, I use the required client authorization before publishing information about the client or the tax matter.

Some clients choose to appear in a video and describe what happened in their own words. Others want their tax matters kept private. I respect both.

If a case study on this site is a composite, it is clearly labeled as one. A composite combines fact patterns from more than one matter, so no single client is the source of the story and no client can be identified. Its purpose is to show how a type of tax problem can develop and how the issues may be worked through.

Composite case studies do not include dollar results.

Other case studies are based on a single client matter, with names, places, dollar amounts, and other identifying details left out. I publish those only with the required client authorization.

Why one client's result does not predict yours

This is the most important point on the page. A result belongs to that taxpayer's facts.

Two taxpayers can owe the same amount and still have very different options. When the IRS evaluates an Offer in Compromise, it looks at the taxpayer's ability to pay, income, expenses, and asset equity. So the fact that one person settled a large balance for less does not tell me what another person with the same starting balance will qualify for.

Penalty relief is the same kind of problem. The amount of the penalty by itself does not tell me whether relief applies. I need the taxpayer's actual facts and the rule that applies to that penalty.

That's why I won't use somebody else's result to tell you what the IRS will do in your case.

What I will not publish

I will not knowingly publish:

• A guaranteed IRS outcome
• A guaranteed savings percentage
• A guaranteed resolution timeframe
• A result I cannot support from the case file
• A dollar figure in a composite case study
• An identifiable client story without the required client authorization
• A case study based on an individual client’s matter without the required client authorization
• A total “savings” or experience figure I cannot substantiate

That standard applies anywhere BestTaxPro™ controls the content, whether it is the homepage, a case study, a client story, or a service page.

Why I don't publish an average savings percentage

Because it would not tell you much about your case.

Different taxpayers have different balances, tax years, income, assets, expenses, filing histories, collection timelines, and eligibility for IRS programs. You can combine unrelated cases and produce a percentage. That still does not tell me what your IRS account supports.

I would rather show you an individual case, explain what actually happened, and be clear that your result has to come from your own facts.

What this means when you contact me

I am not going to look at the balance on an IRS notice and tell you that I can settle it for some percentage.

First, I want to understand the account. If we are looking at a collection resolution, I may also need to understand your income, expenses, assets, equity, filing compliance, and the collection timeline. Then we can talk about what the facts support.

That is the principle behind my work: understand the facts first, then decide what the facts support.

The experience behind that approach

I have worked in taxation since 2003 and have represented taxpayers in IRS examinations, collection matters, and Appeals.

I am an Enrolled Agent, an NTPI Fellow, and admitted to practice before the United States Tax Court as a non-attorney practitioner.

I have also written two books about IRS audits, collections, Appeals, notices, penalties, liens and levies, Offers in Compromise, and other IRS problems. Those books are part of the background behind how I approach IRS matters. They are not proof of the client results shown on this site.

The case file is.