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Offering Committed Protection | Recent Abatement Success Stories
Recent Formalized Installment Agreements | Creative Settlements

Recent Abatement Success Stories

• A publishing company in New Jersey hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage two liabilities owed to the State. The Associate assigned to this case submitted a Penalty Abatement to the Department of Revenue and the balance of approximately $3,000 associated with failure to file penalties was completely abated. The liability with the Department of Labor had a balance approximating $10,000 with several missing returns. This liability accrued due to a flood, and proper documents to recreate the missing returns could not be found. This Associate negotiated with the Department of Labor to pardon our client from filing all missing returns due to the records being destroyed. As part of that agreement, we also negotiated with the Department of Labor to waive all penalties arising from his failure to file these returns. Furthermore, we worked diligently matching cancelled checks from the client to payments received by the Department of Labor. Thus far, we have found over $5,000 worth of payments that have not been properly posted to our client’s account. We have submitted a request to the state to locate these payments and have them applied to the Department of Labor balance. While these payments are being located and in an attempt to curb further accrual, our client has been set up on a monthly Installment Agreement with the Department of Labor for $500 per month.
• A construction company in Lynden, Washington hired Clear Creek Consulting to resolve an IRS liability of $158,000. With the advice of our Associate, our client sold some equipment and made a $95,000 payment to the IRS. This Associate then secured an affordable Installment Agreement of $1,800 per month and submitted a Penalty Abatement which secured a $49,000 abatement of penalties for our client.
• A construction company in Brooklyn, New York accrued a $109,000 liability owed to the City of Brooklyn. The Associate assigned to this case submitted our client’s outstanding returns and negotiated a penalty abatement securing $16,000 in tax abatements from the city for our client.
• An individual in Independence, Kansas hired Clear Creek Consulting to negotiate an Installment Agreement, and abate associated penalties for a $9,000 liability owed to the state. In this instance, our client requested that we try to get penalties abated before a resolution to the tax issues was formalized. This Associate requested our client’s tax returns and filed a petition with the state. During the negotiation of the petition to release penalties, the Associate was able to reduce the total liability to $3,000 effectively reducing her total liability by two-thirds. An affordable Installment Agreement was then negotiated for $300 per month.
• A construction supply company in Tennessee hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage a $70,000 liability owed to the IRS and a $110,000 owed to two state taxing authorities. The Associate assigned to this case worked with our client’s accountant to get the business, which was inherited from the client’s father, back into good standing with the IRS, the State of Kentucky and the State of Tennessee. Once all balances were paid in full we submitted our request for penalties to be abated and refunded. The state of Kentucky agreed to refund our client $4,100, and the state of Tennessee refunded $2,500. The IRS initially rejected the penalty refund request flat out. With threat of an appeal, the agent decided to refund almost $10,000 to our client. This Associate then filed an appeal to the other penalties, and waited for the response. In the end, the Appeals Officer agreed with our position and granted a final refund of $4,500. All told, the IRS granted nearly $15,000 in refunds without a shred of evidence proving reasonable cause.
  
• An individual from Columbus, New Jersey hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage a $92,000 tax liability owed to the IRS. The Associate investigated this case, and discovered that the IRS had filed a Substitute for Return on the relevant tax period, including our client’s entire 1099 income from his sole proprietorship business. The Revenue Officer on the case was adamant that he would begin levying our client, until the Associate pointed out that if our client filed all of the missing returns we would be willing to enter into an Installment Agreement to satisfy the liability. The Revenue Officer agreed that filing all returns would be a good idea and gave us a month to get the returns prepared. We filed two returns that were missing, creating $8,000 worth of refunds for the client and filed an original return to replace the Substitute for Return. The Revenue Officer was very unhelpful at that point and did not forward the original submission on to the proper department for processing, so we ended up submitting the return three times over the next couple of months to get the original return to the IRS. The IRS took about six months to process the original return, but finally completed the processing. The return resulted in a $10,500 refund to the client. We are still working with the IRS to see about some additional withholding claimed by our client, which could result in another $3,500 in refunds, but all told the Associate was able to reduce a $92,000 liability into $18,500 worth of refunds, with possibly more coming.
• A transportation company in Temple, Texas hired Clear Creek Consulting to negotiate a $19,473.56 IRS liability. Nearly all of this liability was in Civil Penalties due to the fact that wages on our client’s 941's for four tax years did not match the W-2's for those years. Upon review of all payroll records for the tax years in question, we determined we needed to supply the IRS with W-2’s and 941c’s. Though two of the returns were not processed by the IRS due to statute of limitations, all civil penalties were abated reducing our client’s balance to zero.
• An assisted living business in Alaska hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage a $240,000 liability owed to the IRS. Several months ago, an affordable Installment Agreement was negotiated at $5,500 per month, however the Associate also submitted a Penalty Abatement request to which the IRS never responded. After several submittals, the Associate contacted Taxpayer Advocate and after reviewed, $64,090.61was abated.
• An electrical contractor in Tacoma, Washington, hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage a $200,000 owed to the IRS with the Trust Fund portion of this liability having been assessed to our client personally. Because our client’s business was seasonal, our client could not make the already negotiated $7,500 per month Installment Agreement payments, so our client defaulted. Our client decided to sell a personal property to fully pay the Trust Fund portion of the liability, which was approximately $58,000. At that point, the Associate negotiated an Installment Agreement of $2500 for the remaining business liability of approximately $135,000, and submitted a Penalty Abatement request. The Revenue Officer originally told the Associate that he would be able to abate approximately $30,000 in failure to file penalties, then called back and said his manager denied our request. We filed an appeal, and followed up with a call to the Revenue Officer, who then met with his manager again. The Revenue Officer then agreed to abate approximately $30,000 in penalties after all.
• An HVAC company in Albion, Michigan made a mistake of writing the EIN of his other company that did not owe taxes, to pay down a debt on the business that owed $55,000 to the IRS. He then wrote another check without cancelling the first which put his company’s cash flow in jeopardy. The Associate assigned to the case not only got the funds returned in a matter of days, verses months which is what the IRS had originally stated, the Associate also managed to get penalties abated for three full years. Once this was done, our client not only received a $35,000 check on this first day of contact which was an overpayment, but a refund of $18,490. Thus, for two checks being cashed of $51,000, the client has now received a refund of $53,490.
• A restaurant grease recycling business in IL owed $190,000 from 2004 through 2006 to the IRS when he hired Clear Creek Consulting. Once hired, the Associate immediately drafted and submitted a Penalty Abatement Narrative to the Revenue Officer. The Revenue Officer agreed to abate $60,000 in penalties, lowering the liability to $130,000. Because the Revenue Officer only abated half of what we were asking, we appealed the other tax periods, and negotiated with Appeals to abate an additional $40,000. The taxpayer had already paid penalties for tax periods from 2001 – 2005, so we then submitted a request for a refund of penalties paid for this time period. The Appeals Officer agreed to abate $35,000 worth of penalties, and once interest on these penalties was calculated, our client’s current liability will drop to less than $20,000. If the client cannot pay this balance in full, we will submit an Installment Agreement. In all, we have saved our client $170,000, without having to negotiate a formal agreement or provide financial statements.
• A furniture business in Grinnell, Kansas hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage an $18,500 liability owed to the State of Kansas. The Associate assigned to this case negotiated that if the client could full pay the liability, then all penalties and interest would be dropped. Unfortunately, our client was unable to come up the funds to full pay the base tax and missed two deadlines. Nonetheless, the Associate moved the case forward by proposing an affordable Installment Agreement and the State Revenue Agent still agreed to dropping all penalties and interest saving our client $7,500.
• A general contractor in Newberry, Florida hired Clear Creek Consulting to resolve a $62,000 liability owed to the IRS. When hired, the assigned Revenue Officer was moving to lien this company and levy their bank accounts immediately. Once it was explained that we were here to help in the resolution of this issue, the Revenue Officer warmed up and did not place a lien on the business, and gave the assigned Associate three weeks to gather some information. During this process, we put together a Penalty Abatement Narrative for $90,000 in other taxes that the client recently full-paid prior to hiring our firm. With this Penalty Abatement being accepted, our client received a refund in the amount of $65,000 which will more than full pay the current balance and put some money into our client’s pocket. Furthermore, we are expecting that some portion of the associated interest will be refunded as well.
• An automotive repair company in Liberal, Kansas hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage a $251,484 state tax liability. The Associate assigned to this case negotiated a penalty abatement in the amount of $167,330.67 reducing our client’s liability to $84,183. The Associate then advised our client to make a lump sum payment of $65,000 so this business could make affordable $500 monthly payments for 38 months.
• A delivery service company in Columbus, New Jersey hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage a $93,000 outstanding tax liability owed to the IRS based on a substitute return the IRS filed against our client. Once the Associate understood the issues at hand, he assisted our client in filing an outstanding tax return which once filed, showed that the IRS actually owes our client $23,000. Needless to say, our client is thrilled to have this issue behind him and actually have money due to him.
• A tire and equipment business in Marion, Kentucky hired Clear Creek Consulting to resolve a $15,000 liability owed to the State. In our attempts to resolve this issue, the Associate assigned to this case negotiated an Installment Agreement with the State, however, our client could not afford the payments so we attempted to put together an Offer in Compromise. In the meantime, the Associate negotiated with the state to reduce the debt to $3,300 which they did, saving our client nearly $12,000.
• A commercial piping company located in San Francisco, California hired Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties associated with a $29,146 liability owed to the IRS. The Associate assigned to this case negotiated a refund of $6, 065.11 for our client.
• A Dothan, Alabama fabrication company hired Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties on an IRS liability that had already been paid in full. Although our first submission was denied, the Associate assigned to this case supplied additional information bolstering our argument for reasonable cause and the Revenue Officer abated $8,994.75. This amount was well above the fee charged by Clear Creek Consulting.
• A window service business in Carrollton, Texas hired Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties associated with a $40,000 liability owed to the IRS. The Associate assigned to this case negotiated a full abatement of all penalties which totaled $15,110. A snack food distributor in Jeff, Kentucky hired Clear Creek Consulting to resolve a $93,000 liability owed to the IRS. Without even having a formal resolution in place, the Associate assigned to this case negotiated a full abatement of $17,000 associated with late deposit and late payment penalty charges.
• The owner of a marble company in Bluff City, Tennessee hired Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties associated with an IRS liability of $33,033.19. Within several weeks, the Associate assigned to this case negotiated a Penalty Abatement in the amount of $26,787.04. The remainder of the balance ($6,246.15) is to be paid in small monthly Installment Agreement payments.
• A New York clothing designer hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage a $60,000 IRS liability stemming from 2001, and wanted an Installment Agreement. The Associate assigned to this case protected him through several Installment Agreement defaults, threats of levy and seizure until he was able to refinance some property and fully satisfy his liability. Our client’s balances stem from three different tax periods. Once the liability was paid in full, we submitted requests for refunds. Two out of three tax periods were accepted for refunds, and the taxpayer will receive a total of $13,000 back in refund checks.
• A computer systems business in Toms River, New Jersey hired Clear Creek Consulting to formalize an Installment Agreement for an IRS liability of $38,513. Not only did the Associate negotiate an affordable Installment Agreement for our client, the Associate also managed to abate $6,945.098 in penalties, and we are in the process of negotiating another $7,000 in penalties through Appeals.
• An ice arena in Texas hired Clear Creek Consulting to renegotiate the findings of an audit that found our client was behind $39,829.84 in sales tax obligations. Furthermore, our client did not know about this audit as his general manager had signed off on the findings without ever telling the owner that an audit was being conducted. As the time to protest had lapsed when Clear Creek Consulting was hired, the Associate nonetheless, negotiated that a $10,000 bond and associated penalties be abated. This negotiation saved our client $13,170.16.
• A community outreach and daycare facility in Albany, Georgia hired Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties that had accrued on an IRS liability of $70,000. When retained, our client had already filed bankruptcy and paid the outstanding tax balance in full. Within weeks, the Associate assigned to this case submitted a Penalty Abatement on behalf of our client who received a check back from the IRS for $57,000.
• An investment housing company in Roswell, New Mexico hired Clear Creek Consulting to resolve an outstanding liability of $240,000 owed to the IRS. Over time, the Associate assigned to this file built a relationship with the Revenue Officer and basically told his contact that we could either voluntarily shut the company down and submit a Certificate of Discharge for the assets and reopen the entity, or streamline this process to get it off the Revenue Officer’s desk. In short, the Revenue Officer agreed to the streamlined process and agreed to abate over $60,000 in penalties and over $50,000 in interest which is rarely done, but in this case the taxpayer was misled by a previously assigned Revenue Officer, and therefore special consideration was given. Negotiating an end to this tax situation in this manner saved our client considerable amount of time and energy and he can now concentrate on running his business verses, shutting it down and reorganizing the company.
• A farmer in Maryland hired Clear Creek Consulting to not only manage and resolve a $55,000 liability owed to the IRS, but to protect the family business from enforced collection until the business could be turned around. Not only did we protect the business, we negotiated approximately $8,000 in penalty abatement relief.
• A contractor’s supply company in Templeton, CA hired Clear Creek Consulting to reduce the penalties associated with a $150,000 liability owed to California’s State Board of Equalization. The Associate assigned to this case negotiated a full abatement of approximately $20,000.
• A recycling company in Ennis, Texas hired Clear Creek Consulting to resolve a liability of $392,333.07 owed to the IRS. Over the course of managing this case, the client defaulted on an Installment Agreement and declared bankruptcy, however, through the Taxpayer Advocate Office, the Associate assigned to this case still managed to abate $107,894.70 in penalties which were refunded to our client.
• An appraisal business in Preston, Missouri hired Clear Creek Consulting to resolve a liability of $15,000 to the IRS. The Associate assigned to this case consulted our client on ways to reduce overhead so the company could manage an affordable Installment Agreement that was eventually formalized. The Associate then battled with the IRS to reduce penalties associated with this liability. After much negotiation in the Appeals Division of the IRS, we eventually had $4,857 reduced from the liability.
• A Nursing home in Valdosta Georgia hired Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties and associated interest on a liability of $32,000 that had already been paid in full to the IRS. Within several weeks, the Associate assigned to this file received a refund in the amount of $10,016.46 for our client
• The owner of a now defunct consulting company located in La Canada, California hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage an IRS liability of approximately $700,000. Although we recommended that our client file for bankruptcy, we have already negotiated that $100,000 of the Trust Fund amount not be assessed against this individual. When our client is out of bankruptcy, we will wrap up the liability by filing an Offer in Compromise.
• An athletic clothing company in Manchester Maryland hired Clear Creek Consulting to resolve a $23,000 liability owed to the IRS for failing to file W-2’s and W-3’s in a timely fashion. Upon being hired, the Associate assigned to this case filed our Power of Attorney with Appeals and outlined our client’s position, the Appeals Hearing Officer abated $22,000 in penalties.
• An electrical contracting company in New Jersey hired Clear Creek Consulting to manage a $600,000 liability to the Internal Revenue Service. The Associate assigned to this case negotiated a one year Tiered Installment Agreement at $1,000 so the company could build up its receivables and become a more stable company. The Associate also negotiated a Penalty Abatement of $120,000 and we are in the process of Appealing for more penalties to be abated.
• Once we negotiated one convenient and affordable Installment Agreement for a holding company that owned and operated nine entities that had fallen behind, the Associate assigned to this case negotiated the full refund of $170,000 for all penalties and associated interest for this client. While the Associate was managing this case, it was imperative that the State of Georgia not file any tax liens against our client which we were able to prevent, in addition to negotiating an affordable State Installment Agreement for the balance owed to this taxing authority.
• An Illinois metal fabricating company retained Clear Creek Consulting to abate $85,000 in penalties that had already been paid to the Internal Revenue Service. Within two months, the Associate assigned to this case negotiated a full abatement of all penalties for this client.
• An Oregon-based copy shop retained Clear Creek Consulting to manage its ongoing problems with the IRS. Within weeks, the Associate assigned to this file settled an outstanding business creditor issue for $8,500 on a debt of $26,314, and managed to reduce the company’s liability to the IRS from $40,000 to $16,000 even though the client had $100,000 in the company’s checking account and another $50,000 in personal investments.
• A New Jersey-based floor coverings company retained Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties associated with its liability to the state. Within a week, the Associate assigned to this file had negotiated a loan for our client and full-paid the liability positioning the client for an immediate abatement of penalties. The client is now debt free to the state and received the maximum penalty abetment permitted by the state.
• An Arkansas-based waste management company retained Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties on an outstanding state liability of $601,185. Within a few weeks, the Associate assigned to this file negotiated the release of $125,589 in penalties for our client.
• A Brooklyn, New York  day care retained Clear Creek Consulting to resolve a $25,000 New York State Workers Compensation Insurance issue. Within weeks we negotiated a settlement down to $10,100 to be paid in five monthly payments.
• A framing and construction company located in Grand Rapids, Michigan retained Clear Creek Consulting to resolve a nagging $40,000 IRS liability. Within weeks, we consulted our client to maintain compliancy, and negotiated a Tiered Installment Agreement for the balance of their liability that was reduced by $13,000 through filing and negotiating an effective Abatement Narrative. We argued through a rarely used section of the Internal Revenue Manual, IRC Section 6656, that a change in a company’s deposit schedule is grounds for this abatement.
• A Danville Kentucky interior designs firm retained Clear Creek Consulting to abate penalties and to obtain an affordable payment plan. Within a few short weeks, the Clear Creek Consulting associate negotiated an abatement of 100% of the penalties which consisted of 61% of the liability and now this client is on an even more affordable payment plan for the reduced balance.

• A high end automotive repair shop in Tampa Florida retained Clear Creek Consulting to negotiate a payment plan and to abate the penalties associated with this a Florida state liability. Within a few weeks, the associate assigned to this client negotiated a Tiered Installment Agreement with payments growing over time to match the client’s financial condition over the next several months. This associate also recovered 100% of the penalties associated with this liability.

• Within weeks of representation, a Kentucky HVAC company had their preexisting state Installment Agreement payments negotiated from $2,600 to $1,300 in addition to having $27,000 of penalties abated.

• A Tennessee trucking company hired Clear Creek Consulting to negotiate an Abatement of Penalties. This client received a formal abatement of ALL penalties approximating $50,000.

• With the representation of Clear Creek Consulting, a Kentucky health supplement store received an abatement of penalties worth $7,100.

• With the representation of Clear Creek Consulting, a Utah pizza restaurant received an abatement of penalties worth $4,500.

• A Texas medical supply company hired Clear Creek Consulting to negotiate an Abatement of Penalties. In August 2004, this client received a formal Abatement of Penalties approximating $73,000.

• Within 30 days of representation, a Virginia welding company received a 100% abatement of ALL its penalties charged against this company by the Internal Revenue Service. The associate assigned to this file has also negotiated an affordable Installment Agreement to address the remaining balance.

• A contracting company hired Clear Creek Consulting to abate its penalties owed to the State of Montana. Within weeks, the associate assigned to this file negotiated the release of ALL penalties associated with this tax liability.

• After a thorough examination of a dentist’s tax issue in Oregon, the Senior Associate assigned to this file was able to negotiate a penalty abatement of 93% of the penalties associated with this debt and formalize an affordable Installment Agreement within weeks of representation.

• Within one week of representation, a Montana excavation company received a full abatement of State penalties and is now on an affordable Installment Agreement for the balance.

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