May 16, 2024

Living the dream with author and tax debt expert Morgan Q. Anderson

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On this episode of Living the Dream with Curveball, we tackle the often daunting world of tax debt with the expertise of author and tax debt specialist, Morgan Q. Anderson. With 25 years of experience negotiating with the IRS and handling tax debt cases across all 50 states, Morgan shares invaluable insights and practical tips for anyone facing tax troubles. From personal to business tax debt, Morgan breaks down the complexities of tax laws and offers solutions to help you regain control. Tune in for a conversation that promises to shed light on a topic that affects us all, and discover why there's always a solution to your tax debt problems.
www.goldenliontaxsolutions.com

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> Speaker A>Welcome, um, to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. Um, if you believe you can achieve Chee Chee.

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> Speaker B>Welcome to the living a Dream with Curveball podcast, a show where I interview guests that teach, motivate and inspire. Today we're going to be talking about tax debt, as I am joined by author and tax debt expert, Morgan Q. Anderson. For years, Morgan has been representing her clients, resolving any kind of tax debt issues you can imagine, anything from personal to business to income, payroll, all that good stuff.

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> Speaker B>So we're going to be talking to her about that and seeing if she can give us some tips. We all have to pay taxes, so listen up. Morgan, thank you so much for joining me today.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Okay, CJ, curveball, it is so wonderful to be here. Thank you so much.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>I know that the topic of taxes is one of those that makes everybody kind of shiver in their seat. Um, but hopefully I can bring a little light and levity to a serious situation that none of us as adults can get away from.

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> Speaker B>That's exactly what we need. Why don't you start off by telling everybody a little bit about yourself?

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Yeah, you bet. So, as you said, I've been in this industry almost 25 years. All I've done is handle tax debt situations for my clients before the IR's, and I've dealt with all 50 states.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Uh, as an enrolled agent, I'm licensed by the IR's as a tax expert.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>So when you speak with your CPA or your tax attorney, they are confined to the states that they have licenses in. But as an enrolled agent, I handle everybody nationwide. So I've had the, the great fortune of being able to handle thousands of client cases over the two and a half decades that I've been doing this. And when I say I've been involved with solving pretty, pretty much any situation you can think of, it's an understatement.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Um, I've unfortunately had to deal with situations where we've had to close family businesses because the tax debt got so big. I've had situations where I've been able to handle individuals, cases where they're getting divorced, and it's a very contentious situation. I've dealt with clients who have had their homes and their businesses destroyed by natural disasters such as tornadoes.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Um, I've dealt with clients who have the state of Florida breathing down their neck for sales tax they didn't know they needed to be handling.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>So there's a lot rattling around this brain of mine.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>And hopefully from our conversation today, CJ, we're going to be able to let people know who have a tax debt, who are getting those scary notices.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Stop. Breathe, because there is always a solution, and it's best for you to be proactive about it.

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> Speaker B>Well, explain to the listeners how you even got into this field in the first place.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>It was a happy accident, actually. I, um, was managing a candle store on Boulder's Pearl street mall, bored out of my mind. And I love numbers. I love helping people. I love law. And I answered an ad for an administrative assistant, and I had no idea, you know, my grand 25 years on this earth, that people didn't pay taxes. I just never thought about it. Uh, for me, I'd always been a w two employee, so they take the taxes out of my paycheck. But when you have your own business, it's a whole different ballgame.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>And, uh, I interviewed with this company for an administrative assistant role, and it sounded really intriguing, but I. I was kind of hesitant because I'd never been exposed to that side of our financial world. And I called my dad, who was a lieutenant colonel in the military, and I said, dad, I had this great interview. It was wonderful. It seems like something right up my alley, but I don't know. Uh, have you ever heard of people not paying their taxes? And I could hear him just shaking his head on the other end of the line all the way down in Alabama. Daughter, you have so much to learn about this world. And he's, you know, we talked about it, and he said, we'll try it, and if you don't like it, you can always go find something else to do. And I. Through this, um, this whole scenario, I tripped into a world where I could really make a difference. I love numbers. I love negotiating. I love problem solving. And that's what this world is all about. How to start from the nasty notices and tax obligation concerns and problems that somebody is having, grabbing their hand and saying, follow my lead. I'm going to get you through this. And getting to that end result where I've had grown men on the phone cry with me in gratefulness and appreciation because we finally got through something that they couldn't even imagine how to get through.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>And, um, that's what inspires me every day to be doing this, and I love it. I wake up every day and say, okay, who do I get to help today?

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>And, uh, I feel very fortunate for being able to have that deep connection with what I do for my clients.

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> Speaker B>So when a typical taxpayer reaches out to you, what kind of situation or issues do they have?

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Um, anything you can imagine, um, most of my clients come to me with a situation where they either haven't filed for several years on their personal income tax return, or they have a business, and something happened to the business where they didn't have the cash flow to tend to the debt. So either they file the returns and it showed balances owed, or they just don't file them at all.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>And that's usually where we're starting from. I have had clients who have come to me who filed and paid their tax returns, but then they're getting saddled with a lot of penalties and asking if we can do anything about getting the penalties abated on the debt.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Um, but most people come to us in a situation where it's bigger than they know even what first step to take.

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> Speaker B>And that's why it's, ah, real important for the other taxpayers to hear your message.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>M yes, definitely.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>I will say to you, the best thing that somebody can do if they are in a tax debt situation or they're receiving notices asking for the IR's or state to be able to audit their records, don't hide from it, don't become an ostrich and stick your head in the sand and not look at it, because that's what makes it all just get worse.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>So I would say to be proactive, you get to be in control of the moves that are going to happen on this tax debt chessboard. Okay. Um, if you aren't proactive, they're going to come and tell you how it has to be resolved, and then you're giving up control. Then you're caught kind of on your heels with them being very aggressive towards you.

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> Speaker B>So when clients first speak with you, you get on the phone with them. However, uh, they meet with you, what's the most common question you get?

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Believe it or not, it's always a fear of, will I go to jail over this? Well, I go to prison and I will tell you, every year, only about 500 people across the nation end up having to go to prison related to a tax debt. So. And those are usually the really extreme cases, right? Think of Wesley Snipes.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Owed millions in past due taxes and fought the government the whole, the whole way through them investigating, wanting to seek a solution, and, uh, he ended up in prison.

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> Speaker B>So what kind of options are available to taxpayers that have a debt? Go over some of the options?

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Sure, sure. The most common ones are setting up a monthly payment to address the debt. If you haven't filed a tax return.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>You know, the federal and state governments have a way of understanding what you've received in income, and if you're required to file a return and you don't for a few years, they will file a substitute return. So 95% of the time, filing an accurate return will drop the substitute or the estimated liability. Everybody's heard of the offer in compromise program, right? That's the one where you go into a settlement negotiation with the IR's or the state. Um, but not all states will have that as an option available.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>You know, really, if your liability, if how much you owe is over for an individual, about 25,000, you definitely want somebody involved to handle it, because they'll know all of the programs that are available to you that you will qualify or won't qualify for, and they'll be able to get that handled on your behalf. If you're an individual and you owe up to 25,000 with the IR's, the best thing I can tell you is just call them. Call them right away and say, I don't have a lot, but, uh, I can set up some type of monthly payment and they'll be able to get that done for you. The other thing I would say is asking for the penalties to be forgiven, or as we call it, abated from the tax debt. It's going to save you a lot of money if you can get them to do that for you. So those are the predominantly the main things that we use as a resolution plan.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>There's several others. I go over them in my book. Um, or people can call me and talk about their situation and we can say, okay, here's what we believe based on what you've told us, is going to be the best way to handle this.

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> Speaker B>So what's the best advice you can give the listeners out there? Um, that's thinking about starting a business.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Oh, think when you're thinking about starting a business, I would absolutely say align with a great accountant, a great CPA, somebody who will be able to make sure from day one you know what your tax obligations are and can make sure that you have enough seed money to start the business so you will not get into a situation where you're having to rob Peter to pay.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Paul. Being underfunded as a new business is one of the primary reasons we see small businesses come to us with a tax debt.

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> Speaker B>Well, tell the listeners about your book, tell us where we can get it and what we can expect when we read it.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Yes, it's called tax debt. Rule number one.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>There's always a solution and it's available on Amazon. We have it in softback, hardback and Kindle. Whatever's easiest for you, whatever your preference is.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>And boy, I go through everything about the tax world in it, from why we pay taxes, why tax policy is the way it is. And I promise it is not going to put you to sleep. I write in a very easy to understand, um, sometimes light hearted along the way situations. I share stories about client cases that either I resolved or a colleague that I know has resolved. And it just gives you a really good peek behind the tax curtain.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>If you have a tax situation that's causing you worries and stress and sleepless nights, this book is the best place to start because it's going to walk you through the whole process, even audits.

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> Speaker B>So people can keep up with everything that you're up to. Throw out your contact information, or if, uh, somebody needs to get in touch with you.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Yeah, it's at goldenliontaxsolutions.com.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Or you can find me on LinkedIn or Facebook.

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> Speaker B>Okay, close us out with some final thoughts. Maybe if that was something I forgot to touch on that you would like to talk about it. Just any final thoughts you have for the listeners.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>You know, again, don't. Don't shy away from any debt concerns with the IR's or the state tax agencies.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Don't give up that control to them.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>You be in the driver's seat, even though you may, when you see that return address on the envelope when you open your mailbox, don't be afraid of it. Just open it up and make sure to face it head on.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>And if it's something that you feel is beyond what you're comfortable handling, reach out to me. Reach out to somebody else in our industry.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>We just want to make sure you get it taken care of and you leverage your money the best way possible to minimize how much you end up having to pay back.

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> Speaker B>All right, ladies and gentlemen, there you have it.

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> Speaker B>Goldenliontaxsolution.com dot get in touch with Morgan and our team if you need anything. Follow rate review share this episode to as many people as possible, even personal business, all kind of tax issues. Reach out to Morgan before it gets to something that you can't handle. If you have any guest or suggestion topics, see Jackson 102.

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> Speaker B>Net is the place to send them. As always, thank you for listening. Jump on your favorite podcast app and hit that follow button.

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> Speaker B>Leave us a review. Thank you for listening and supporting the show. And Morgan, thank you for joining us and sharing your expertise.

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> Morgan Q. Anderson>Thank you so much for having me. It was an honor for more information.

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> Speaker A>On the living the dream podcast, visit www.djcurvefall.com.

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> Speaker A>Until next time, uh, stay focused on living the dream dream.