Diana (not her real name) sat down with TaxRise to hear the resolution the tax relief company managed to successfully negotiate with the IRS on her behalf.
Here’s her story:
As a senior living on Social Security, Diana felt confident that the $400,000 she accumulated in an annuity would serve her well in retirement.
But scammers had something different in mind, a mentality all too common nowadays.
After gaining Diana’s trust, savvy criminals convinced her to withdraw every last penny from that tax-deferred account.
Authorities never caught the perpetrator(s), even after she gave their supposed names into the FBI as well as every other bit of information she had. Unfortunately, Diana says she hasn’t heard anything more from the FBI, admitting that she’ll likely never see that money again.
“Yeah. It wiped me out completely. Those scammers; they’re smart. They had me completely brainwashed.”
At TaxRise, we’re well aware of how common and ridiculous the sheer amount of people who scam elderly people out of their 401k, their savings, and then vanish.
It’s not our imagination either. The Federal Trade Commission reports that total losses from people 60 or older who were scammed totaled about $122 million in 2020. That figure exploded to about $700 million in 2024, and the number is expected to steadily increase.
It’s no surprise that many of these scams target retirement accounts, resulting in seniors losing their entire savings.
IRS Hands Diana More Bad News
And wouldn’t you know … as though Diana hadn’t suffered enough financial pain for a lifetime, the IRS rubbed an entire salt shaker on her already open wound.
Uncle Sam sent her a tax bill for $73,747 to cover penalties and interest for withdrawing all the money from her annuity prematurely, following up with threatening letters.
She briefly thought about calling the IRS to make payment arrangements, but said frustratingly, “they wanted so much paperwork that it was a big pain in the butt. I never could get my head around it, and I wasn’t in the best frame of mind at the time.”
In fact, she told TaxRise that she “felt awful, scared and sick to her stomach. You go through the whole gamut of emotions. I was mostly scared because I didn’t think there was any way I would be able to pay that large amount of money.”
TaxRise to the Rescue
Diana faced an ugly reality: If she couldn’t pay the full amount, the IRS could garnish her Social Security benefits. “I was barely living on it as it was,” she explained.
That pushed her to seek professional help for resolving her IRS debt. And boy, are we glad she did. At TaxRise, we know how difficult it is to find someone to help make the proper argument, provide the proof, and negotiate with the IRS.
Diana was the perfect client. She provided the TaxRise team with all the proof needed to show that she was scammed as well as her income (or lack thereof) and expenses. That allowed us to submit an Offer in Compromise (OIC), when you make an offer for less than you owe to settle debt.
The majority of applicants are turned down. They may have too many assets, or make too much money. Regardless of why, OICs are one of the hardest relief programs for which to qualify. Based on official IRS publications and analysis, the agency only accepted 21.3% of all OICs in 2024.
Thankfully, after going back and forth with the IRS, they acknowledged that the $73,747 Diana allegedly owed did stem from a very difficult situation that she had endured and that she didn’t have the ability to pay back that liability.
The result: The IRS accepted the OIC made by TaxRise and settled her liability for $100.
Diana could barely contain her happiness upon hearing the news. “One-hundred dollars is a godsend. That makes me feel so good, I’m going to cry. It’s a big relief off my mind. It’s been something worrying me, and it’ll be so nice to get on with other things in my life.”
From Victim to Advocate
Unfortunately, Diana learned a tough lesson about scams the hard way, and an easier one settling her debt with the help of TaxRise. And she’s played the advocate role ever since we helped resolve her issue.
“Never again, never again,” she said. “I don’t answer calls from people I don’t know. I don’t click on links that are weird, I don’t do any of that stuff anymore. I’m very careful with it.”
She continued, “Medicare is not going to call you, neither will the IRS. You have to be wary of people asking for money over the phone. Be wary of people trying to endear you.”
While professional tax relief is not a magic bullet. What tax relief professionals can provide is the peace of mind that your tax liability is being resolved as effectively and efficiently as possible. That’s because tax relief companies often employ a team of tax attorneys, CPAs and enrolled agents who specialize in resolving tax liabilities every day.
Legitimate companies will never guarantee a specific result or quote an amount by which they will reduce your tax liability.
Resolving a tax liability yourself could mean hours on the phone and months — or even years — of communication with the IRS and hundreds of dollars in accrued penalties and interest fees.
Tax relief companies, like TaxRise, take that burden off you and put qualified professionals on the frontline of your battle.
The best part: Diana wasn’t shy away from expressing her appreciation.
“I would just like to thank them profusely for all the energy and the time that they put into this for me. I really feel like they just went above and beyond for me, and I appreciate them so much.”
The results described here represent the specific outcome achieved for one client and are not a guarantee, warranty, or prediction of similar results for other clients.
