The IRS Knows Your History. Shouldn’t You?

When you hire WATAX, the first thing we'll do is research your IRS records. But why?! What's the benefit to you?

Researching your IRS history is an essential first key to a successful outcome for virtually any case. WATAX is able to gain a bird's-eye view of all the pieces at play to resolve a case successfully. Using trusted and secure software, we don't just research your history up front — we keep watching your account for both risks and opportunities as they develop.

To figure out the best way to handle your tax case, we need to look at a few key things first.

• Are you caught up on your filings? To be in the IRS "compliance window," you must have filed your returns for the last 6 years. If you're missing any, we can pull your transcripts to help prepare and file them for you.
• Detecting levies before they hit. This is where our monitoring earns its keep. Because we hold Power of Attorney and watch your IRS account directly, we can often spot the early signals of an impending levy — the internal enforcement activity that precedes it — weeks or even months before the notice is issued. That head start is the difference between reversing a frozen account and quietly resolving the issue before the IRS ever pulls the trigger.
• If you owe… what relief is available? Determining whether you're eligible for First Time Abatement (FTA) on penalties is often where hidden relief is found (FTA applies to penalties for tax year 2024 and earlier; it was discontinued for 2025 onward). Reviewing the interest accrued on a debt also guides us in seeking waivers to reduce what you owe.
• Where does your case stand? Has a specific IRS officer been assigned to your case, or are you dealing with the IRS automated system? Knowing this helps us set a timeline and separate the IRS threats that are real from the ones that are imagined.
• Which years do you owe for, and when do those debts expire? The IRS generally has 10 years to collect. Checking this expiration date lets us weigh the possibility of letting a debt run out — and helps us crunch numbers later to see what settlement you'll likely qualify for.
• Continued monitoring. Once you're back in compliance, with all back taxes processed and any liability addressed, our representation continues. We keep Power of Attorney in place so that if any future issues, appeals, or unforeseen circumstances appear, WATAX can assess and troubleshoot quickly — before a small problem grows.