Warehouse & Fulfillment Worker · 15 Years With The Same Employer
She Owed $67,618. She Will Pay $0.
Debt Expiration + Non-Collectible StatusResolution: Currently Non-Collectible (CNC) + Collection Statute Expiration
The Situation
For more than fifteen years she showed up at the same small company, packing boxes and filling orders. She owed the IRS $67,618 — a number that had nothing to do with how hard she worked. Her father had been the one helping her stay above water. When he passed away, that help went with him, and she was left carrying a balance her paycheck was never going to cover.
What Other Companies Would Have Done
Most companies would have sold her a settlement. That would have been the wrong move — applying for one stops the 10-year clock while the IRS thinks about it, and she didn't qualify anyway. She would have paid a fee and ended up further from the finish line.
What TaxWave Did
The IRS only gets 10 years to collect a tax debt. After that it is gone by law. We pulled her full IRS records and worked out exactly when each part of her debt would run out. Then we proved she genuinely could not afford to pay anything, which made the IRS stop collecting — without stopping the clock.
The Result
Once we had her protected, the clock did the rest. $35,963 reached its deadline while we held the IRS off, and was wiped out for good. The remaining $31,655 stays in hardship status at $0 a month and reaches its own deadline within twelve months. She never makes a payment, and no more interest or penalties are ever added.
Grandmother & Full-Time Family Caregiver
She Owed $250,855. Half Is Already Gone. She Paid Nothing.
Debt Expiration + Non-Collectible StatusResolution: Currently Non-Collectible (CNC) + Collection Statute Expiration
The Situation
She was the one holding her family together — through funerals, through cancer diagnoses, and through caring for a grandchild who had survived an aneurysm. On top of all of it she owed the IRS $250,855, and there was a lien sitting on the house she needed to sell.
What TaxWave Did
Her records showed a large part of the debt was already close to its 10-year deadline. Asking the IRS for a deal would have paused those deadlines. So instead we proved her hardship and had her placed in hardship status — the IRS stops collecting entirely and she pays nothing, while the 10-year clock keeps running in the background.
The Result
With her shielded from collection, $128,771 reached its deadline on our watch and was wiped out permanently — about half of everything she owed, without a single dollar paid toward it. The rest of the balance stays in hardship status at $0 a month until it reaches its own deadline and disappears too. She never has to pay any of it.
Former Business Owner · Married, Two Children
The IRS Said No to $252,000. It Cost Them $79,632.
Garnishment Release + PPIAResolution: Wage Garnishment Release + Partial Payment Installment Agreement (PPIA)
The Situation
His consulting business closed. The debt did not go with it. The IRS went after his wife's wages instead, taking more than 55% of every paycheck she earned while the two of them were raising two children.
What TaxWave Did
First we made the IRS stop taking her money. Then we looked at the calendar: seven years remained on the 10-year collection deadline. That made this a Partial Payment Installment Agreement — the IRS collects what the family can afford until the deadline passes, then writes off the rest. We offered $3,000 a month, or $252,000 over those seven years, which would have wiped out $78,867 of the debt.
Where The IRS Pushed Back
The IRS turned it down. So we went back with far better proof of what this family could actually afford — and got the payment lowered to $2,052 a month. That wipes out $158,499 instead of $78,867. Their refusal cost them $79,632 and doubled this family's savings. They should have taken the first number.
The Result
Garnishment released. At $2,052 a month for the seven years remaining, they will pay $172,368 of the $330,867 — and $158,499 will expire without ever being paid.
Living On Disability · Caring For His 80-Year-Old Father
He Owed $16,000. He Paid $1,200. The Rest Is Gone.
Offer in CompromiseResolution: Offer in Compromise (OIC) — Accepted
The Situation
He lives on disability, sharing a home with his 80-year-old father — the two of them looking after each other. He owed the IRS $16,000, and on a fixed disability check that number was never going to move in any direction but up.
What TaxWave Did
A settlement only works if you can prove the IRS would never realistically collect more than you are offering. We documented his disability income, his living situation, and his real monthly costs. The honest answer was that the IRS would collect almost nothing. We offered $1,200.
The Result
The IRS accepted. $14,800 — 92% of what he owed — was wiped out permanently, along with every dollar of future interest and penalties. He paid $1,200 and closed the account.
IT & Government Contractor · Father Of A Service Member
The IRS Said No Three Times. We Made Them Say Yes.
SIA + Tax Court DefenseResolution: Streamlined Installment Agreement (SIA) + Tax Court Escalation
The Situation
He builds IT systems for government agencies, and his son serves in the military. He owed $110,000, and his case had been handed to the IRS's most aggressive collection unit. Sitting there in plain view was his retirement account — decades of saving, fully exposed.
What TaxWave Did
We proposed a Streamlined Installment Agreement. We documented everything. We asked for terms any reasonable person would call fair.
Where The IRS Pushed Back
The IRS said no. We came back with more paperwork. They said no again. Every normal route was refused — which happens when the IRS can see an asset it would rather take. So we escalated to one of our tax attorneys, who prepared to challenge them in Tax Court and put them on notice in writing. They backed down.
The Result
His retirement savings were never touched. A Streamlined Installment Agreement was set at $1,583 a month for 72 months — $113,976 in total, only $3,976 more than he already owed, across six full years.
Career Caregiver · Starting Over In A New State
She Was Told She Owed $22,000. She Owed $353.
Return CorrectionResolution: Tax Return Preparation & Transcript Review
The Situation
She spent her career taking care of other people. After winning a settlement against an employer who had mistreated her, she moved across the country to start again — and was told she would owe about $22,000 in tax on the money meant to help her do it.
What Other Companies Would Have Done
That number was wrong, and it is wrong far more often than people realize. Returns get filed incorrectly every day — by people doing their own, and by paid preparers working fast. Settlement money is one of the classic mistakes, because how it gets taxed depends on what it was paying you for. Nobody ever goes back and checks.
What TaxWave Did
We checked. We pulled her real IRS records, confirmed what the IRS actually had on file, applied the correct treatment to the settlement, and prepared the return properly.
The Result
Her real tax bill was $353. More than 98% of what she had been told she owed simply was not owed — no settlement, no negotiation, and no installment agreement required.
U.S. Military Veteran · Age 74, Still Working
He Was Paying $648 a Month. Now He Pays $80.
PPIAResolution: Partial Payment Installment Agreement (PPIA)
The Situation
He served his country. At 74, he and his wife were still cleaning buildings to make ends meet — and $648 of that work went to the IRS every single month against a $37,000 balance. Nobody had ever stopped to check how much time the IRS actually had left to collect it.
What TaxWave Did
We checked. Then we documented what he could genuinely afford at his age and income, and put him into a Partial Payment Installment Agreement — the IRS collects the affordable amount until the clock runs out, and writes off whatever is left. The payment gets negotiated against the calendar, not the balance.
The Result
His payment dropped from $648 to $80 a month. He will pay about $9,600 of a $37,000 debt — roughly 26 cents on the dollar. The other $27,400 disappears, along with the interest and penalties it would have kept generating.
Retired Home Inspector · Father Of A U.S. Marine
$10,000 of What He Owed Was Not Even Tax.
Penalty Abatement + SIAResolution: Penalty Abatement + Streamlined Installment Agreement (SIA)
The Situation
He spent his career inspecting other people's homes; his wife works as an occupational therapist; their son is a Marine. A large part of what they owed the IRS was not tax at all — it was penalties piled on top of the original bill, quietly generating more interest every month.
What TaxWave Did
Penalties can often be removed when there is a legitimate reason they built up. Almost nobody asks, so almost nobody gets it. We asked, and documented why.
The Result
$10,000 in penalties came off the balance, which also stopped the interest those penalties were generating. A Streamlined Installment Agreement covers the $70,000 that genuinely remained.
Retired Mechanic · Widower
He Owes $7,500. He Pays $50 a Month. Most of It Disappears.
PPIAResolution: Partial Payment Installment Agreement (PPIA)
The Situation
He spent his whole working life as a mechanic. He lost his wife to cancer, and now lives alone on a retirement check. He owed the IRS $7,500 — not a large number to most people, but an impossible one on his income.
What TaxWave Did
We showed the IRS what he can genuinely afford and put him into a Partial Payment Installment Agreement, priced against the time they have left to collect, which runs out in 2032.
The Result
He pays $50 a month. By the time the clock runs out he will have paid roughly $3,500 — and about $4,000 disappears, along with the interest and penalties that would have kept building.
Retiree On Social Security & Disability · Age 67
She Owes $6,000. She Pays Nothing. The IRS Stopped.
Currently Non-CollectibleResolution: Currently Non-Collectible (CNC)
The Situation
At 67, living entirely on Social Security and disability, she owed the IRS $6,000. On her income that might as well have been six million — there was no month in which she could have paid any part of it.
What TaxWave Did
We proved to the IRS that taking money from her would leave her unable to cover basic living costs, and got her formally classified as unable to pay.
The Result
The IRS stopped completely. No garnishment, no levies, no collection calls, and no monthly payment — while the 10-year clock keeps running the entire time she is protected.
$250M+
IRS Debt Experience
4,800+
Cases resolved
100%
Enforcement stopped
99.7%
Would recommend TaxWave
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Disclosure:These are real TaxWave client outcomes. Names, case numbers and identifying details have been withheld to protect client privacy. Dollar figures reflect actual case results; where a resolution is still running, projected totals are identified as estimates. Individual results depend on each client’s financial circumstances, the programs they qualify for, and IRS determinations. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.