Every few years, baseball reminds us it belongs to the world, not just one country. The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is back this March, and the 2026 tournament is shaping up to be the most stacked one yet. Twenty national teams are showing up this year to try to outplay and outlast each other across four tournament locations. The four international host cities are Tokyo, San Juan, Houston, and Miami. Each will have a five-team pool, and every team will play each other once. When the dust settles, the top two teams from each group move on. The knockout round follows, featuring eight teams battling to stay alive. It’s win and move on, or lose and head home until 2029. Everything leads to Miami, where the semifinals and final will be played. Stars Align for This Year’s Classic YOUR 2026 WBC PREVIEW
For some people, filing tax returns is no more than a distant memory. That was the case with a client who came to us recently. Even though this man hadn’t filed a single tax return since 2009, we were able to win him a surprising outcome: A refund on his state and federal taxes! Our client worked for a decade as a self-employed truck driver before hiring on as an employee with a freight company in 2019. Before 2019, he didn’t have any back tax debts or other issues with the IRS. His record was just a blank slate. WHEN OWNING UP TO THE IRS PAYS OFF Toph’s Tax Triumphs
Japan comes into this year’s WBC as the defending champion, and the United States will be looking for payback
But now that his employer was withholding taxes from his paycheck and filing W-2s with the government every year, he knew it was time to get caught up. So, he came to us asking what to do. Our client was worried about getting hit with a mega-bill from the IRS. After working as an independent truck driver between 2010 and 2019, he would have faced his biggest back-tax bills for unpaid income and self-employment taxes during that period.
after losing the 2023 final. The Dominican Republic also has something to prove after its first-round exit in 2023, and the rest of the field is looking very strong. Venezuela, Korea, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico are all capable of making a deep run, and each has enough star power to change a game in a single inning.
A major factor working in his favor, however, is that the IRS typically won’t come after taxpayers for more than six years’ back taxes if the taxpayer doesn’t have other tax issues on their record from previous years. Fortunately, the IRS hadn’t caught on to the fact that our client had self-employment income from 2010–2019. He decided not to open Pandora’s box by filing any returns from that earlier period, but just to come clean for the 2019–2024 tax years and pay whatever he owed. That strategy worked to perfection. Not only did our client get caught up in good standing with the IRS, he also netted a $5,000 refund from the state and federal taxes his employer had withheld from his paycheck since 2019. His refund might have been bigger, but the statute of limitations runs out on refunds after three years from the due date of the tax return.
Those looking for an underdog should keep an eye on the Netherlands. They have a history of playing above expectations, and their roster can cause trouble for any opponent.
The talent level is impressive overall, with a confirmed player list that looks like an All-Star roster. Aaron Judge will captain Team USA for the first time, and Paul Skenes will bring his ace-level pitching skills to the mound for the U.S. Francisco Lindor returns to lead Puerto Rico, Juan Soto is back for the Dominican Republic, and Shohei Ohtani will suit up for Japan. Corbin Carroll, Bo Bichette, Salvador Perez, Bobby Witt Jr., and many others have also signed on for the Classic. The WBC is a celebration of national pride and pure baseball. For a couple of weeks, the entire baseball world has the same focus, and this year’s tournament promises to be a great one.
As tax resolution specialists, it isn’t often that we are able to get a refund for a client. This was not only a unique case, but a cause for celebration all around.
–Toph Sheldon
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