CHORDS OF NEW WONDER THE WORLD’S FIRST COLOR- CHANGING GUITAR
“We’re crazy. That’s the first thing you need to know.”
Toph’s Tax Triumph
When Cream Guitars mastermind Luis Ortiz said those words in an interview with Premier Guitar on the floor of the 2024 National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) Show in California, he summed up his company’s awe-inspiring vision for the future of music performance.
Waiting Out the IRS: When Patience Pays Off
Through a partnership with the Boston-based electronic ink and ePaper technology company E Ink, Ortiz has developed Cream Guitars’ revolutionary Voltage DaVinci, a guitar that can change color on demand . As Ortiz explained to Premier Guitar, a player who delights churchgoers with their white guitar in the morning no longer has to switch to a black guitar when they hit the stage with their heavy metal band in the evening. “We had the idea to break all the rules of the traditional guitar,” he states in an E Ink press release. “We’ve redesigned every part of an electric guitar to broaden and enhance the playing experience. Through our innovative collaboration with E Ink, we are providing artists a level
We score wins for many of our clients by negotiating settlements with the IRS. Sometimes, however, playing a waiting game is a better bet.
We recently helped a client who was on the hook with the IRS for $45,000 in payroll taxes he had withheld from his employees’ paychecks at a former business but failed to submit to the agency. He worked on a solution with Mandi Lowen, our colleague who earned her licensed enrolled agent status last year. This client’s predicament was one we have seen before: He had been using the cash he withheld from employees’ checks to keep his company afloat. Even though he eventually shut the business down, the IRS went after him in a procedure called a Trust Fund Recovery Assessment, which allows the agency to hold him personally responsible for the back taxes. Our client had no cash to spare. He was working part time for a landscaping contractor to pay the bills while also trying to get a new business started, making and selling a jerky product. The new business wasn’t making any money, but our client had some assets, including a house and two vehicles. His asset-to-debt ratio was a little too high to safely assume the IRS would consider settling his debt. However, the statute of limitations for the IRS to pursue him for the back taxes expires in early 2027. Submitting an offer in compromise would pause the statute of limitations. If the IRS accepted our offer, the issue would be moot. But if the agency took, say, 18 months to consider it and then rejected it, our client could land in a worse situation, remaining in the IRS’ crosshairs for an additional 1 1/2 years. Rather than taking that risk, we kicked the can down the road. We asked the IRS to agree that forcing our client to make payments would impose an undue hardship. The agency agreed, placed him in a “currently not collectible” status, and put a lien on his assets. Our goal will be to keep our client in “not collectible” status for the next two years. At that point, the statute of limitations will expire without his having had to pay anything — a good solution by any measure. Shoutout to Mandi for her capable handling of this client’s case!
of creativity that extends well beyond anything available in today’s market.”
The Voltage DaVinci’s E Ink displays allow players to switch between seven styles and shades. Depending on a player’s specific needs, the guitar can be programmed to retain a static color or display various animated looks as desired. This option will appeal to performers who welcome the opportunity to alter the color of their guitar based on the mood or presentation of a particular song.
Developed in the mid-1990s by scientists and engineers at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), electronic ink has become a staple of mobile phones, electronic notebooks, and
e-readers. With its colorful arrival in the music world, the possibilities for sonic and visual expression on stages worldwide have never been greater. The color-changing guitars are expected to be on the market by the end of 2025 and have an estimated price tag of $3,200.
–Toph Sheldon
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