FOUNDER’S MASTERMIND MEMBER SPOTLIGHT Douglas Dick, Enrolled Agent
For Douglas Dick, the journey into the world of tax resolution wasn’t shaped by a single moment but rather by a series of instances over a matter of years that ultimately led him to establish Sancus Tax Relief located in Long Beach, California. accounting at California State University, Los Angeles, and his mother needed his help. She was a widow and was going to get remarried, but she wanted to sell her house first and utilize the Section 121 Exclusion IRS rule, for which she was eligible. However, she received a letter from the IRS denying the exclusion and stating she owed them $40,000. Douglas says, “My mom was terrified. I fortunately knew the IRS was wrong, and I said, ‘No, you’re not paying them, and I’ll take care of it.’” And that is precisely what Douglas did, saving his mom $40,000. This gave Douglas his first glimpse into tax resolution. The first instance happened when Douglas was a student in tax and Despite the satisfaction Douglas had in helping his mother, he didn’t see himself pursuing tax resolution as a career path. “I didn’t think I liked it to be honest,” he says. At the time, Douglas had an instructor who owned her own tax business, and after he graduated college, she hired him. He became the accounting manager for one of her clients for 13 years. After that, he worked for another company for 17 years before deciding to strike out on his own. “I had reached a point where I couldn’t go any higher or make any more money at the company I was with, and I had the fortune of some money set aside I could live on while I built a business,” he says.
The second instance happened when Douglas started his accounting and tax preparation business and shared an office with a friend who worked in tax resolution. Observing her passion for tax resolution, Douglas’s perspective began to shift. “Seeing how well my friend was doing with it and how excited she would get when she had a good outcome for a client,” he says, led him to reconsider. The third instance that led Douglas to commit to pursuing tax resolution was the success he experienced after joining the Roz Strategies Founder’s Mastermind. The first client who came to him after he joined mastermind was a couple going through a difficult time. The husband had a brainstem stroke and other health issues, and the wife was taking care of him and their three kids, and they got behind on their tax filings. The IRS claimed the couple owed $44,000. Using the guidance and advice from Michael, Douglas was able to get the IRS agent to agree with the tax return Douglas submitted. Douglas shared that not only did the couple not owe the IRS $44,000, but they were due a refund. “With interest and everything, they got a refund of about $15,000. In addition to that, they got a refund of $30,000 from subsequent years because the IRS had taken money from subsequent years to apply to that. So, they actually ended up getting over $40,000 back instead of paying $44,000,” says Douglas. One of the biggest lessons Douglas has learned from being in the Founder’s Mastermind is about pricing. “I’ve gotten people to pay me some fees
I never thought I would ever get or even dreamed of, to be honest. I never would have charged these prices.” Besides making more money, Douglas enjoys resolution because of the satisfaction he receives from helping clients. “What could be better to do for a living than help people out and be paid for it? It feels good financially and spiritually,” he says. One of the most effective marketing strategies for Douglas so far has been doing Google Ads. “What do you hear people say? ‘Google it.’ You never hear anybody say, ‘Bing it,’ or ‘look it up on Twitter,’” he says. Douglas is excited about the future of his business and is making more than he ever did working for an employer. Of his tax resolution practice he says, “It’s going to help me with retirement, and being able to live a good life and live well.” In his free time, Douglas likes to spend time with his two Airedale terriers, Max and Lyle. He also enjoys baking, traveling, and cycling. Some of the sweet treats he is known for are his pecan pie, lemon cranberry tart, and chocolate cake with white chocolate caramel buttercream frosting.
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