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NOVEMBER 2024 VOLUME 8, ISSUE 7
TOPH’S TAX RESOLUTION TIMES
513-342-4000 WWW.513TAX.COM
FUEL FOR THE FIGHT How Adversity Made Me a Stronger Advocate
A U.S. diplomat once said, “All advocacy is, at its core, an exercise in empathy.” That quote captures a big reason I’ve been successful as an advocate for my clients before the IRS: I have walked in their shoes. I can relate to the paralyzing stress of coming under fire by the IRS — one of the most relentless collection agencies on the planet. I have had my own tax and financial problems, and they almost ruined my life. I was in a pretty dark place in my career before I refocused my practice on tax resolution. I was a club golf pro and aspired to become a pro golfer but never reached that goal. After my golfing career ended, I ran into some financial and gambling problems and accumulated some tax debt to the IRS. These were stressful years for Ashley and me. I was a stay-at-home dad at the time, and while I’m grateful I had that time with our kids, it was not by choice. I wasn’t working as a CPA, and I’d failed at a couple of side hustles. Fortunately, Ashley had a good job as a nurse. We couldn’t afford child care, so it made sense for me to stay home. I remember one day sitting at my desk (in the laundry room, next to the cat litter) when I ran across a webinar about tax resolution. I needed continuing professional education credits to keep my CPA license active, so I signed up. I was surprised when the webinar turned out to be, essentially, a sales presentation on the value of selling hope — on representing people with major tax debts before the IRS. At the time, I was aware of common misperceptions about tax resolution services, that it was kind of like ambulance chasing. But this webinar framed the business more accurately, as an opportunity to help people in a big way while making a living to support my family at the same time. The light bulb went off. Maybe this is something I can do, I thought. Maybe I can help other people who are having problems similar to my own. Many people are at rock bottom when they come to us. They come not because they are trying to game the system in some way. They come because they want someone to give them hope, to help them see a way out of their troubles. I can completely relate.
That experience is a major differentiator that sets me apart in my field. When you have a tax problem, you’re already embarrassed. The last thing you want is to be judged or shamed for it. Having gone through my own personal financial struggles helps me relate to my clients with empathy and, I hope, make them feel as if they can speak openly without fear of being treated like some problem client. I am local, I can meet clients face-to-face, and I can sit down with them and listen until I fully understand their issues and can develop a strategy for solving them. And adversity has made me a tougher negotiator on my clients’ behalf. Had I not been dealing with my own demons at the time I signed up for that webinar, I am not sure the presentation would have spoken to me as it did. The timing was perfect for me to have stumbled upon that opportunity, and it was a stroke of luck that I did. Laboring in the trenches now, helping clients who have been treated unfairly by the IRS, my experience in the tax resolution business is just as I hoped: It really is all about helping people get to a better place.
–Toph Sheldon
DON’T LIVE IN FEAR - TOPH IS HERE!
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FROM GLAZED EYES TO FOCUSED MINDS
How to Get Your Team to Embrace Your Vision
The Power of Refusing to Take ‘No’ for an Answer TOPH’S TAX TRIUMPH
Running a successful business can seem impossible if your employees aren’t listening or giving you their full attention. Have you ever talked with a team member, providing vital instructions for a task, only for them to respond with a slow nod and a glazed-over expression? They likely didn’t ask follow-up questions or assert they understood your directions. They simply heard what you said and will take it from there, creating a frustrating disconnect. So, what’s the secret to getting your team to listen to you intently? Here are three strategies you should implement to improve your team’s response. Get your team to buy into your business and core values. Ask yourself the following questions. Why does your business exist? Why do you need a team? Why are you asking your team to perform a specific task? These shouldn’t be difficult questions for you to answer, but your employees won’t likely consider them during their daily shifts. You must explore the answers to these questions and then share them with your team. By doing so, you’re giving them a purpose behind any request. When you have the right players, sharing this information helps them get on board and emotionally connect to the business. Trust goes both ways. If you want your team to trust you and what you say, you need to reciprocate it. This is a slow process and will take time
When dealing with the IRS, it sometimes pays to refuse to lose.
That was the case with one recent client, a self-employed mental health counselor who came to us in 2022 after failing to pay taxes for more than six years. She had just emerged from a messy divorce from an ex-spouse who had addiction problems. In previous years, she had filed either jointly with him or as a married person filing separately. In all, she owed nearly $200,000. As always, our first step was ensuring she filed her most recent tax returns and resumed paying current taxes. One of the first things the IRS looks for when considering a proposed settlement is whether the taxpayer is current on their most recent taxes, and fortunately, we were able to help this client get back on track. Once that was accomplished, we submitted an offer to settle her past tax debt for $3,600. When the IRS rejected our offer about a year later, we immediately appealed the decision. This complicated process took almost another year. At first, IRS officials weren’t properly addressing the arguments I was making on behalf of my client. We escalated our appeal a couple of times, and a new manager got involved to oversee the process. Finally, the IRS came back to us with two reasonable options. The first was to let my client settle her entire debt by paying about $19,000 within six months. The second option was to settle for $34,618, paid over a longer period of 24 months. My client wasn’t able to come up with $19,000 quickly enough to take the first option, she accepted the agency’s offer to pay the higher amount over 24 months. That amounted to about 17% of the $200,000 she originally owed. We considered that a good outcome.
to build. Don’t micromanage your team unless you must. You hired them to do a job and take on
specific responsibilities, so let them. If you find this challenging, start small.
Delegate smaller tasks to your team until they’ve fully earned your trust. Then, you can pass off more significant responsibilities. Be clear with your expectations. Sometimes, your
employees won’t know exactly what they must do to accomplish your goals. When necessary, walk them through specific tasks and explain the result. Once
We invested a lot of effort in pressing for a reasonable settlement, which is why our clients get good results. I don’t give up easily. And fortunately, thanks to the IRS concessions we won on appeal, our client was thrilled with the outcome!
your team understands what they need to do and why it’s crucial to the business’s overall success, they’ll be more likely to get it right and continue to build trust.
–Toph Sheldon
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ASHLEY’S CORNER Fall Frenzy: 6 Kids, 6 Fresh Starts
Change is good, right? Fall is well underway here at the Sheldons, and all six kids have been making transitions in school, preschool, or in baby Nelle’s case, independence from Mom. But we are finding our rhythm here. Getting into a routine is good. For Mac, starting fourth grade was easy. He likes his teacher and loves seeing his friends. Rex is off and running in second grade. Roz is in first grade, her first time going for a full day. The transition has been rough for her. She doesn’t like being away from me so much. But Roz is starting dance classes, and she is excited for that. Mac is playing baseball, basketball, and ninja, a competitive sport with obstacle courses. Rex is playing soccer. It’s a little crazy. We have dance, ninja, and soccer one after the other on some days, so I drop Roz at dance, drop Rex at soccer, then go back to get Roz at dance, toting all the other kids along with me the whole time. It is chaos! Tess is my social butterfly and loves preschool. For Kip, starting preschool two days a week has been harder. As for baby Nelle, she quit nursing on her own! She just cut me off. She is drinking milk out of a sippy cup and eating regular food like a big kid. Her making the decision herself caught
me off guard. It probably was better that way, but still, I couldn’t help but think, “This is hard, to finish nursing my last baby!”
I have two mornings a week to myself now. When the older kids are in school or preschool and Nelle is taking a
nap, I relax and enjoy the quiet! I started watching “Blue Bloods,” a police drama. Of course, I also folded and put away seven baskets of laundry, but that’s okay. I can get stuff done around the house and do something for me at the same time. Through all these transitions, all the kids were a little emotional at times, getting upset about things that normally wouldn’t upset them. I sometimes think, “I get it, kids!” I was more emotional, too. Change can be kind of scary, and it takes time to adjust. But still, it’s all good.
Take a Break
FENNEL GRATIN
Ingredients
Inspired by FoodAndWine.com
• 2 cups heavy cream • 2 shallots, roughly chopped • 4 garlic cloves, smashed • 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves • 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper • 3 large fennel bulbs, cored and cut into 1-inch-thick wedges • 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F with one rack in the center and one about 4 inches from the heat. 2. In a small saucepan, bring cream, shallots, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, for another 15–20 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. 3. Arrange fennel wedges, slightly overlapping, in a large cast-iron skillet or broiler-safe 2-quart baking dish. Pour cream mixture over fennel. Roast on center rack until fennel is tender, about 40–50 minutes. 4. Remove skillet and increase oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese evenly over fennel. Broil on upper rack until top is browned, 1–4 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.
Solution on Page 4
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Cincinnati Tax Resolution Powered by Toph Sheldon 9200 Montgomery Rd., Ste. 7B Cincinnati, OH 45242
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
513-342-4000 513TAX.COM
INSIDE 1
How Past Adversity Ignited Toph’s Passion to Help The Secret to Employee Engagement Toph Wins a Big Break for a Client on Appeal
2
3
Fall Transitions at the Sheldon House Fennel Gratin
4
Tax Debt Weighs Heavy on Ye’s Crumbling Empire
YE (AKA KANYE WEST) OWES $1 MILLION IN TAXES TOPH’S TAX NIGHTMARES
Some fading celebrities exit the spotlight quietly, like falling stars. The stunning downfall of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, looks more like a jetliner crash. Ye and his companies owe a total of $1.06 million in back taxes, including numerous tax liens on his real estate and corporate assets, according to the U.S. Sun. The headquarters of his fashion brand, Yeezy, stands empty and roofless in Los Angeles. Forbes reported in 2022 that his net worth had plunged to $400 million from a reported $2 billion. His website is no longer taking orders.
They said, well, around $50 million,” Ye said on the podcast. He added, “So, now I’m having — I get to actually learn how to run a company. I get to learn how to, you know, to count, really. It’s like I didn’t even know where to put the money.” The rapper’s fortune plummeted after sponsor Adidas split with him in 2022, a breakup Ye claimed cost him $2 billion. Gap and Balenciaga followed suit by terminating their contracts with him. Ye’s erratic career has been scarred by his polarizing cultural and political commentary. He won 24 Grammies and became one of the world’s bestselling musical artists. However, Adidas terminated its relationship with him because of public outrage over his comment that slavery was “a choice,” antisemitic remarks and clothing art, and a history of playing pornographic videos in the presence of Adidas staff members. In 2023, he posted an apology to the Jewish community on Instagram. Ye is named in a stream of lawsuits from former employees alleging that he failed to pay them or harassed them on the job, the U.S. Sun reported, claims the rapper has denied. Even his lawyer is suing him, court papers show, claiming that Ye refused to speak to him or pay him for his services.
And the IRS is on his trail. The rapper told a right-wing podcaster late in 2022 that the IRS had put a $75 million hold on his accounts. He blamed his dilemma on “not being the most financially literate person
on the planet.” He added, “They said you owe a lot of
taxes. Took me, like, six hours to find out how much ‘a lot’ was.
PHOTO CREDIT: DAVID SHANKBONE
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DON’T LIVE IN FEAR - TOPH IS HERE!
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