Cincinnati Tax Resolution - January 2022

Cincinnati Tax Resolution - January 2022

JANUARY 2022 VOLUME 6, ISSUE 1

TOPH’S TAX RESOLUTION T IMES

513-342-4000 WWW.513TAX.COM

My Big Goal for 2022 NO, IT ISN’T WEIGHT LOSS!

Now that it’s New Year’s resolution time, I’ve let myself daydream about what 2022 might look like if we hire a great candidate. On the professional side, we’d ramp up our marketing and help even more people beat the IRS and resolve their back taxes (you can read a crazy story about that on Page 2). On the personal side, I’d finally have time to focus on my family, exercise more than two days a week, and maybe even work on my golf game. Once upon a time, I was a competitive golfer, but my skills have diminished significantly over the last 10 years. Part of me would still love to compete at a high level again. My spirit is still there! If we hired someone, I’d sneak away to the golf course 30 minutes from our house more often and maybe even compete in an event or two. I’m turning 40 this year, so I only have so much time before my coordination will go downhill.

You might remember in last January’s newsletter, Ashley shared the exciting news that we were hiring someone. We were both ecstatic about it. Another set of hands meant we’d have more time for our kids, our hobbies, and each other. Well, here’s the truth: It didn’t happen. That hire fell through, and we spent the next 11 months trying to find someone to replace them. It hasn’t been easy. I want to find the best possible person, someone who will help our clients with the same skill and care that I would. As of this writing, Ashley and I are still hunting for the perfect hire. The labor shortage hit us just like it did every other small business in the area. I only have one New Year’s resolution this year, which will unlock my ability to achieve other goals: Find an employee to join our team and help us grow. (If you happen to know someone in the tax resolution field looking for a job, please send them my way! It’s not an understatement to say that an excellent candidate would make my year.) Once we bring that person onboard, I’ll finally be able to free up space in my mind and my schedule. Right now I’m always thinking about work. Even when I’m holding baby Kip, complimenting my sons on their dinosaur outfits, or watching a movie with Ashley, my mind is on my unfinished projects. That’s not the work-life balance I want.

“I only have one New Year’s resolution this year, which will unlock my ability to achieve other goals: Find an employee to join our team and help us grow.”

It isn’t quite January yet as I write this. I’m looking forward to New Year’s Eve, when the kids will head to bed as usual and Ashley and I will have a nice dinner. We’re planning to sip a little champagne, watch a movie, and fall asleep on the couch well before the ball drops. It sounds like heaven to me! Afterward, we’ll really buckle down on our hiring goal in the New Year. Our kids deserve a dad who’s 100% present, and I deserve a few hours on the golf course (at least, I hope I do).

Happy New Year!

–Toph Sheldon

WHEN THE IRS COMES KNOCKIN’ ... LET US ANSWER THE DOOR!

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IS NEUROPLASTICITY THE SECRET TO SUCCESS?

6 Scientifically Proven Ways to Boost Your Brain Power Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and adapt throughout your life, forming new connections that can have a direct impact on your energy, productivity, focus, creativity, motivation, and much more. Your brain can expand and grow even after an injury. That’s why many entrepreneurs are saying the same thing: One of the smartest ways to invest in your business is to devote resources to your most important asset — your brain. But how do you keep your brain active, healthy, and functioning at a high level? Param Dedhia, MD, says six key areas are involved: sleep, exercise, joy, nutrition, internal medicine, and inflammation. All of these factors work independently, but together, they can promote neuroplasticity, which is why they all require equal attention. Everyone wants to stay engaged with the world around them, but you can’t do that without sleep. In fact, research published by the journal PLOS One discovered that getting six or fewer hours of sleep was associated with memory and executive function problems, i.e. problem-solving, planning, and execution. So, make sure you get enough sleep before tackling your day. Exercise is crucial because, according to brain plasticity researchers at IOS Press, exercise “alters the synaptic structure and function in various brain regions,” promoting brain growth and even delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. Promoting growth can also be as simple (or as difficult) as focusing our attention on thoughts that bring us joy. Gratitude promotes very different brain activity than negativity, anger, or bitterness, and studies on gratitude show that the positive effects can be lifelong. Nutrition can’t be understated either, since it can assist your body in maintaining health and fighting inflammation. The brain uses about 20% of the body’s calories, and eating plenty of omega-3 fatty acids can strengthen brain cells, while antioxidants reduce cellular stress and inflammation, which are linked to brain aging and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease. With the right habits, you can keep your brain healthy for many decades to come. You might even grow in entirely new and unexpected ways.

About 99.9% of the time, it’s a bad idea to keep secrets from the IRS. If you do, it usually comes back to bite you. But in very rare cases, it’s actually smart to keep information quiet. A few months ago, I did just that to help two of my clients win fantastic settlements. When these clients reached out, they were a married couple in an odd tax situation. A while back, they’d filed their tax return jointly and owed about $15,000 together. Then later they filed separately, generating two more tax bills. By the time we got the case, the wife (we’ll call her Mary) owed $15,000 and the husband (we’ll call him John) owed $60,000. Neither of them could afford to pay their back taxes. Knowing this, I got to work resolving John and Mary’s tax troubles jointly. But then disaster struck: In the middle of our negotiation, they got divorced! I knew that if the IRS found out John and Mary were divorced, they would evaluate their cases differently and offer less desirable settlements. So, we decided to keep the divorce quiet and move forward. Eventually, the IRS agreed to settle John’s $60,000 debt for $1,400. He was ecstatic! However, they refused to reduce Mary’s $15,000 debt, claiming that because it was a smaller amount, she would be able to pay it back over time. Mary was devastated. John had generated most of the tax debt between them, and it looked like he’d get off paying 10 times less than she would. It wasn’t fair, and I knew it — especially since the IRS thought they were married. So, I appealed the decision and asked the IRS to settle with Mary for $1,400 just as they had with John. YIKES! DIVORCED DURING TAX TROUBLE Toph Helps 2 Clients Resolve a Tricky IRS Situation

Against all odds, the agency agreed! I was thrilled and so was Mary. What started as a $75,000 debt ended up at just $2,800.

Sometimes keeping information to yourself is a good policy. If you’re in a sticky situation like this, enlist an experienced tax resolution specialist like me who can see the .01%.

–Toph Sheldon

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ASHLEY’S CORNER How I Discovered ‘Snow Day Lite’

When our oldest son, Mac, started preschool, I learned something crazy about Ohio: If the weather forecasters so much as predict snow the next day, school is canceled!

or walk), and we’d spend hours sledding and building forts in the drifts. Once, we had the brilliant idea of dumping water into the snow and using it to hollow out tunnels. We built an entire ice house under the surface! Here in Ohio, we never get snow on that level, but the kids still love those “snow day lite” days off from school. If we have an inch or two, we’ll turn our backyard into a sledding hill. The kids have a blast zooming down it (with Toph on board for stability, of course). Last year, we got enough snow to carve out an awesome sledding course with bumps that launched the sled into the air. I still love the snow, but it’s not quite as fun as an adult. When I see huge flakes coming down, I think about the 17 layers I’ll have to put on the kids and the number of times I’ll have to shovel. But seeing the pure enjoyment on their faces is worth the hassle. They remind me of how much fun I had on snow days as a kid, and there’s nothing better than those memories.

If you have kids, you know how it feels to wake up on a “snow day” and look out the window to find just a smidgen on the ground. Sometimes it doesn’t even snow and the school still lets them stay home. I can’t believe it! As you’ve probably guessed, Ohio’s tradition of “snow day lite” is radically different from the school policies I grew up with. My childhood home in upstate New York was close to a lake, and we got TONS of snow every year. But even when the drifts were thigh-high, school was never canceled. Snow days were so unheard of that I can count every single one I had in 12 years on one hand.

When we did get a snow day, it was absolutely magical. I would cross- country ski to my friend’s house (the roads were too snowed over to drive

Take a Break

CHICKEN WITH LEMON HERB SAUCE

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be bland with this citrusy chicken!

Ingredients

• • • •

1/3 cup and 2 tbsp olive oil, divided

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1/2 cup parsley, chopped 1/3 cup mint, chopped

4 boneless chicken breasts 1 clove of garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1 lemon, for juice and zest

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F. 2. In a large ovenproof skillet, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. 3. Season chicken with salt and pepper if desired and sear it in the skillet for 3 minutes on each side. Bake chicken until its internal temperature is 165 F. 4. In a blender, add 1/3 cup olive oil, garlic, salt, parsley, mint, pepper, and lemon zest and juice and blend ingredients until coarsely mixed. 5. Top chicken with sauce and serve! Inspired by FoodNetwork.com

Solution on Page 4

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Cincinnati Tax Resolution Powered by Toph Sheldon 9200 Montgomery Rd., Ste. 7B Cincinnati, OH 45242

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INSIDE 1

Toph’s No. 1 Dream for 2022

2

Make Neuroplasticity Your Secret to Success

Divorcing During Tax Trouble? No Problem!

3

Ashley’s Corner: A Snow Day Showdown

Chicken With Lemon Herb Sauce

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Some Try (and Fail) to Evade the IRS

The Funniest Argument to Avoid Paying Taxes ‘I’M NOT A PERSON, YOU CAN’T TAX ME!’

thanks to a 2010 Supreme Court decision, which ruled that corporations can make unlimited political donations — the mandate in the IRS code for “individuals” to file taxes is actually referring to corporations . Their reasoning is basically this: “If a corporation is an individual/person, and I’m not a corporation, then I’m not an individual/person — and you can’t tax me!” It’s a pretty savvy argument with fun historical roots. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fly with the IRS. As the History Channel puts it, “The government agency has taken some of these non-people to court and warns potential tax evaders against the strategy in the ‘The Truth About Frivolous Tax Arguments.’” Long story short, no matter how clever a tax evader’s argument is, the IRS comes down hard. If the agency is harassing you over your back taxes, just imagine how much worse they treat people who try to cheat the system! It’s not a pretty picture. To avoid that wrath over your honest mistake, give Cincinnati Tax Resolution a call today. Toph can help you or your friend or family member in tax trouble.

Most of the time when people get on the bad side of the IRS, it’s because they’ve misfiled, partially paid, or forgotten to pay their taxes — not because they’ve evaded them. But tax evasion is a real issue that occasionally pops up. Often, when the folks who do it are caught, they come up with truly hilarious excuses, like “I’m not a person, you can’t tax me!” Yes, you read that right. According to the History Channel, multiple people have tried this approach over the years. (Spoiler alert: It never works.) Their logic is pretty interesting. They argue that because corporations are considered “people” or “individuals” under U.S. law —

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WHEN THE IRS COMES KNOCKIN’ ... LET US ANSWER THE DOOR!