Two warnings hit my phone this weekend

Hope you’re enjoying the holiday weekend.

I’ve spent mine up in Pebble Beach. If you’ve been on my list for a while, you know I’m completely in love with this stretch of coast. The cypress trees get me every single time.

Yesterday morning, Bruno and I took the Restless Sea / China Rock Trail. It’s about 3.5 miles, and it hugs the coastline the whole way. Waves crashing below. Seagulls overhead.

Probably one of the most beautiful walks I’ve ever taken.

After that, we loaded up the family and drove to Santa Cruz. We let our grandson Kai loose in a pumpkin patch, then hit the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

I even caught up with my good friend Mike, a fellow enrolled agent up here.

Pretty great day.

Then my phone started buzzing.

Flood warning. Mudslide warning. Another alert. Then another. All from back home in San Bernardino County.

When we left, it was 105 degrees and climbing toward 110. Now a tropical storm is rolling into Southern California. We’re heading home tomorrow morning, and you’d better believe I’m reading every one of those alerts.

Nobody ignores a mudslide warning.

Move the car, check the drains, and make a plan before the hillside comes down.

But I talk to people every week who’ve ignored IRS warnings for months. Sometimes years.

Because the IRS sends alerts too. They come in the mail, and every one is a step closer to the hillside giving way:

• The first letter is usually just a bill. Polite. Easy to toss in a drawer. That’s exactly what most people do.

• The “Intent to Levy” letter in the middle of the stack sounds final. It isn’t. There’s a later one that matters even more.

• The Final Notice comes with a 30-day clock. Inside that window, you have the right to request a hearing. Let it pass, and you lose one of your strongest tools.

• The IRS doesn’t open with a text or an email. If your “warning” shows up that way, slow down. It may not be the IRS at all.

Here’s the cost of waiting.

Penalties and interest keep running every month the letters sit unopened. And once the final warning passes, the IRS can levy your paycheck or empty your bank account. No more letters. Just action.

If you’ve got an IRS or California FTB letter sitting in a drawer right now, treat it like a flood warning. Call my office at 909-570-1103 or book an appointment at CallTaxEA.com

We’ll read it with you and tell you exactly where you stand.

Before the hillside moves.

Carlos Samaniego, EA
TaxDebtConsultant.com
The Tax Debt Detective

P.S. If you’re in the Inland Empire, stay safe this week. Watch those county alerts. And while you’re at it, go open that envelope.