Charles Trautman, EA · Since 1969
You’re in the right place.
We help people get straight with the IRS. A legitimate, independent Colorado tax office since 1969. Your returns are prepared here and signed by an Enrolled Agent.
Lone Tree, Douglas County and Metro Denver
Folks usually stop filing because they’ve been through a rough patch: a job loss, an illness, a divorce, a business that didn’t work out, or a year that simply got away from them. Then one year becomes two, and the letters get harder to open.
Sooner or later, for all sorts of reasons, people decide it’s time to file and get compliant with the IRS. Don’t be embarrassed. We prepare “catch up” past-year returns all the time, and most people are in better shape than they fear. Some are even owed refunds.
The problem doesn’t go away on its own. Here is what we see most often.
The IRS can prepare its own substitute return (SFR) from what employers and banks reported. It uses worst-case assumptions: no deductions, no dependents, often the wrong filing status. It usually overstates what you owe. Filing your own accurate return is how you set the record straight.
The penalty for not filing is far larger than the penalty for not paying. Even if you can’t pay, filing stops the bigger penalty from adding up.
Left alone, unfiled years can lead to wage garnishments, liens, bank levies, credit and banking problems, and a steady stream of unnerving IRS letters.
If you were owed a refund, you generally have three years from the original due date to claim it. After that, the money is gone for good.
Even if you no longer have your W-2s, 1099s or old paperwork, we can usually prepare your unfiled returns from the wage and income transcripts the IRS keeps under your Social Security number. With your signed authorization, we request them for you.
Bring what you have. We’ll fill in the rest, prepare the federal and Colorado returns, and go over each one with you before anything is filed. If you’d like to look first, you can get your own transcripts through the IRS Get Transcript page.
You see every return before anything is filed.
Tell us which years are open and what you have. You’ll speak with the person who will prepare your returns.
With your authorization, we request your transcripts and see exactly what the IRS has on file.
Prepared here, in this office, with the deductions and credits the IRS’s own version leaves out.
After your review and signature, we file. If there’s a balance, we help you work out a realistic way to pay it.
“Tax relief” is a crowded business, and plenty of it runs on expensive advertising, paid leads, and big promises. Here is how this office works instead.
We don’t ask for a large payment before we’ve even looked at your situation. Affordable has been our approach since 1969.
We won’t promise to make a tax bill disappear. We file what’s accurate, get you current, and help you with what’s left. The IRS itself warns taxpayers about offer-in-compromise promoters who overpromise.
You’ll deal with the Enrolled Agent who prepares and signs your returns, in an office you can walk into in Lone Tree.
We handle IRS notices, collections, liens and corrections. For large balances or complicated collection cases, we work alongside reasonably priced tax attorneys.
“I worked as a 1099 independent contractor and did not file my taxes for last year till now, and was freaking out about the IRS coming after me. Chuck in his calm manner worked his magic. I got it done and I paid less than I imagined.”
“Chuck is amazing. Helped me weed through years of messy returns. Super affordable and an all around great guy.”
The IRS generally looks for the most recent six years to consider someone back in compliance. Every situation is different, so we look at your records before recommending which years to file.
File anyway. The failure-to-file penalty is much larger than the failure-to-pay penalty. Once your returns are filed, most people can set up an IRS payment plan.
Generally, a refund must be claimed within three years of the return’s original due date. Past that point it can’t be recovered, which is a good reason not to wait.
No. You can still file your own accurate return, and it will often bring that bill down considerably.
Yes. We prepare the federal and state returns together, including other states if you lived or worked elsewhere during those years.
End the cycle of unfiled returns and IRS letters. Call for a free, no-obligation consultation with the Enrolled Agent. Taxes can be tough, but the Tax Shop has your back.