For Nick Nemeth, IRS problem solving goes well beyond saving money for his clients. As a tax attorney and business owner who has practiced law for more than 15 years, Nemeth runs the Law Offices of Nick Nemeth, a small boutique tax law firm located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The firm focuses solely on helping individuals and businesses overcome the stress and devastation associated with IRS problems.

The one thing I really enjoy is that I have really happy clients at the end of the process. When people first come to me, they are usually terrified. Every time a car door slams they’re afraid it’s someone with a badge about to knock on their door. We provide relief to them from that fear,” Nemeth says.

It’s no wonder his clients are afraid, he says. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has an intimidating reputation—one driven by fear, power, and an intricate, ever-changing tax code that challenges even the best of professionals and even the most honest taxpayers.

The IRS is like a collection agency. Getting a call from them is like getting a call from a bill collector when you don’t pay your credit card bill except that it’s an overpowered agency that can take your stuff without going to court. You are assigned to a revenue officer and next thing you know your paycheck’s being levied and your bank accounts are empty,” he says.

It’s one of the biggest reasons Nemeth strongly recommends anyone facing an IRS problem contact an attorney immediately rather than attempting to solve the problem themselves or with the help of a non-attorney. That’s where his team comes in.

The Law Offices of Nick Nemeth focus solely on IRS tax problems and one of the most common reasons clients come to Nemeth is for delinquent tax returns.

They simply don’t file and the reason is generally they know they have no money to pay what they will owe. Since they can’t pay, they try and delay the problem by not filing. The bigger problem is when the next year comes around, and they are in a similar predicament and unable to pay again, so the problem snowballs.”

He’s known around the office for saying, My only job is to keep the IRS as far away as possible from my clients and their assets until I negotiate a manageable, permanent solution to their problem.” Nemeth lives up to his word.

He often utilizes one of five possible solutions that in most cases help him and his team deliver results and relief to his clients daily. These five options include:

The Collection Statute Expiration Date: Nemeth calls this the do-nothing approach and points out that much to his client’s surprise, IRS debt does eventually expire. A similar option is called Currently-Non-Collectible Status which he calls the “pay-nothing” solution. He notes these two options have both pros and cons associated with them which need to be carefully considered prior to deciding on any definitive solution.

Another viable option is an Installment Agreement. This option is where a payment plan can be negotiated with the IRS allowing his clients manageable monthly payments without the worry of levies, garnishments or seizures.

Nemeth also utilizes the Offer-In-Compromise option where he resolves a client’s IRS debt, if possible, by drastically reducing the amount owed.

Finally, Nemeth doesn’t shy away from recommending bankruptcy as an option. While some may cringe at the sound of the word, he points out that it can sometimes wipe out tens of thousands of dollars of debt for some clients and can be worth exploring.

Regardless of the method he chooses, it’s apparent that Nemeth will do whatever he can to ensure the best outcome for his clients.

Once the IRS and my client are in agreement on how to resolve the problem, my goal is then to make sure my client remains compliant and doesn’t fall back into the tax trap again,” he says. One client story is the perfect example of how Nemeth and his team did just that.

After having hired a national tax relief company and still facing ongoing bank levies and wage garnishments, a married couple came to Nemeth noting that they’d been told they would have to pay $2,800 a month until their IRS debt of approximately $200,000 was paid off in full. Within 48 hours of hiring Nemeth’s firm, the clients understood their position and Nemeth was able to get a “collection hold” on their account so that during the entire 14 months of representation the client never had to worry about a levy or a garnishment.

After three missing returns were filed, their total balance was just under $200,000 for all back taxes. In less than 10 months, we were able to reach a settlement with the IRS to pay back only $23,088! With their former tax relief company, they would have paid this amount in just the first year!” he says. “Not only that, but they now have the right tools to pay their returns on time and make quarterly payments so that this never happens to them again – this case definitely goes in the ‘win’ column.”

And even though he can’t always guarantee an outcome like this, he always guarantees stellar service.

We really try to set ourselves apart I don’t practice nationally. We have a nice local practice. We know our clients by name and we consider them our friends. We want to find a manageable solution for them,” he says.

As a graduate of the University of North Texas and Texas Wesleyan School of Law, Nemeth prides himself on being a Texan but it might be surprising to know that Nemeth was born and raised in Canada. His teen years were spent playing squash, described by him as a fancy version of racquetball. Despite winning the title of National Squash Champion in the early eighties and playing on the Canadian National Squash team, Nemeth couldn’t wait to leave Canada for warmer weather.

I wanted to get as far South from home without crossing the Mexican border, he laughs. Maybe that’s just my entrepreneurial spirit encouraging me to up and leave my home for another country.”

He believes his ability to get up and do it is just another reason for his success, and even though he doesn’t own a hat or boots, he considers himself a full-blown Texan.

This is home. I’ve got my wife and five children here. My life is all work and kids, he laughs.

It’s true. Not only does Nemeth manage the firm, he personally meets every client that comes in for a consultation. He oversees actual case work, runs the business end of things and when he’s not in the office, he’s taxiing his five children to gymnastics, rugby and hockey practice and he couldn’t imagine living or working anywhere other than Texas.

Owning and operating a local law firm helps him achieve his main goal of helping others within his community. It’s why he encourages individuals and businesses facing IRS tax issues to avoid working with a national tax resolution firm.

About 25% of my clients have already spent thousands of dollars working with national organizations and have not received the help they should. So many people seem to be taken advantage of by these national firms who, most of the time, aren’t even lawyers,” he says. “This is too important a problem to not do your homework and make sure you can trust who you are going to retain to help.”

He likens it to looking for a surgeon when needing an operation.

It’s like a serious health problem that needs surgery. You’re not just going to pop into someone’s house for an operation simply because you see a red cross on their door. It’s that serious when facing IRS problems. You’re dealing with an opponent who can seize your assets without going to court.”

In many ways, Nemeth is like a doctor. He tackles each case with the skill of a surgeon and the compassion of a healer and says he hasn’t yet found a problem he couldn’t solve. “I haven’t lost a patient yet,” he jokes.

He also warns people to never sit down alone with an IRS agent even if it seems innocent. It always seems to make things worse. If you think you can’t afford to hire legal representation at least go talk to someone like me, get your questions answered before making the decision to sit down face-to-face with the IRS. A little coffee and conversation is never that when it’s the IRS,” he says.

We deal with the IRS on a regular basis and I think that’s why our clients like working with us; it’s the only thing we do. This is our focus and this is our lives. We know how they work and we know how to deal with them,” he says.

Clients come in and they’re in tears, their marriage is on the rocks, or they haven’t slept well in months and it’s all from the stress associated with their IRS problems. You can see the day they hire us that a load’s already been lifted off them. They know they’ve got someone they can depend on and someone they can trust. Tears of anguish sometimes turn into tears of joy."