Tax Rep Network - Eric Green | IRS Levy

 

In this episode, Eric Green shares one of his most talked-about stories from How to Build a Million-Dollar Tax Practice — how he turned a Friday-night IRS levy call into $1,700 an hour. Eric breaks down exactly how he structured the fee, motivated the client, and resolved the case in just two days while saving the taxpayer thousands. Learn the mindset, pricing strategy, and client-management tactics that make flat-fee tax resolution highly profitable — and why setting boundaries and expectations is key to running a successful practice.

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How To Make $1,700 An Hour

How To Earn $1,700 An Hour On A Flat Fee

It’s Eric Green, Tax Rep Network. I don’t have a guess. There is a story in my book about how to build a million-dollar practice. If you haven’t read it, you should go get the book. I’m going to let you in on how I made $1,700 an hour. What this comes down to is I had a flat fee, I gave the client the right motivation, and we got it done fairly quickly. Let me walk you through this. You’ll see how this happened. I’ve gotten so many comments about this. It’s going to be interesting and hopefully enlightening.

I have a deal with my wife and my family. When I come home on Friday evening, there is no work. It’s family time. It’s a Friday, and I’m getting a call on my cell phone, which I don’t recognize. I’m sure you feel the same way. I don’t need somebody trying to sell me a warranty on a car that I don’t have anymore, so I ignore the call. A little bit later, as I’m pulling into the driveway, the same thing. The same number comes up. Once again, I ignore it.

I get out of the car and grab my backpack. The phone rings again, same number. I’m wondering, “Is something going on? Could this be important? Who tries me three times in succession on a Friday at 5:30?” This time, again, I ignore it, but they leave a voicemail. I am listening to the voicemail. As I walk into the house, my wife greets me and sees I’m on the phone. This is a hot button with her. She’s clearly not pleased.

I listened to the message. It’s, “Mr. Green, my name is Joe Smith. My CPA, Sheila, gave me your number. The IRS levied against me. I need your help right away.” A couple of things. I put down the phone. I have dinner and hang out at about 7:30 or 8:00. I quietly go into my home office and send an email to Sheila thanking her for the referral, but asking her, “Next time, please only give people my office line, not my cell phone.”

As much as I like helping people, and I do, I don’t need to be dealing with this at 10:00 PM on a Saturday while I’m trying to watch a movie with my wife. You get it. There’s a time for work, and then work is over. I called the gentleman back. He’s thrilled. “Mr. Green, thank God.” I said, “How much money did they get? First of all, how much money do you owe?” He said, “We just filed the last two years of returns. I owe $100,000,” or something like that. I said, “How much did the levy get?” I’m going by memory. I thought it was $5,000, $6,000, or something around that. Whatever he had in his bank account, the levy got.

The Flat Fee Strategy: Motivating Clients To Deliver Documents Quickly

First of all, if there’s a levy, the bank will hold it for 21 days. They’re supposed to before they send the money to the government. Once the money has gone to the government, you’re not getting it back. It’s gone. They don’t give money back once they’ve grabbed it. If we can move quickly, we can get it released, and the bank will put the money back in the account. I said, “Here’s the deal. What I need from you is any IRS notices. I need a copy of the levy,” because I’d also have the exact total and what’s owed by year, so I can confirm what the client told me.

I said, “I’m going to send you a checklist of documents. I need these by Sunday morning because my only time to do this is on Sunday. I will do the analysis. If it’s what I think it is, I can call on Monday. We may be able to get you an agreement. We may be able to get the money released. I need $2,500, all of the documents on this checklist, and the IRS correspondence. I’m going to send you an agreement and a link.”

Our agreements are all automated. I sent the agreement for the $2,500 and all that. What I also told them is this, and here’s the motivation. “We generally charge $6,000. The reason I’m going to do it for $2,500, 1) I feel bad for you. 2) If you get me everything, I could probably get it done for $2,500. If you don’t get me stuff and I have to start chasing you Monday and Tuesday, I’m going to tell you right now. I need $6,000, because now I’m going to spend half the time chasing you.”

 

Tax Rep Network - Eric Green | IRS Levy

 

IRS Tax Resolution: Securing The NSIA And Releasing The Levy

“No, Mr. Green. Just get me the list. You’ll have it Sunday morning. I promise.” I sent them the agreement, a link to sign the power of attorney, and a link to upload the documents. In our agreement is a link to pay. On Saturday, I get the power of attorney back, the engagement letter back, and he pays. Saturday night, he had uploaded what looked like all the documents. He owes, and I’m going by memory, around $100,000. $250,000 or less, you can just set up an agreement right over the phone if it’s with the campus. If it’s with a revenue officer, you’re limited to $50,000.

The notice of levy came from the campus, so it’s not assigned to a revenue office. I now have the total for the years. Some quick math, what’s called a non-streamlined agreement, NSIA, the $250,000 or less, there’s about ten or nine and a half years left on the statute. The $100,000 over that time came out much better than the quick math I did if we submit a financial. The other thing is that he has a lot of equity in his home. They’re going to want him to try to tap it, all the rest. I called him on Sunday afternoon and said, “By now, I’ve spent about an hour. I’ve looked through everything. Here’s my quickest assessment.”

I don’t remember what it came to. It was $1,700 or something like that a month. “Can you afford that?” It looks like he can. “Absolutely.” I said, “I’m going to try to call and get that agreement in place. They should release the levy.” Sure enough, Monday morning, I call. I get somebody from ACS, fax over the power of attorney, explain what happens, and say, “We’d love to just set up the non-streamlined agreement. He owes under $250,000. I’m roughing it out to around $1,700 a month, but let me know your math.” It comes back. It was $1,445 or something like that a month.

While I’m on the phone, “Could you release the levy?” She said, “Absolutely.” I said, “It is because he’s going to bounce his mortgage payment.” “No, we’ll release it. We have an agreement now. It’s subject to supervisory approval, but it should go through.” She does the levy release and says, “Would you like a copy?” “Yes, please. Fax me a copy.” She said, “You’ll have it in a couple of minutes. Anything else?” I said, “Does the client qualify for first-time penalty abatement?” She said, “Let me look.” They can do it right over the phone. Sure enough, she came back. She said, “Yes, he does.” I think we knocked $7,000 in first-time penalty abatement off for the first year.

The Final Tally: Why A Flat Fee Is More Lucrative Than Hourly Billing

The point being, I got him back the $5,800 or whatever the levy sees. I knocked $7,000 off in penalties. He paid me $2,500. I spent an hour on the weekend reviewing stuff and 30 minutes on the phone with the IRS. An hour and a half at my rate, $1,700 an hour, not bad. What happened? First of all, I put the onus on them. More and more, this is what I do in my practice.

The more you have to pick up and put that file down, you start losing money. Share on X

I tell clients point-blank, “This is the fee if you get me everything by this date. If not, I’m going to start charging you for chasing you. I’m going to need more money, or I’m going to get out of this case. It’s your problem. Screw you. I’m here to help. This is not my problem. I got my own problem. I know that’s hard to believe. I got my own problems. Get me the stuff, and I can work my magic and get it done.” This is how I can make money on a flat fee because it’s not going to take me the same time, times rate, times hour.

Offers, compromises, and all this stuff for us are very lucrative cases. We make a lot more money than our hourly rate, but it has to be handled properly. The point is, once you learn this craft, this is how you help taxpayers. By the way, if you think about it, the levy money back, plus penalty abatement, I think he made a 500% return on his $2,500 investment with me. We solved the problem. That is a quick one on that story, how I made $1,700 an hour.

The lesson here, if you understand the rules and you understand how to help people, I’m going to give them real motivation to get me everything I need, because the way you get killed doing this is like with a 1040 or any tax preparation. You probably heard this. The more you have to pick up and put that file down, you start losing money. The goal is to sit down and do the return in one fell swoop, which means you need everything. It’s the same with tax resolution. I need everything. We will get hurt if we chase you.

I tell the clients very clearly, “Either you’re going to pay us to chase you, or we’re not chasing you. I’m just firing you.” That comes with having a large enough practice and being middle-aged and grumpy, which is where I am right now. When I was younger, I wouldn’t do that. I probably ate it in a lot of cases. No more. I couldn’t care less. You don’t need to have that attitude. The point is, you need to create some incentive for them because that incentive will get you to a good resolution. I have to tell you. I’m sure to this day, he feels great about that. Two days, done, penalty evaded versus if I had been chasing him, you know what happens now?

I hired these guys, and they’re not doing anything for me. They don’t accept the ownership. They’re not doing anything, but you won’t get them what they need. That never comes up in the conversation. The point is, understand the process, price it accordingly, put the onus on them, and you’ll make $1,700 an hour. Thanks for tuning in, guys. I hope that this is helpful. I hope I’ve given you a little food for thought. Please go down, comment, like, share this, or whatever. If you want to elevate your practice, come join us inside Tax Rep. We’d love to have you and help you build that million-dollar practice you’ve always wanted. Take it easy, guys. Thanks.

 

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