Are You Still on the Hook With the IRS? How Far Back Can They Claim You Owe?

Ralph00:00:00

Are you lying awake at night consumed by the fear that the IRS might come knocking at your door? Maybe they'll be demanding payment for taxes from years ago? And that thought of facing a large tax bill can be paralyzing. As Christians, we're called to be responsible stewards of our finances, and that includes fulfilling our tax obligations. So today, we're going deep into the IRS tax debt statute of limitations. We're going to answer a simple question, and that's how far back can the IRS claim you owe money? What are your rights and responsibilities? And more importantly, how can you navigate this challenge with biblical wisdom? So if you're feeling the weight of tax debt, today's show is for you as we find some peace of mind and understand your options.

Podcast Announcer00:00:45

In a world where crushing debt keeps you trapped, where living paycheck to paycheck has become your new normal, and where the dream of retirement seems impossibly out of reach, there's hope. Join financial evangelist Ralph Estep Jr. A man who's walked through the fire of financial failure and emerged stronger on the other side. Welcome to Ask Ralph, the show where real world experience meets biblical truth to break the bondage of financial despair. Get ready to take control of your money, break free from the financial stress and align your resources with God's purpose for your life. This is Ask Ralph with Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph00:01:24

Well, thank you so much for joining me today. I am your financial evangelist, Ralph, and I am thrilled you're here. I understand your time is valuable and I promise today's topic is going to make a significant impact on your financial peace of mind. Like I said, today's show is crucial because we're going to tackle a common fear that many of us face, and that's tax debt. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the thought of owing the IRS, or if you're struggling with understanding your rights and obligations and responsibilities, this show is for you. We're going to talk about the IRS tax debt statute of limitations, I'm going to help you understand how far back the IRS can claim you owe, and more importantly, what steps you can take to move beyond this fear. And here's my promise for you. By the end of the show, you're going to have practical steps to address your tax debt, I'm going to give you resources to seek professional help, and I'm going to give you biblical wisdom to guide you. So stay engaged because today we're going to move from fear to empowerment and from confusion to clarity and from anxiety to peace of mind. Well, let's start with our listener question. Let's start into a question that's been keeping many of us up at night. And this question comes to us from Naomi and Naomi writes this, "Ralph, I am absolutely terrified. I haven't filed my taxes in years and every night I lie awake wondering if the IRS is going to show up at my door. I feel like I'm drowning in this fear, and I don't know what to do. Let me ask you a question. How far back can the IRS claim I owe, and what steps can I take to get out of this mess?" Well Naomi, thank you so much for reaching out and sharing your concern. Listen, when I read this, I could feel the weight of your fear. I could feel the weight of your anxiety and listen, it's completely normal to feel scared when facing the unknown. That is just a normal human response. And listen, when you add the IRS to that, it makes it even worse. Listen, I've worked with clients like I'm going to tell you about a guy named Travis today. He found himself in the same situation. He was overwhelmed just like you are about a, by the thought of facing years of unfiled taxes and the potential consequences from that. But let me assure you, Naomi, there is hope. So we can take concrete steps today to start to address your concerns. And let me remind you, you're not alone in this and together working with me, we're going to navigate this challenge. Now before we get into the details of Naomi's question, I just want to remind everybody that you can go to justaskralph.com and if you've got a question like Naomi, don't hesitate to submit it. You go to, just like I said, at justaskralph.com because listen, here's the truth. I love answering your questions and it's the central part of the show because my goal is to provide you with the answers you need to find financial peace. Well now Naomi, let's take a moment to ground ourselves in the word of God. And this particular verse comes to us from the book of Romans chapter 13, verse 7. And it says this, "Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes." This is a pretty simple verse. The verse reminds us of our moral obligation to fulfill our tax responsibilities and see as Christians, we're called to be honest. We're called to be transparent in our dealings, and that includes when we're dealing with the IRS. So Naomi and everyone else listening, let's use this verse as our starting point today. Well I just wanna start by saying I am so grateful for the opportunity to help people like you, Naomi, navigate their financial challenges because the Lord has given me the experience and the understanding to guide others through these difficult times, and it's a privilege to do so from a place of faith. And I'm so thankful for the wisdom that the Bible guides us in all aspects of our lives, including our finances. So let's get right to it. Well, now let's get to the heart of today's topic. Naomi, like I said, I want to share a story with you about a guy named Travis. It was a few years ago, I had this client and Travis was a lot like you, Naomi. He had fallen behind on his taxes. Now he fell behind from a series of personal issues, financial setbacks. He just didn't file. And he just, he got over his head and what I see over his skis, he just didn't know what to do. And he started to get terrified of the IRS. And he just avoided dealing with this tax situation because he just couldn't come to grips with it. He just put it off and put it off. And then one day, he finally reached out to me. He came in and we sat down and he said, Ralph, I feel desperate. I feel overwhelmed. I just don't know where to start. And Naomi, Travis' story is a powerful reminder of how tax issues can weigh so heavily on our minds and our hearts. He just didn't even know where to start, but here's the good news. Travis didn't have to live in fear forever. I was able to work with him. I understood his situation and we found a path forward. So let's get started by talking about some not that much fun to talk about topics, and that's the IRS statute of limitations for collecting unpaid taxes. Now, in general, the IRS can go back 10 years from the date the tax is assessed. Now, you heard me right, 10 years, like a life sentence almost. This period, in technical terms is called the Collection Statute Expiration Date or the CSED. So that's basically the starting point. So after this CSED, the IRS can no longer legally pursue that debt. So once it's gone past that statute of limitations, then the IRS can't come after you. Now, but here's the thing you need to understand. Each tax assessment has its own CSED. And that starts from the date the tax is assessed. So every tax year is considered a different tax assessment. So usually when you file your return or when the IRS files a substitute return for you, that's basically the starting point. Well, you might be asking the question. Ralph, how in the world do I find out what my CSD or CSED is? Well, the best way you can do that is you can request an IRS account transcript. I talk about this on the show all the time. Go to irs.gov and I highly encourage you to have an account there so that you can go and see what's going on. You can also complete a form 4506-T, which is basically a request for a transcript of tax return. You also can call the IRS. Listen, call the IRS. That's a whole another story, but I'm going to give you the number right now and I'll put it in the show notes, but you can call them and ask them for a transcript as well. That number is 800-908-9946. Now once you get that transcript or you go online to irs.gov and listen to me, that is really the best way to go. Just go to irs.gov. You can click on transcripts and take a look at that. But once you get that, you're going to find a three digit IRS transaction code with a date below that. That date is generally your CSED, plus any time added by the law. Now you might be saying Ralph, are there exceptions to this 10 year rule? And that's a great question. If you haven't filed a tax return, so if you're one of the people that I talked about, like Travis, here's the problem. There is no statute of limitations. So there's no starting period for the IRS to start that 10 year period. So basically what I'm saying is the IRS can pursue you indefinitely. If you have unfiled tax returns, and this is a crucial point because it really explains and highlights the importance of filing returns. One of the things I say to clients all the time, best case scenario, file the returns. And if you owe them money, we can figure that out. So even if you can't pay, it's better to file the return because then you're starting that 10 year statute of limitations. So first thing, if you haven't filed, there is no statute of limitations. Now, another way the IRS can get around that is if there's fraud or tax evasion. If they can prove fraud or they can prove tax evasion, you know the guys with the gold badges that come and arrest you, there is no limit for the IRS to collect. See if the IRS can prove that you acted fraudulently, if there was intent, if there was intent to be fraudulent, then they can pursue you regardless of how much time has passed. So if you're one of these tax evaders or a tax cheat or you had intention of being fraudulent, guess what? There is no 10 year statute of limitations. Now you might be saying Ralph, but are there situations that extend or suspend the statute of limitations? Well yes, there are. So let me share some of those because a lot of people aren't aware of these particular situations and I thought it was important to cover this. If you file for bankruptcy, so if you've worked with an attorney and you make a bankruptcy petition and you file for bankruptcy, that CSED while the bankruptcy case is pending is stopped and for six months after that, so if you file for bankruptcy, that's going to suspend that 10 year waiting period. The reason that is, is because generally, tax debts are not dischargeable in bankruptcy so the IRS wants to maintain their status as a secured creditor. Another way you can extend it is by submitting what's called an offer in compromise. We talked about this on the show a few times. Basically, in this case, you're saying to the IRS, listen, I can't afford to pay this full tax debt, and I'm asking you to accept this offer, which is for less than the amount owed. Well, when you do that, the IRS again, pauses that CSED because they need to take time to review your offer and they need to settle your tax debt for a lower amount, but they kind of stopped that collections period, that 10 year statute of limitations. Another way to extend it, if you request a collection due process hearing, if you do that, it suspends that as well while your appeal is being considered. I guess you feeling that there's a little bit of a trend here. If you basically ask the IRS for assistance, if you ask the IRS to help you, if you ask the IRS to settle your debt or to give you a payment plan, they're going to put the brakes on that 10 year statute of limitations while they work that case, while they work that situation. Now, another reason that they can extend it is if you lived outside the United States for an extended period of time. And if you live outside the US, I just want to say this, one thing that's very important to know, if you do that for six consecutive months or more, it's also suspended during that time. Now there's also, the IRS can ask you to sign a waiver. I've seen this a few times in my practice where they extend the collection period in another way. This is because the IRS might ask you to sign this in exchange for granting an installment agreement. So basically if they go into an installment agreement, they might ask you to sign this waiver because maybe the installment agreement is going to take longer than that 10 year statute of limitations. So they basically want to remain a secure creditor. Now you can choose not to sign the waiver, but if you do, the IRS can go ahead and assess the tax and the only recourse they have, or only recourse you have would be to pay the tax and then file a claim for a refund. So those are all the things that can extend that statute of limitations. So big takeaway, Naomi, as we get to this point, basically, this is the truth. In general terms, the IRS has 10 years from the date that you filed the tax return to collect after you. Now, if you haven't filed, there's no statute of limitations. If you committed fraud or tax evasion, again, there's no statute of limitations. So that explains the workings of that. But then let's talk about what steps to take if the IRS claims that you owe taxes. And I'm going to make a big assumption now. We're going to move past that thought that you'd haven't filed. We're going to move past that thought that you've done something fraudulent, but let's just say you filed your taxes and all of a sudden you get this notice. And the notice is basically saying, Hey, Naomi, you owe taxes back from three years ago. First thing I'm going to tell you, and this is the best advice that I have to offer. Don't ignore it. Don't put it in a drawer and pretend it's going to go away. It is absolutely essential that you address these tax issues proactively, because here's the truth. When you stand up to it, when you do something about it, it's always going to lead to a better outcome. You can't just bury it under a bushel basket and pretend like it's going to go away. It's not going to go away. So here's what you can do. First thing I'm encouraging you to do is make sure the debt is correct. If you've got that irs.gov account, you can go up there and look at your account transcript. If you don't have one of those, you can call the IRS. You can send in a letter to them and get a copy of the account transcript. So you can take a look at what went happen because guess what? The IRS does make mistakes from time to time, but if you filed the tax return, they sent you a letter and said, Hey, guess what, Naomi, you still owe us money, you probably owe them money, but take a look at that. Once you do that, once you verify the debt, the second step is to then understand your options. And a lot of people get lost in this step. They think there's no way of solving this problem, but the IRS does offer several payment options. Here's a real truth bomb. The IRS simply wants to get paid. They wanna get the tax that you owe, so they've got installment agreements. I talked a few minutes ago about Offer in Compromise. I did a show a week or two ago about penalty abatement. So those are all ways that you can get this tax issue resolved. So first, number one, verify the tax debt is correct and secondly, understand your options. Now, the third thing I'm going to recommend you do, because this is not your do it yourself project, it is the time to seek professional help, just like Travis did. He reached out to me and said, Ralph, listen, I've been putting this off and putting this off. I can't live like this anymore. I can't do this anymore. So this is the time Naomi and anybody else listening, if you're unsure how to proceed, consult with a tax professional. If it's gotten to the point where they're levying your wages or something along those lines, you may be at the point of talking to a tax attorney. I've done shows about this, but I would start with an accountant, a professional accountant. You can reach out to me, go to askralph.com. You can book a call with me. And let's understand what the situation is, and I can help you understand your rights and it help you negotiate with the IRS. Now we may end up getting an attorney involved depending upon the severity of the situation, but that is really the key. So those three things again, number one thing, verify the debt is accurate. Number two, understand what options you have. And number three, Seek professional help. This is really the key. Now, the other thing you can do, there are some IRS resources for tax debt help. Sometimes it's just a simple issue that you can't afford to pay. So one of the things you can do, and I love this one, want to go there again, go to irs.gov, set up your online account, because one of the most beautiful things you can do there is you can view your balance. It's kind of like a credit card statement, hate to say with the IRS, but it's kind of like a credit card. You can go see your balance. You can go see payment you made. The best part of irs.gov is you can actually set up a payment plan right there. If your amount that you owe is under a certain threshold and you agree to make the payments and it's generally 48 to 60 months, they'll let you set up a payment plan right up there. You can look at your tax records and you can do all of those things from the IRS. Now, one of the big things you can do, and I just mentioned this is if you can't pay the tax you owe in full, you can apply for a payment plan. It's also called an installment agreement that allows you to pay this over time. Listen, Naomi, this is a much better option than just trying to run from them or trying to ignore it. Eventually they're going to catch up with you. They're going to levy your bank account. They're going to attach your wages. Maybe they're going to file tax liens. So if you want to get past this, and I hear that in your letter today, and that's what Travis wanted to do. Travis wanted to get past this tax debt. One of the best ways you can do that is set up that installment agreement. Now the other thing, and I've done a few shows on this, is you can do what's called an offer in compromise. Now, an offer in compromise is something I'm not going to spend time talking about today. It's kind of a big deal because you're basically saying to the IRS, Hey, IRS, I want to settle this tax debt for less than the full amount that I owe. But just real quickly. Generally, you have to have a reason for that. Maybe you're disabled. Maybe you've lost your job. Maybe you have no assets. If you're just saying, Hey, I'm just going to settle for pennies on the dollar because I saw some clown on TV or heard some radio ad about how the IRS is settling tax debt for pennies on the dollar. And like I said, I've done shows about that. Watch out for those. Generally isn't going to work, but again, reach out to a professional and see if you would, if you would fall into the parameters of setting up one of these offers and compromises. Now, another thing you can do is you can work with what's called the taxpayers advocate service. Now, a lot of people don't understand what this is because it's part of the IRS, but it's not part of the IRS. It's basically an independent organization that is, yes, they are, they are in the IRS, but they sort of sit outside of it. Now the taxpayers advocate, and I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about today because I could probably do a whole show on this, but the taxpayers advocate is basically that resource if you've tried to work through the normal channels with the IRS and you're just hitting a brick wall. This isn't the place to go if you haven't filed returns, if you haven't set up a payment plan, if you haven't tried to do the right thing and get your taxes organized, but if you've done all those things, if you're trying to get it resolved then you're just catching a brick wall from the IRS. These are the people to reach out to. You can find them online and when I give you their phone number right now, I'm going to put it in the show notes as well. It's 877 777 4778. That's a lot of sevens, but 877 777 4778. And again, remember they are not going to take a case unless you've already tried to work through the normal IRS channels. Now, as a little aside, I will tell you one thing that they will do. If you've been working with the IRS, you've been sending in responses, you've been trying to work things out and all of a sudden you get a levy notice or your HR people call you down and say, Hey, we've got this thing from the IRS, we need to attach your wages. The IRS taxpayers advocate service can help you in those cases if you've got an immediate financial issue so you can reach out to them. Another thing you could consider is what's called a collection advisory group. Now, this group provides assistance with complex lien issues. This is within the IRS as well. They'll help you get rid of any liens that you might have. One of the times I see a lot of this is sometimes somebody will get themselves into tax debt and they finally decide, you know what? And I've had clients that I've worked with doing this, I'll say to them, Hey, why don't you go get you, you got equity in your house. Why don't you go get a home equity loan or refinance your home so that you can get rid of this tax lien or you can get rid of these liens against your property. But in order to do that, because the IRS, listen, the IRS is basically the King in these situations. Once there's a tax lien, the first person getting paid is the IRS. I don't care who else is in the line. They're getting paid first. Well, you may have to get what's called a subordination agreement where the IRS would say, if that's fine, we're going to subordinate so that a new mortgage lender could come in and lend you the money. But the IRS is going to require that as part of that settlement or as part of that refinance or that remortgaging that they get paid first. But that's one of the best ways to handle that. That's called the collection advisory group. Now you might be saying, Ralph, okay, I get it. I understand. I got to understand that I can't just ignore these tax issues. I got to face them. I got to understand what they are. I got to come up with a plan for them. Well, now let's talk about the Christian side of this, because you're listening to this show, or you're watching us now because you understand there's a deeper principle here. So I want to talk about this for a moment. See, as Christians, we got to strive to be honest. I started the show talking about this. We got to strive to be honest and responsible in our financial dealings. Because Proverbs 22:7 states this, and I feel like I use this on the show all the time, but it says this and it's so impactful. "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." Well think about it. Tax debt is debt. It can lead to financial bondage and we've got to strive to avoid it whenever possible. So think about it. If you're not filing your taxes or you're not paying your taxes, you are putting yourself in financial bondage. And as a Christian, we've got to get beyond that. So you might be saying, okay, great Ralph. What do we do now? What are the steps if I'm facing tax debt? Here's what I'm going to encourage you to do. Number one thing. And I always start here because this is about our Christian faith. Pray for guidance. You know, it's time to seek God's wisdom. It's time to seek God's direction in dealing with these financial challenges and taxes are just another of those financial challenges. And here's something reassuring. Comes from the book of Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6, it encourages us to do this. It says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your path straight." So start by acknowledging, say to God, and Travis did this. One of the things that brought Travis to me is a somebody that I met at church and he says, Ralph, I understand you're an accountant. You do taxes, man. I've got this burden that's on me and I feel like I need to talk to somebody. I said, Travis, that's great. Call my office, set up an appointment. And one of the things that Travis brought to the table, he says, Ralph, I feel like I'm letting God down. So pray about it. Say to God, listen, God, I've gotten in over my head. I'm in over my skis, as they say. What can I do to get this issue resolved? So the second thing, after prayer, is to seek that counsel. Talk to Christian friends. Talk to mentors. Talk to financial advisors. Somebody like me who can support and give you guidance because you're not gonna do this alone. Like I said, this is not your weekend do it yourself project. And the final thing. And a lot of people find this difficult, but you've got to be honest and you've got to be transparent in dealing with the IRS. I'm going to say something very bold here. I'm going to encourage everybody to deal with the IRS with integrity and transparency. Listen. This is, I'm making a couple of assumptions here. Like I said, I'm assuming the tax debt is correct. I'm assuming you want to pay it and I'm assuming you're trying to do that. So if you are, then deal with the IRS with integrity and transparency. Now you might be saying, Ralph, I don't understand. I always pay my taxes. I'm listening to this, but this doesn't really apply to me. And how does this really impact people? So I want to talk a few minutes about some of the reasons why people fall behind in tax debt, because this is very common. It's more common than you might think. One of the big things, and it can arise from a variety of reasons, maybe it's just simple negligence. You just didn't do it or you don't care. Trust me, I've seen this. I've had clients say, you know what, the heck with them. They'll get my money when they want to. I'm not playing with this, but there are some common reasons for tax debt. Now, one of the biggest ones is simply financial hardship. People lose their jobs or they lose a part of their income. Sometimes it's a medical emergency. Another issue is tax, complex tax situations. Maybe they've got self employment tax. I just did a show about that. I'm encouraging you to check that out because that really confuses people. Or maybe you've got investment income or stocks and bond sales. You just don't know how to handle those things. So that's another big one. Here's a real big one. I did a show about a week ago on this. Life changes. Maybe you've gotten divorced. Maybe you've gotten married. Maybe you're moving. Maybe you don't understand the state tax consequences. So life changes can do this. One of the big ones I see is simply lack of awareness. Now this doesn't mean that because you don't know about it, you're not responsible for what they say. Ignorance of the law is no excuse. But a lot of people don't understand that a lot of first time filers don't understand what's going on with their tax returns. They just, maybe they go online and I did a show about a week ago about that as well. And I talked about, you know, is it the time to use tax software? Do you understand what you're getting into? Sometimes that you filed a tax return, but you didn't understand that the tax law changed. Another big one, and I see this a lot of times in my practice, is if you inherited money or if there's some windfall. For example, like I've had clients that didn't realize they had to report lottery winnings, or maybe they got a large bonus at work, or maybe they inherited money from a family member. Those things can all trigger tax issues. And listen, I did a tax return for a guy, a husband and wife just two days ago, and he had inherited a bunch of money from his mother passing away. Well, guess what? There was a huge tax obligation for that. Now in his case, he did the right things. He came and sat down with me. We had a plan in place. We understood his obligations. And so when we did his taxes the other day, I didn't have to give him bad news because he understood what was coming. He invested in, he reached out to counsel as I talked about, and that is important. Now another thing that messes people up or causes these tax issues are small business challenges. Sometimes if you've got a small business, the biggest issue is just cashflow. That's one of the biggest things I see with small business people. They just don't have the cashflow to pay taxes. Another thing is, and I'm not going to talk about a lot about this today, but payroll taxes. Listen, if you're a business owner, make sure you're paying your payroll taxes because it is real easy to fall behind on that. Another thing I see for reasons that people get behind on their taxes is they get backed up on their student loans or they're trying to pay their tuition and fees. Sometimes it's as simple as family obligations. You know, they're trying to support dependents or maybe they're paying child support and just can't get to their taxes. Oftentimes, it's tax planning errors. Maybe they've made incorrect deductions or they don't have adequate record keeping. And finally, one of the ones that we're in right now is just generally economic downturns. Sometimes market fluctuations or recessions just lead us to a point where we can't pay our taxes. Now you might say, Ralph, why did you go through all that list, that laundry list of things? Because here's why. If you understand these reasons, if you understand why, then you can help get to the point of resolving those problems. I can help you manage that. I can help you take advantage of getting those things resolved and avoid falling into deeper tax debt because that's what Travis ran into. And maybe you're in the same position, Naomi where you just don't file the first year and then you get to the end of the first year. It's like, Oh man, I never filed my taxes last year and I know I'm going to owe them and I'm just not going to file the second year. Well then the next thing you get to the end of the second year and like, Oh man, I still got these taxes from two years ago. I always know I know I'm going to owe again. Then you're in tax year number three. You will be shocked how many times I've worked with clients who haven't filed for three, four, five. I've had clients that haven't filed for ten years and it all started with missing that first tax deadline. So if you hear nothing else I say today is stay on top of this from the start. Even if you owe, hear me on this, even if you owe money, even if you know you're going to owe, the best thing you can do is file the tax return because Hey, we can work out payment plans. We can work out some way of getting the IRS their money, but start by filing because as soon as you file, then that tax, that 10 year statute of limitation starts. Well, if you want more insights, one of the things I'm going to encourage you to do is to go and read our daily blogs. You can get to that by going to askralphpodcast.com/blog because I share a bunch of specific resources there and that's what I use to create today's show. You're going to see my research material, and I also give you some more valuable insights that we didn't have time to cover on this show. Well now as I like to do, let's take a few moments to reflect on what we've discussed today. First question I'm going to ask you, what steps can you take today, not tomorrow, not next week or anything like that. If you've got these tax issues, what are steps you can take right now, today to verify any outstanding tax that you might have? One of the things I'm going to encourage you again is go and get that account at irs.gov. Yes. It's a bit of a hassle to get it set up. You're going to have to go through the ID.me process, but it takes about 5 or 10 minutes, and then you will have a wealth of information at your fingertips. So you can start to understand if you have those tax debts. Naomi, I would highly encourage you do this. If you're trying to hide from the IRS, stop doing that. Go get yourself an idea of what you owe and let's work together on a plan, which leads me to the second thing. How can you seek professional help in navigating your tax situation? This is not like I've said a couple of times on the show today, this is not a do it yourself approach. Go find someone that can help you. And then finally, as I talked about in the show today, in what ways can you apply biblical principles to your overall financial dealings, especially when it comes to taxes? Those are my reflection questions for today, because I feel like those are the things you really need to ask yourself. So let's summarize with our key takeaways for today. So as we discussed, big takeaways today, the IRS generally has a 10 year statute of limitations for collecting unpaid taxes. And that starts from the date the tax is assessed. And again, we talked about some of those exceptions to that 10 year rule, including unfiled tax returns, if you committed fraud or if there were certain actions that suspend that statute of limitations. We talked about bankruptcy or offering compromise, or a installment plan. We talked about all of those things. One of the things we talked about at great length was to be proactive in addressing your tax issues by starting to understand, do you owe it? And then what are your options? And then reaching out and getting professional help if you need it. And finally, we got to apply those biblical principles we talked about. We talked about honesty, we talked about responsibility, and we talked about seeking wise counsel. And I talked a little bit about the how tax debt can arise from various situations. We talked about financial hardship, complex tax situation, life changes, and all those things. And as I said, big key takeaway here. Understanding these reasons in the end can help you manage your tax obligations. Before we close today, let's hear from some listeners who have benefited from the show. I just want to share these with you because I really want people to be engaged. I got this one. It says, "Ralph, thank you so much for your show. I've been struggling with financial issues for years and your advice has given me the confidence to take action and find peace of mind." That was signed Linda. Well Linda, I just want to thank you. I want to thank you for listening to the show. And more importantly, I am so happy that you have confidence to take action. Because as I say on the show all the time, it's all about actions. Intention is not going to get us anywhere. So Linda, thank you for your comment. Here's another comment. This one comes from Mark and it says this, "Your show has been a lifesaver for me. The biblical wisdom and practical advice you share has helped me navigate through some tough financial challenges." Well Mark, I just want to say thank you and listen, as I say on the show all the time, focus yourself, ground yourself in the Bible. That's what you mentioned here. And that is the key to the whole thing. And here's the big takeaway. I truly want to hear from you because here's the truth. Your stories and your feedback are what keep me going. It's what helps me produce this show on a daily basis. So here's what I'm going to give you my email address and I'm going to encourage you to reach out to me. You might say, Hey Ralph, this is what the show has meant to me or Hey Ralph, this is what I did because of your show. Or maybe you're like, Ralph, why don't you talk about this or stop talking about that? My email address is ralph@askralph.com. Again, that's ralph@askralph.com Well, before we close today, I want to share something from my heart. I know what it's like to feel weighed down by financial struggles. I know what it feels like to feel that stress, that shame, and that, that lonely feeling of thinking you're the only one dealing with it. But I can tell you something very true. You are not alone in this and you don't have to stay stuck every single day. I'm here to remind you that there's hope, and I'm here to remind you that there is a way forward. And what I'd love for you to do is join me at askralphpodcast.com/newsletter. Because when you sign up, I'm going to send you a daily dose of encouragement. I'm going to send you simple practical tips to help you take small steps towards financial freedom and reminders that no matter where you're starting, God has a plan for your journey. And here's the best part. When you join, you're not just signing up for a newsletter, you're stepping into a community of people just like you, people who are letting go of that shame. They're finding hope and they're learning to live in God's freedom one day at a time. And I want you to be a part of that. So don't wait, do it right now. Head over to askralphpodcast.com/newsletter today and let's do this together because as I said, you are not alone, and I'm here to walk this road with you. I can't wait to see you there. Join me tomorrow for another great topic. And this one is going to be a fantastic one. It's this, is your credit card costing you more than you think? I'm going to talk about everybody thinks they're making money with these rewards and all these great credit card perks, but I'm going to answer a very simple question and that is your credit card costing you more than you might think. So tomorrow shows one you don't want to miss. So thank you for your time today. Remember, my passion is to help you achieve financial success. I want to see you live out your dreams and I want to see you grow in your faith. And I know this, working together, we can master your finances from a Christian perspective. So as I always end the show, stay financially savvy and may God bless you abundantly.

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Thank you for joining us on the Ask Ralph show, and with a simple click to subscribe, we'll invite you back to our next episode. And remember, financial issues don't have to be complicated. Just Ask Ralph.The information contained in this episode of Ask Ralph is based on data available as of the date of its release. Saggio Accounting Plus and Ask Ralph Media, Inc. Is under no obligation to update this content if changes occur.Applying this information to your specific situation requires careful consideration of all facts and circumstances, and any information provided is not to be considered as financial, tax, or legal advice. Please consult your tax advisor or attorney before acting on any material covered.