Golden Lion Tax Solutions

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Where Your Peace of Mind is Found

09/03/2026

Conservation easement deductions keep landing in IRS crosshairs, and it almost always comes down to one thing: valuation. 🦁

When an appraisal assumes the most aggressive possible use for the land, the deduction gets inflated well beyond what courts consider realistic. Judges have called some of these valuations “wholly untethered from reality,” and that scrutiny doesn’t stay contained. It spreads across the board.

The result: slashed valuations, penalties, and interest assessed all the way back to the original filing date. We’ve seen the IRS reach back as far as tax year 2015 on deals like this.

Sitting on a deduction like this and wondering what happens next?

Let’s take a look at it together. Book a consultation at goldenliontax.com.

There is always a solution!

A complete picture of tax debt includes both federal and state obligations, reviewed together rather than addressed one ...
09/01/2026

A complete picture of tax debt includes both federal and state obligations, reviewed together rather than addressed one at a time.

It is common for someone to resolve their IRS balance, feel like the larger issue is behind them, and later discover a state balance that continued accruing penalties and interest the entire time the federal case was being worked. That state balance did not pause or disappear simply because the federal side was being handled.

Looking at both sides of the picture from the very start, rather than addressing them in sequence, tends to prevent that kind of costly surprise later on.

Many states offer their own resolution programs, conceptually similar to an IRS installment agreement or offer in compro...
08/31/2026

Many states offer their own resolution programs, conceptually similar to an IRS installment agreement or offer in compromise, but built around entirely separate eligibility rules and separate applications.

These programs are not automatically linked to whatever arrangement exists with the IRS. Qualifying for federal relief does not mean a taxpayer automatically qualifies for the equivalent state program, and the required paperwork is typically prepared, filed, and reviewed as a completely separate process with its own timeline.

Because of that, fully resolving a tax debt situation often means working through two parallel processes at once, rather than treating the state balance as something that will simply resolve itself once the federal case is closed.

State tax agencies calculate penalties and interest using their own formulas, which can differ significantly from IRS ra...
08/28/2026

State tax agencies calculate penalties and interest using their own formulas, which can differ significantly from IRS rates and timelines.

Some states apply penalties more aggressively than the IRS does for a comparable late payment or late filing issue. Others allow interest to compound in ways that are not immediately obvious from reading the notice itself, particularly when a balance has been outstanding for an extended period. A balance that looks manageable on paper can grow faster than expected, purely as a function of how that particular state structures its penalty and interest calculations.

Understanding a state's specific rules is a necessary step before deciding how urgently a given balance actually needs to be addressed.

Imagine growing the perfect beard… and then getting a tax bill for it.In 1698, Peter the Great decided Russia needed a m...
08/28/2026

Imagine growing the perfect beard… and then getting a tax bill for it.

In 1698, Peter the Great decided Russia needed a more “modern” look, so men had two options: shave it off or pay up.

Yes, facial hair had a price tag.

Somewhere, every man who has ever spent 20 minutes trimming his beard just felt personally attacked.

08/28/2026

Did you just get a notice from the IRS or your state and your stomach dropped?

Before you spiral, ask yourself three things. What exactly does this notice say, not what you're afraid it says. Is there a deadline printed on it, because that changes how fast you need to move.

Do you know if all your returns are actually filed, because that affects almost every option available to you. Most of the fear around tax debt comes from not knowing the answers to those three questions.

Once you do, there's almost always a path forward. If you want help walking through your notice, head to goldenliontax.com and let's get you on our calendar.

Most states maintain their own collection tools, and those tools operate independently of anything the IRS is doing on a...
08/27/2026

Most states maintain their own collection tools, and those tools operate independently of anything the IRS is doing on a federal case.

Depending on the state, this can include wage garnishment, bank account levies, and state tax liens filed directly against property. These actions can move forward on their own schedule, even while a taxpayer is actively negotiating a resolution with the IRS, since state agencies are not required to wait for a federal case to conclude before pursuing collection.

For anyone dealing with tax debt, it is worth specifically checking whether a state balance has been sitting untouched while all of the attention and resources have gone toward the federal side.

Federal and state tax debt are handled by two entirely separate systems, even when both balances stem from the exact sam...
08/26/2026

Federal and state tax debt are handled by two entirely separate systems, even when both balances stem from the exact same tax year and the exact same income.

Resolving an IRS balance, whether through an installment agreement, an offer in compromise, or full payment, does nothing on its own to resolve a state balance sitting alongside it. Each state operates its own tax agency, with its own rules, forms, and enforcement timeline, entirely independent of whatever is happening at the federal level.

That separation is often the reason state tax debt gets overlooked in the first place. Attention naturally goes to the IRS first, since federal issues tend to be larger and more widely discussed, while the state side sits quietly in the background accruing its own penalties and interest.

Relief on an LCE case is not necessarily all or nothing.Depending on the specific facts, there can be a genuine basis to...
08/25/2026

Relief on an LCE case is not necessarily all or nothing.

Depending on the specific facts, there can be a genuine basis to dispute the disallowance itself, particularly where the appraisal methodology or the conservation purpose can be defended on the merits. Separately, even where the underlying tax on a disallowed deduction is ultimately owed, there can still be room to address the penalties and interest attached to it through a distinct process.

It is also worth understanding that liability can extend to a joint filing spouse, and that it does not matter who originally structured or promoted the deal. Those two points tend to surprise people who assume their exposure ended when the partnership itself dissolved or stopped operating.

08/24/2026

Can the IRS really take my paycheck? Do you qualify for a settlement? Is it too late to fix this?

These are the questions we hear most, so we built a new page just for that.

Honest, bite sized answers before you ever have to book a call. No pressure, no sales pitch, just a place to get your bearings.

Start here: link in bio.

Ready to talk through your specific situation?

Grab a spot on my calendar at goldenliontax.com.

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