When Everything Was Taken Away

Mr. Nugyen, a member of Boston’s Vietnamese community, had come to us for help. He owed a large sum of money to the IRS and the fees, and interest were making it impossible for him to address the problem. For years he had been a small business owner. Unfortunately, he had developed a chronic illness that required extensive medical treatment. At first the illness was manageable, but the illness turned from chronic to debilitating, requiring dialysis multiple times per week. As a result, he was forced to close his business and was unable to find other employment. 

In addition to his health problems, he also had an unpaid debt to the IRS and was missing tax filings for a few years prior year which compounded his woes. The amount owed to the IRS had grown substantially, but without any meaningful income, the amount he owed continued to accumulate interest. In addition, our client does not speak any English and all his correspondence was only in English, making it extremely hard to understand what was happening even with someone translating the letters for him. It got to the point where he was receiving correspondence from the IRS demanding payment until the day came and he learned that the IRS was in the process of seizing his bank account. Without the funds in his bank account, he would have lost his housing. 

We first were able to get the IRS to pause their collection efforts while we reviewed his paperwork. We were then able to get him current with his tax filings. From there, we were able to successfully convince the IRS that pursuing with seizing our client’s bank account would have a catastrophic effect on our client due to his severe health issues and his inability to work. The IRS currently has placed any collection efforts on indefinite hold and is on schedule to forgive his debt early next year.