Richard J. Culp Credentials

Experience, Qualifications and Method of Operation

Richard is a retired IRS Revenue Officer. He began his employment as a Revenue Officer with the Collection Division of the Internal Revenue Service in June of 1982, at which time he had transferred to the IRS from the United States Defense Logistics Agency. At the Defense Logistics Agency he had been a Quality Assurance Specialist with its Defense Contract Administration Service.

Upon Richard’s retirement from the IRS in February of 1995, he began working as a consultant to various individuals and companies that had unresolved tax problems with the IRS Collection Division. Usually he was referred to these clients by their certified public accountants and/or their attorneys.

In May of 1997, Richard became an Enrolled Agent, licensed by the Internal Revenue Service to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all fifty states. His years of service as a Revenue Officer qualified him to receive that license. Shortly thereafter, he became a member of the National Association of Enrolled Agents (NAEA) and the Ohio State Society of Enrolled Agents (OSSEA). Both the IRS and the NAEA require yearly Continuing Professional Education courses (24 hours minimum by the IRS, and 30 hours minimum by the NAEA). His attendance at these various courses keeps him abreast of ongoing changes in IRS rules and regulations that are pertinent to his work, which makes him more effective in the representation of, and advisory service to, his clients.

Apart from Richard’s relevant work experience, cited above, he was formally educated at the University of Akron, Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Arts Degree, with Psychology as his major, in December of 1976.

Richard served on active duty in the United States Army from 1956 through 1958, and was honorably discharged from the Enlisted Reserve in 1962.

Richard’s ability to provide his clients with effective representation and sound advice is based on the experience he gained while working as a Revenue Officer, in addition to the experience gained in the consulting and representation work that he has done since his retirement from the IRS.

Richard's IRS Collection Division experience included, but was not limited to, the following:

1. determining the ability to pay of a taxpayer entity, primarily through the Collection Information Statement for Wage Earners and Self-Employed Individuals and/or Collection Information Statement for Businesses interview(s), as applicable;
   
   
2. conducting research and analysis of public records to verify the Collection Information Statement data;
   
   
3. determining the feasibility of an Offer in Compromise for a given taxpayer entity financial situation;
   
   
4. determining the feasibility of an “Innocent Spouse” claim;
   
   
5. determining whether or not a tax liability was correctly assessed by the IRS;
   
   
6. knowing and using the appropriate collection methods, enforced or otherwise;
   
   
7. acquiring procedural knowledge of the Federal Tax Lien, including (a) when and where to file it, (b) its priority status in relation to other lien filings (e.g., mortgage liens, Uniform Commercial Code filings, motor vehicle liens, and state income tax, sales tax, unemployment tax, and Workers Compensation premium liens), (c) when and how it is released, discharged, or subordinated; and (d) determining the Government’s Right of Redemption in judicial foreclosure proceedings regarding real property when the Federal Tax Lien is junior to the foreclosing party’s encumbrance;
   
   
8. determining who are the responsible persons within a corporation or limited partnership, and the extent of their responsibility, for the purpose of recommending assessment of the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (formerly known as the 100% Penalty);
   
   
9. determining when “reasonable cause” criteria are met for the purpose of requesting waiver or abatement of certain penalty assessments, as applicable;
   
   
10. determining when employer/employee relationships exist, for the purpose of ascertaining if Federal Income Taxes and FICA Taxes should be, or should have been, withheld and paid over to the Federal Government;
    
    
11. determining when the circumstances in a given taxpayer entity investigation warranted referral to the Examination Division and/or the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service; and
    
    
12. determining which Federal Taxes are dischargeable in bankruptcy, and knowing the criteria and time frames involved for dischargeability by the Bankruptcy Court and subsequent abatement by the Internal Revenue Service.

If, after having read the foregoing, you should decide that Richard might be of service to you, your company, or to others to whom you may refer him, please call, or have them call, for an initial telephone consultation. That initial telephone consultation is free.

If, at the time of the initial telephone consultation, the client or client’s company would then decide to retain Richard’s services, a meeting would be scheduled. Normally, a meeting can be scheduled at Richard’s office, the office or home of the client, at the office of the client’s attorney or accountant, as applicable, and as would be convenient to the party, or parties, concerned.

If the client, or client company, is located out of state, or otherwise too far away from Richard’s office for a convenient meeting, then the initial meeting could be a telephone and/or teleconference discussion, or else the client, or client company, could pay Richard’s expenses to travel to their location for that initial meeting.

A consultation fee would be payable at the time of the initial meeting. However, should a more extensive involvement be required of Richard, then a retainer fee would be negotiated, and that fee would be payable at the time the client signs the representation agreement. Typically, the client would have decided in advance of the initial meeting if Richard’s services would be retained beyond one meeting.

Please feel free to call Richard in regard to the foregoing. He attempts to be flexible in the hours of business conducted. However, he would prefer to be called during his normal business hours, i.e., 9:00 AM through 5:00 PM, Eastern Time, Monday through Friday; and 9:00 AM through noon, Eastern Time, on Saturday.