Mailbox Contacts You can reach us by e-mail at mailbox@nase.org. Our fax number is (817) 428-4210. The mailing address is 2121 Precinct Line Road, Hurst, Texas 76054.

Talking Back to TaxTalk I read with interest your TaxTalk discussion of Internal Revenue Service debt in the March/April issue. This is obviously a complicated subject that cannot be given full treatment in a one-page article. I have been a consultant for over 11 years for individuals and businesses who have tax difficulties and I have submitted many successful offers in compromise (OIC) each year. I also worked OICs when I was an employee at the IRS. I believe several of the comments in your article to be inaccurate: You stated that if a taxpayer has a net worth, the individual should not count on getting an OIC accepted. The net worth of a taxpayer is not necessarily a problem. You must take into account the realizable equity in the assets of the taxpayer when deciding how much to offer. You stated that if your income exceeded your expenses by 10 percent or more, then the OIC probably would not work. An OIC can still be accepted under these circumstances. The real issue is determining your ability to pay according to IRS standards and then translating that amount to a present value figure. The amount needed to successfully compromise the debt is potentially one dollar more than the total realizable equity in assets plus the present value of the ability to make future payments. You stated that the odds are about 50/50 that a taxpayer could get an OIC accepted. I would hope that any reputable tax advisor could show that his or her record is much higher. Attempting to get an OIC accepted should be fairly predictable if IRS procedures are known and the facts and circumstances are presented accurately. Dick Pilskog Tax Advisor Seattle, Washington

Kudos To TaxTalk Rebecca and I would like to thank you for your most excellent services. Your expert advice and consultation regarding a particularly convoluted tax situation led us to turn last year’s records over to professionals. Our new CPA helped us minimize our late penalties and reduce our taxable corporate profits for the year. You gave sage advice when you encouraged us to look to a professional CPA for our tax reporting responsibilities so that we could concentrate on running our business. A 15-percent flat tax sounds better and better with every question about the tax code that we ask. But with folks like you, we think we’ll be able to endure as long as necessary! Alan Q. and Rebecca A. Jamison RedQuill Consulting Inc. Hollis, New Hampshire

Mac Power I am disappointed that the article “On The Road With Notebook Computers” in the March/April issue made no mention of Apple’s Macintosh PowerBook. Although DOS and Windows may monopolize many business settings, this is not the case within small publishing, printing, multimedia and communications businesses, as well as their corporate counterparts in the movie-making and broadcasting industries. Apple technology continues as the gold standard, based on cost effectiveness, ease of use and performance. Among notebook computers, the Macintosh PowerBook (G3) runs not just a bit faster than the Pentium models profiled in your article, but 80 percent faster. Since cost-effectiveness and time are two important considerations for those of us running small businesses, it seems to make good business sense to explore all the options. Please help us stay informed about these options by including them in future articles about computers and technology. Sherrill Franklin, President Harmony Designs West Grove, Pennsylvania

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