Mineola, NY – The IRS collected $98.4 billion through enforcement actions in fiscal year 2023, according to the IRS Data Book FY2023 – and that number is climbing as the agency restores staffing and collection capacity it pulled back during COVID. The IRS also reported 3.7 million delinquent taxpayer accounts that year. Jennifer Prendamano, founder of Prendamano Tax Resolution, with 26+ years of experience and more than over 2,000 clients helped, is warning individual taxpayers and small business owners: the relief window that existed during enforcement pauses is effectively closed.
Key Facts: The IRS reported $98.4 billion in enforcement revenue collected in FY2023, up from prior pandemic-era years – IRS Data Book FY2023 The IRS filed over 620,000 new federal tax liens in FY2023, a sharp increase from FY2021 and FY2022 lows – IRS Data Book FY2023 The IRS Inflation Reduction Act funding allocation directed $45.6 billion toward enforcement activities – IRS/Treasury reports, 2022 Practitioners consistently report that taxpayers who wait for IRS contact before seeking representation face a dramatically narrowed set of resolution options Jennifer Prendamano ofPrendamano Tax Resolution has helped more than 2,000 clients resolve IRS and state tax issues across individual, self-employed, and business categories
What the Enforcement Numbers Actually Mean for You
The IRS has said publicly – through budget requests and Treasury directives – that increased enforcement is the point. The Inflation Reduction Act’s $80 billion IRS funding package, with $45.6 billion earmarked specifically for enforcement, wasn’t a bureaucratic footnote. It was a policy signal. Collection activity that stalled during 2020 through 2022 is now resuming at scale, with more revenue officers, more automated notices, and faster movement from notice to lien to levy.
What that means in practical terms: if you’ve been living with unresolved tax debt, an unfiled return from a difficult year, or a notice you put in a drawer, the IRS has the capacity now to find you and act – and it’s doing exactly that.
“The data out of the IRS Data Book isn’t a warning about the future – it’s a description of what’s already happening,” said Jennifer Prendamano, Attorney & Founder of Prendamano Tax Resolution. “Over 620,000 new liens filed in a single year means that taxpayers who thought they had time are finding out they don’t. The IRS moves on its own schedule, and once a levy or garnishment hits, your options don’t disappear – but they get harder and more expensive to execute.”
The Gap Between Getting a Notice and Losing Your Options
Here’s what the timeline looks like in a typical situation. A taxpayer receives a CP2000 or a Notice of Intent to Levy. They don’t recognize the IRS letter type, assume it’s routine, and delay response. Thirty days pass. The IRS issues a Final Notice of Intent to Levy. At that point, the taxpayer has a Collection Due Process hearing right – but it’s time-limited and, if missed, largely gone. What could have been an Offer in Compromise negotiation or a penalty abatement request under the IRS’s First Time Penalty Abatement policy (a real, codified IRS administrative waiver most taxpayers don’t know they can request) becomes a scramble to stop an active bank levy.
That gap – between receiving the first notice and losing resolution tools – is where professional representation makes the actual difference. It’s not about paperwork. It’s about knowing which IRS programs apply to your specific situation, which deadlines are hard, and what the IRS will and won’t accept given your current compliance status.
“Penalty abatement isn’t something the IRS advertises,” Prendamano added. “First Time Abatement is available to taxpayers who’ve had a clean compliance history, but most people don’t know it exists and don’t ask for it. We resolve that kind of problem in days for clients who have been paying penalties for years. The IRS won’t volunteer the information – that’s the whole problem.”
No Guarantees – But Early Action Changes the Math
It’s worth being direct about one thing: no attorney can guarantee an Offer in Compromise acceptance, a specific settlement amount, or an exact timeline. The IRS decides those outcomes. What representation changes is the quality of the submission, the accuracy of the financial disclosure, and whether the right resolution programs are identified and pursued in the right sequence.
Waiting doesn’t pause the interest and penalty accrual. It doesn’t delay lien filing. It doesn’t protect your wages or bank accounts. The cost of inaction is measurable and compounding. The cost of early representation is fixed.
If you’ve received an IRS notice, have unfiled returns, or know you owe more than you can pay right now – the summer of 2026 is not the time to wait and see.
About Prendamano Tax Resolution
Prendamano Tax Resolution is a New York-based tax law firm founded by Attorney Jennifer Prendamano with 26+ years of experience representing individuals and businesses before the IRS and state tax agencies. The firm has helped more than 2,000 clients resolve tax debt, audits, liens, levies, wage garnishments, and delinquent filing issues. Prendamano Tax Resolution handles the full range of IRS resolution strategies, including Offers in Compromise, penalty abatement, innocent spouse relief, and tax lien discharge.
Media ContactCompany Name: Prendamano Tax ResolutionContact Person: Jennifer PrendamanoEmail: Send EmailCity: MelvilleState: NYCountry: United StatesWebsite: http://jlptaxlaw.com/
