A husband and wife, with 4 kids, owned a local business that was struggling to stay alive. When this business started to go under they got behind on payroll taxes. This was a struggle for the mother of 4, because her husband was required to travel for months at a time for his career. This left the once flexible mother in turmoil. The family then took out a 2nd mortgage to keep their business afloat. The business still did not survive and was forced to close. The financial instituion with the 2nd mortgage started foreclosure proceedings on the home that forced them into an aggressive payment plan on that mortgage to save their house. As owners of the business, both husband and wife were determined by the IRS to be responsible parties and were each assessed a civil penalty of $35,737. Shortly after the taxpayers hired us, the husband was issued a wage garnishment that could have cost his job. We entered them into a direct debit installment agreement, released the wage levy, and then determined an Offer in Compromise was their best course of action. Because the civil penalty liability was joint and several, it was important that we get an Offer in Compromise for both parties and they ultimately paid $3,686 on a $34,737 civil penalty assessment!