Since 1988, Tax Matters Inc. has quietly done the work most people dread: resolving serious IRS problems for individuals and businesses across El Paso.
Not Your Typical Tax Season Shop
When an IRS levy hits a bank account, the panic is immediate. Businesses freeze. Families scramble. Most people don’t know where to turn, and the internet is full of firms promising fast fixes that rarely materialize.
That’s the gap Tax Matters Inc has been filling since 1988.
The El Paso-based firm has spent more than three decades handling situations that go well beyond W-2s and standard returns: unfiled returns going back years, mounting tax debt, IRS audits, wage garnishments, bank levies, payroll tax problems, and the kind of accumulated IRS notices that can paralyze a small business owner. Thirty-eight years in, it’s still doing that work, and the firm’s client history suggests it knows how.
That longevity isn’t nothing. The tax resolution industry has its share of fly-by-night outfits and national call centers that overpromise. A firm that’s operated continuously since the late Reagan administration has something most of them don’t: a track record long enough to actually examine.
The Problem Most Firms Won’t Touch
Tax preparation is straightforward. Tax resolution is not.
The situations Tax Matters handles regularly, unfiled returns, offers in compromise, installment agreements, IRS liens, require not just technical knowledge but a willingness to engage directly with the IRS on a client’s behalf over weeks or months. According to the firm, every case gets an individualized strategy rather than a one-size approach, because no two tax problems are identical.
“Tax problems affect more than finances. They can disrupt families, businesses, and peace of mind. Whatever brought you here, you have options.”
That framing matters. For many clients, the shame and anxiety around IRS trouble keeps them from seeking help until the situation has escalated. A levy has been filed. A garnishment has started. Delinquent returns have piled up for three, five, sometimes ten years.
Tax Matters says it works through those situations from the first consultation to final resolution, explaining options clearly and building a plan the client can actually follow. The firm’s website includes case studies and real resolution scenarios, which is a more transparent approach than most firms take.
What the Work Actually Involves
The firm’s resolution services cover several distinct tracks, depending on what a client is facing:
Delinquent tax returns: getting unfiled returns prepared and submitted to stop IRS enforcement action
Installment agreements: negotiating structured payment plans the IRS will accept
Offers in compromise: pursuing settlements in which the IRS agrees to accept less than the full amount owed, for qualifying clients
Audit representation: standing between the client and the IRS during an examination
Payroll tax issues: addressing one of the most serious categories of business tax liability
Beyond resolution, Tax Matters also provides routine tax preparation and bookkeeping, the day-to-day financial work that, done consistently, keeps businesses from ending up in crisis in the first place.
Experience as a Differentiator
The firm was founded in 1988, which means it predates the entire modern internet era of tax services. It has handled IRS problems through multiple tax law overhauls, economic downturns, and the period of IRS enforcement changes that followed the pandemic.
That institutional knowledge is hard to replicate. Junior staff at a national call center work from scripts. A firm that’s navigated decades of IRS policy shifts has a different kind of fluency.
Tax Matters describes its work as helping clients move “from uncertainty to confidence through honest guidance, disciplined planning, and relationships built to last.” That’s the pitch, but for a firm with 38 years of continuous operation, it’s also a reasonable claim.
For individuals or businesses sitting on an IRS problem they’ve been afraid to address, the calculation is simple: the longer it waits, the worse it gets. Penalties compound. Enforcement escalates. What might have been resolved with an installment agreement becomes a levy situation.
When to Make the Call
Tax professionals are blunt about one thing: no tax problem gets easier by ignoring it.
Whether it’s a single year of unfiled returns or a years-long debt that’s accumulated interest and penalties, the IRS has tools, and it uses them. But it also has formal resolution programs that qualified taxpayers can access. The difference between a client who gets relief and one who doesn’t is often whether they got experienced representation.
For Texans dealing with IRS issues, Tax Matters has been doing exactly this work since before most of its clients were adults. That’s a specific kind of credibility, and it’s the reason the firm is still operating nearly four decades after it opened.
More information and case studies are available at Tax Matters Inc.’s website.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Eligibility for IRS resolution programs depends on individual circumstances, and results are not guaranteed. Consult a qualified tax professional regarding your specific situation.
