12A SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2018
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Oklahoman BrandInsight
Oklahoma City man settles $2 million IRS debt for $50 with the
help of Travis W. Watkins Tax Resolution & Accounting Firm
BY EDDIE ROACH
BrandInsight Contributor
We recently interviewed
Oklahoma City tax
attorney Travis Watkins,
of Travis W. Watkins Tax
Resolution & Accounting
Firm, about a huge victory
for an Oklahoma City man
in tax trouble using the
IRS’ Offer in Compromise
program.
Q: How does someone run
up $2 million in back taxes
with the Internal Revenue
Service anyway?
Watkins:  This Oklahoma
City taxpayer had filed
some (but not all) his
returns, but failed
to report gambling
income. He was self-
employed, and buried
his head in the sand
somewhat. A very
aggressive IRS revenue
officer showed up at
his house and informed
him (to his surprise)
that he owed the IRS
over $2 million. He was
especially fearful, as
English was his second
language.
Q: So, he must have
had some HUGE gambling
winnings, right?
Watkins:  Actually, no.
That’s the surprising
thing. He lost it ALL at
the casinos.
Q: Wait, if he lost it all, how
did he have such a huge tax
bill?
Watkins:  The IRS will
look at W-2G forms
that all casinos file on
TRAUMA
CONTINUED FROM 10A
school officials put the
right supports in place,
Powell said.  maintaining confidenti-
“It heightens our
response to that child,” she
said. “It lets us know that
child is in a current or
recent state of crisis … that
they need extra support.”
The Handle with Care
program is another step
that helps school officials
be in tune with the fami-
lies they’re working with,
Powell said.  homa Department of Men-
“Because of confiden-
tiality, we don’t often
know,” she said. “We’ve
kind of compartmental-
Connecting marketers to The Oklahoman reader.
taxpayers for gambling
winnings above $600. If
you fail to file a return,
or they audit you and
you can’t prove losses
up to that amount, they
take the un-reduced
winnings as taxable
income and stick you
with a tax bill. That’s
what happened here. He
lost everything, got no
credit for his losses, and
got a massive tax bill he
could never pay.
Q: How did you persuade
the IRS to accept $50 for this
tax bill?
Watkins:  Sometimes,
an Oklahoma City tax
lawyer can challenge
the big bill by filing
an original return or
showing the actual
losses up to the amount
of winnings in an audit.
In this case, however,
the taxpayer had so little
because of his gambling
issues, Travis W.
Watkins Tax Resolution
& Accounting Firm
was able to show the
IRS that he couldn’t
ever pay this massive
tax or anything like
it — using the IRS’
Offer in Compromise
Program — and the IRS
accepted $50 in full
and final settlement
of the entire tax debt.
Understandably, he was
incredibly relieved, and
grateful to have one of
the IRS’ most aggressive
revenue officers off his
back.
ized, this is the school, this
is DHS, this is (Oklahoma
City police). The problem
is that we rely on and help
each other, so I think that
this helps us do our part
more effectively while still
ality that is that family’s
right.”
Last year, Oklahoma
City Public Schools started
focusing on more trauma-
informed practices, Bell
said.
In September 2017,
with help from commu-
nity partners, the district
worked with the Okla-
tal Health and Substance
Abuse Services to conduct
a survey of students in
grades six, eight, 10 and 12
Q: Any advice for Oklahoma
City gamblers in regard to IRS
taxes?
Watkins:  You really
need an Oklahoma City
tax attorney when you
owe massive amounts
and you have aggressive
collections on you. First
and foremost, though,
I would say that if you
gamble routinely, you
to assess mental health and
substance use patterns.
The data allowed the dis-
trict and other partners to
develop a comprehensive,
districtwide mental health
action plan.
The initiative, called
Embrace OKC, is the lat-
est collaborative initia-
tive of the Oklahoma City
Schools Compact, which
is a group of community
partners working together
to support improvements
identified by the school
district.
“You can’t educate if
you’ve got a student that
has more basic needs,” Bell
said. “We’ve got to address
them as a whole child, and
it’s exciting to me that the
district is doing that.”
need an Oklahoma City
tax resolution firm like
Travis W. Watkins Tax
Resolution & Accounting
Firm to assist you with
proof of your losses each
year when you go to file
your taxes. An ounce of
prevention is worth a
pound of cure, they say.
Travis Watkins is
an Oklahoma City
EDUCATION NOTES
Grant proposal writing
sessions planned
Oklahoma pre-K through
12th-grade teachers
seeking customized
professional development
opportunities can attend
information sessions about
grants from the national
nonprofit Fund for Teachers.
Fund for Teachers, the
Oklahoma Foundation for
Excellence and the Tulsa
Community Foundation will
offer grant proposal writing
and information sessions
at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 4 at The
Oklahoman, 100 W Main
St., Ste. 100, Oklahoma
City; and at 5 p.m. Dec. 6 at
Clinton High School, 2130 W
Gary Blvd.
Webinar information
sessions will be available at
6:30 p.m. Dec. 12 and 5:30
p.m. Jan. 9. Registration
and webinar information
can be found at www.
fundforteachers.org/fft-
events. To inquire about
hosting an information
session at your school,
contact Sara Wilson at
swilson@ofe.org or 405-236-
0006, ext. 12.
The Fund for Teachers
grant program awards
CRISIS
CONTINUED FROM 10A
Patients and fami-
lies seeking help during
a mental health crisis
might have an easier time
if they can go directly to
a crisis center, though
those aren’t available
in all parts of the state,
Brose said. Even if there
is a center nearby, police
still may have to take
the person in crisis to
an emergency room for
“medical clearance”
before a mental health
facility will agree to treat
the person, he said.
Dr. Jason Beaman,
chairman of psychiatry at
the Oklahoma State Uni-
versity Center for Health
Sciences, says a task
force in Tulsa is working
on  reducing those visits.
THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.
Attorney who limits
his practice to helping
taxpayers end IRS
problems. Watkins has
earned the designation
Certified Tax Resolution
Specialist from the
American Society of
Tax Problem Solvers, a
national not-for-profit
organization dedicated
to helping taxpayers
fellowships of up to $5,000
for individual teachers and
up to $10,000 for teams of
teachers for self-designed
professional development
experiences anywhere
in the world during the
summer. The grant cycle
application process is open
now through Jan. 31 at
www.fundforteachers.org.
Cameron University
launches funding effort
LAWTON — The Cameron
University Foundation has
launched Roots of Our
Success, a fundraising
campaign to generate
donations to the Aggie
Fund for Student Success.
Donations will be used
to provide scholarships,
access to a global
experiences, innovative
teaching and more.
The campaign kicked
off with a challenge gift of
$5,000 from an anonymous
donor who is challenging
nine other Cameron
University supporters to
match the gift. Gifts of any
amount are welcome.
Information on how
to make a gift can be
found at www.cameron.
The current setup doesn’t
work well for the patients
who may have long waits,
the police officers who
have to stay with them
or the emergency room
doctors who already
have plenty of work, he
said.
If patients have signs
of a physical health
problem, such as chest
pain, it’s important to
take them to an emer-
gency room, but it’s not
necessary as a routine
measure, Beaman said.
Ideally, a nurse or doctor
at a mental health facility
would check vital signs
and order any necessary
blood work, he said.
If a family does end up
needing to go to an emer-
gency room for a crisis,
it helps to plan ahead,
Brose said. If possible,
make a list of medica-
tions and providers.  cess,” she said.
solve IRS problems. As a
special offer to readers,
you can get a free copy
of Watkins’ book, “The
Ultimate Survival Guide
to IRS Problems” by
calling toll free 800-
721-7054 and leaving
a message anytime.
Watkins can also be
reached immediately at
405-400-8170.
edu/cu_foundation, by
calling 580-581-2999 or at
foundation@cameron.edu.
SWOSU offers five
study abroad programs
WEATHERFORD —
Southwestern Oklahoma
State University is offering
five study abroad programs
in March and May 2019. The
trips are to London, Italy,
Spain and France.
Information about the
trips can be obtained from
the sponsoring faculty
member:
• London-SWOSU/
Business with Jerry Dunn
jerry.dunn@swosu.edu |
March 15-24
• London-SWOSU/
Literature with Amanda
Smith-Chesley amanda.
smith@swosu.edu | March
15-24
• Italy-SWOSU with Daniel
Farris daniel.farris@swosu.
edu | May 7-16
• Spain-SWOSU with
Cynthia Pena Cynthia.pena@
swosu.edu / May 15-29
• France-SWOSU with
Todd Parker todd.parker@
swosu.edu | May 20-30
 
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Jean Williams, a vol-
unteer with the National
Alliance on Mental Ill-
ness Oklahoma, also
advised families who
have a loved one with a
mental health condition
to educate themselves
about how the system
works before they need
to use it.
Medical privacy laws
can make the process
frustrating, because doc-
tors may not be able to
report anything to family
members, Williams said.
Families still can play an
important role, however,
by offering context about
the person’s condition,
she said.
“Even though it can
be frustrating to sit in a
lobby for hours just hop-
ing to talk to someone, it
is important to show up
at every step in the pro-