Article source: J David Tax Law, GA
Realizing you owe more tax than you can pay is a genuinely unsettling moment. The notices are stern, the numbers feel out of reach, and it’s hard to know what to actually do first.
The good news is that resolving tax debt follows a knowable sequence. Taking it one step at a time turns an overwhelming problem into a series of manageable moves.
Here’s a first-steps guide for Savannah taxpayers who owe the IRS, the Georgia Department of Revenue, or both. If you’d rather hand it off, you can visit the Savannah page of J. David Tax Law. Either way, the sequence below works.
First, open and sort the mail
The instinct to leave tax mail unopened is understandable and exactly wrong, because every notice carries a deadline.
Open everything and sort it: which notices are from the IRS, which from the Georgia DOR, what years they cover, and how much each claims. Because Georgia has a state income tax, many Savannah taxpayers owe both agencies.
Knowing exactly what you face is the foundation for everything that follows.
Then identify your collector
The two authorities behave differently. The IRS administers federal income tax through a large, notice-driven system that moves through a defined sequence before it enforces.
The Georgia DOR administers the state’s income and business taxes and collects through state tax executions (liens), garnishments, bank levies, and refund offsets.
Identifying which authority — or both — you’re dealing with shapes the whole strategy.
Choose a resolution that fits
With the picture clear, choose the option that fits your finances. On the federal side, the IRS’s payment-options guidance lays out the choices.
There’s an installment agreement if you can pay over time, an offer in compromise if paying in full would cause genuine hardship (real but rigorous, per the IRS’s offer-in-compromise page), Currently Not Collectible status, and penalty abatement.
Georgia offers parallel options through the Georgia Department of Revenue: payment plans of up to 60 months and an Offer in Compromise, with enforced collection generally paused while an offer is reviewed.
Mind the Georgia deadlines
Address the fastest-moving threat first — a federal Final Notice of Intent to Levy or a Georgia Notice of State Tax Execution — because reversing an active levy is far harder than preventing one.
A Notice of State Tax Execution is a signal the state is preparing to levy your assets, and it includes information on petitioning the Georgia Tax Tribunal. Treat it as urgent.
Because the two agencies collect independently, resolve them on coordinated tracks so neither escalates while you focus on the other.
Decide whether you need help
A small balance with a straightforward payment plan can often be handled directly.
But strongly consider representation when the balance is large, when enforcement has started, when you have unfiled returns, or when both agencies are involved. In those situations, the gap between a self-managed outcome and a professionally negotiated one usually exceeds the cost of the help.
If you do hire someone, vet them: a licensed attorney you can verify with the state bar, a written plan and fee agreement, honest expectations, and a real attorney handling the case rather than a call-center pipeline.
One rule underlies every step: you must be current on filing before any relief works, even if you can’t pay.
One rule underlies it all
Before any of these steps works, one condition applies: you must be current on filing, even if you can’t pay.
Neither the IRS nor the Georgia DOR will consider most relief while returns are outstanding. Filing missing returns also replaces the inflated estimates the agencies build from wage data alone.
It’s the quiet first move that makes everything else possible — skip it, and the best resolution options simply stay out of reach.
Georgia missteps to avoid
A handful of mistakes derail the sequence above.
Don’t treat a Notice of State Tax Execution as routine mail — it signals the state is preparing to levy, and it carries a deadline to petition the Georgia Tax Tribunal. Don’t drain a retirement account or take on high-interest debt to clear a balance before exploring the structured options, which are usually cheaper.
And don’t hand a large upfront fee to a “pennies on the dollar” outfit that guarantees a result before reviewing your finances. Sidestepping these keeps the plan on track.
Your route through it
Owing the IRS or the Georgia Department of Revenue is stressful, but it yields to a plan.
Open everything, file what’s missing, know your collector, choose the resolution that fits, mind the deadlines, and get help sized to the stakes. Savannah taxpayers who follow that sequence almost always land on far better terms than the notices imply.
The worst move is silence, which lets both collectors run their timelines. The best is a calm, prompt first step — starting with opening the mail.
None of this requires having the whole answer on day one. It requires a first step, and then the next — and the Savannah taxpayers who resolve these situations are simply the ones who started instead of waiting.
Silence is the one move that reliably makes things worse, because both collectors keep running their timelines regardless. A prompt, deliberate response is what puts you back in control of the outcome.
