What to do when you owe the IRS Back taxes

Client Experience: A client was referred from a larger NYC Law Firm. The firm had prepared and filed the client’s 1040’s prior to contacting me. The doctor handed me copies of the filed 1040’s, Married Filing Joint, owing $900,000 in tax alone for the last 8 years. The spouse did not work. Their house was titled in both their names. The spouse also had a large inheritance coming. The doctor was retiring and his income would be greatly reduced. The first thing they wanted was an Innocent Spouse claim to be filed. Just think how many more options they would have had if the client came to me before the eight years were filed jointly! I probably would have filed the last six years as MFS.