Glamour

JOYCE REBHUN – The tax therapist

Joyce Rebhun receives two to three suicide calls a day.

A CPA, Ph.D.. and a former IRS attorney, Rebhun is now a self-proclaimed tax therapist who’s helped over seven thousand truants clear their names with the IRS.

Unlike your average H & R Block accountant, Rebhun sees people “in hysterical situations” — those who haven’t filed for years because of illness, unemployment, substance abuse or severe tax procrastination. “By the time people get to me,” says Rebhun, “they’re so frightened by the mushrooming debt and possible criminal penalties they want to kill themselves. I try to relieve their fear. If you’re compassionate, you can get people to do what’s necessary.

For the tax-lax, what’s necessary may be anything from filing a return to declaring bankruptcy or petitioning the IRS to waive or lighten their penalties. One single mother didn’t file for fifteen years, believing her taxes were covered by weekly payroll deductions. Her first clue of tax trouble: the IRS agent who appeared at her home, seizure notice in hand. Rebhun appealed to the IRS agent for empathy. “When someone says, ‘My life went to hell, but I’m trying to get back on my feet,’ ” says Rebhun, “they understand. They’re people too.” Rebhun argued the woman’s case so convincingly the IRS gave her a refund (too much had been deducted from her paycheck) and abated her penalty fees.

Most of Rebhun’s clients are men, but they’re almost always referred by the women in their lives. “It’s the woman who gathers all the records. When she gets involved, I’m very happy. Then I know things will be taken care of.” Hopefully, by April 15.

- April 1990