IRS "Math" Act and Failed Credit Companies


Romeo Razi, CPA

Oct 19th

🕵Congress Passes the IRS Math Act

Oh boy, your favorite topic: "Maths".

If you believed that the IRS understood Maths, you'd be wrong.

At least, that’s what Congress decided last week when they passed the Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act of 2025 (a.k.a. the MATH Act.)

So, what's this about Romeo?

Picture this: you get a letter from the IRS saying something on your tax return “changed.” No explanation. No clue what line. Just vibes.

You either send it to your CPA (hi 👋) or call the IRS to find out what’s wrong (and waste an hour of your life on hold. Welcome to my life 🤦🏻‍♂️.)

Well, not anymore baby.
Congress said that they have to explain themselves (oh, how the tables have turned!)

💡Here's what's new

🧾 Line-by-line clarity
↳ The IRS now has to tell you which exact line on your return triggered the math error. No more “figure it out yourself buddy".

🧮 IRS Must show their work
↳ Every letter the IRS sends must include a computation (Karma's real)

📞 IRS Contact info
↳ The letter must list the phone number for follow ups (sure, you'll still be on hold for an hour, but at least now you’ll know exactly where to call so they can waste your time efficiently.)

Abatement deadlines
↳ They must spell out the exact deadline for disputing or abating an error. No more surprise wins for the IRS when you miss it by a day.

📬 Separate abatement notice
↳ You’ll now get a stand-alone letter about what changed.

✉️ Certified mail pilot program
↳ The IRS will start sending notices by certified or registered mail. Translation: you can’t claim you never got it, and they can’t claim you did.

🧠My take

Honestly, it's about time. The number of times they'd send letters with no explanations of what's going on were too many (and lots of time, is wasted calling them on the phone.)

----

🧮💸P.S.
Congress thinks they're clever
using this acronym, but the American people are still doing the real MATH, the kind that involves watching inflation.


🚗Three Strikes and you're bankrupt

In case you missed it, lenders are getting smoked!

Two used car financiers and an auto parts supplier just hit the 🧱 wall.

PrimaLend just joined the "distressed-debt disco" with Tricolor and First Brands.

What do they all have in common? Bankruptcy (i.e. don't pass "Go", and don't collect $200.)

While Powell plays Hamlet with interest rates (to raise, or not to raise), the real tragedy is on the balance sheets.

In other words, private credit deals that looked genius in 2021 now look like a Jenga tower build on margin. Too much leverage. Not enough cash. Zero discipline.

The three that became no more:

🧨 PrimaLend: collapses after missing interest payments
🧯 Tricolor: went up in flames lending to high-risk borrowers (and higher egos)
💸 First Brands: the canary in the coal mine: overleveraged, undercapitalized, and out of time.

Moral of the Story: if you see another 15% yield on a "safe" private debt fund, run faster than a WeWork investor in 2023.


🏠 Housing Corner

Inventory keeps going down, and days on market keep going up.

💹

Interest Rates


6.37%

🏡 🏡 🏡
Inventory


817,297

🧊

Days on Market


121 days (3+ months)

Here's a quick list of the housing stats over the last 2 weeks:

🏠 Mortgage rates: 6.37% (down a few more bps)
📈 Inventory: 817,297 homes (down 13k in the last week)
📉 Price reductions? 40.9% (same-ish)
💰 Median list price? $425,000 (down another $2,900)
🕰️ Days on market? 121 (+3 days)


Market Highlights

Market was flat this week


~ S&P $6,813 (+0.21%)
~
NASDAQ $23,276 (+0.43%)
~
BTC $86,414 (-0.97%)

Commodities telling a story


~ Silver $58 (+98.31%)
~ Gold $4,255 (+61.08%)

Silver went up almost 100% this year =

The world is worried about USA's debt.

fdsaf


What's been going on with your Favorite CPA

This week I attended the Rhodium Summit, an event that brings together entrepreneurs and investors building online businesses.

For those who may not remember, before I became a CPA, I got my first degree in Comp. Science, and still keep one foot in that community.

I go to this event every year, and at the end of the event there is usually a group networking activity, and this year it was DARTS!

But not any type of Darts. Imagine Darts merged with TopGolf at a place called ✈️Flight Club.

About 40 of us showed up, and we had a blast!

You should definitely check it out.

Also, if you're in e-Commerce, or have an online business, you should consider joining Rhodium (email me if you want the deets!)


Until next week, ❤️

Romeo Razi, CPA

Taxedright.com

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
Unsubscribe · Preferences

Tax Ticker

A weekly newsletter for people who want to understand money without needing therapy afterward. I cover accounting, tax, and finance the way they should be taught. Simple, sharp, and with a sense of humor. If knowledge is power, this one’s your caffeine shot.

Read more from Tax Ticker

Romeo Razi, CPA Dec 1st, 📊Tax planning time Man, did 2025 fly by fast. The Fed finally cut rates (a few times), AI’s coming for your job (maybe), consumer debt hit an all-time high, and you still don’t know what “6 7” means. (Honestly, I'm scared to know what the kids are up to) 😤Meanwhile, the IRS? Doesn't care.🏛️Tax Day is still April 15th. So, before you get drunk 🍾 off Uncle Smitty's eggnog, and blackout on all those Amazon returns you will be making, let's talk tax strategies. Here are 6...

Romeo Razi, CPA Nov 23rd 📛Unemployment just hit a four-year high So much for the "soft landing" fantasy that J Powell kept whispering (honestly, I almost feel bad for him... almost). To be fair, I can't say I'm shocked. J Powell has been moonlighting as a magician channeling his inner "David Copperfield': sleight of hand over here, missing jobs report over there. Here's what happened in plain English: the BOL (Bureau of Labor Statistics) says that unemployment is 4.4%. Sounds mild, until you...

Romeo Razi, CPA Nov 9th 🏚️First it was 40-year mortgages. Now it's 50. Nothing screams, "American Dream" like 6-decades of debt (just ask college students). The President has a solution to getting young people to buy homes. Stretch the mortgage until you qualify for Social Security. Our leader: Mr. Bold Strategies has come up with a plan that is like rearranging the chairs on the Titanic, but with shabby terms and higher closing costs. Back in 2006, they floated 40-year loans right before the...