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Inland Empire Tax Help: IRS & FTB Back Taxes, Levies, Audits (2026)
Updated: 21 hours ago
Tax help in the Inland Empire: who this guide is for
If you live or run a business in the Inland Empire and the IRS or the FTB has started writing to you, this page explains what actually happens next, where the local offices are and what they can and cannot do, and how cases from Riverside County and San Bernardino County get resolved without anyone taking a day off to sit in a federal building.
I am an Enrolled Agent, federally licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS, and my firm handles back taxes, levies, audits and unfiled returns for clients across the Inland Empire and its suburbs, including Ontario, Fontana, Rancho Cucamonga, Corona, Moreno Valley and Temecula. Everything here is general information, not individual advice; the last section explains how to get a free review of your own notices.
Your IRS office in the Inland Empire, and what it can actually do
The IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center serving the Inland Empire is the San Bernardino Taxpayer Assistance Center, at 290 N. D St., San Bernardino, CA 92401. By appointment only through the national IRS line, 844-545-5640. The IRS office locator lists Monday through Friday, 8:30am to 4:30pm, and posts lunch and partial-day closures by date, so check it before driving in. Other offices in the area include Palm Springs Taxpayer Assistance Center, 556 S. Paseo Dorotea, Palm Springs, CA 92264, for the Coachella Valley and No center appears in the city of Riverside in the IRS office locator; Riverside residents are routed to San Bernardino, and Corona and Temecula residents may be closer to Lake Forest or Santa Ana in Orange County.
It helps to know what a Taxpayer Assistance Center is for. It can verify your identity, take a payment, give you transcripts and answer account questions. It does not negotiate: nobody at the counter can settle a balance, release a levy on their own authority or decide an audit. Those decisions sit with collection, examination and appeals units that work by mail, phone and fax, which is why most representation happens without a visit to the office at all.
The Taxpayer Advocate Service is different. It is an independent office inside the IRS that steps in when normal channels have stalled or a levy is causing hardship. The local office for the Inland Empire: Taxpayer Advocate Service, Los Angeles Office, 300 N. Los Angeles Street, Room 5109, MS 6710, Los Angeles, CA 90012 (nearest listed office; the Lake Forest Office, 25520 Commercentre Drive, MS 2000, Lake Forest, CA 92630, (949) 638-7001, is the other Southern California option), (213) 576-3140. It is a genuine safety valve, but it is not a shortcut around filing the missing returns or answering the notice in front of you.
The California side: Franchise Tax Board
The FTB lists only five field offices statewide, in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and Santa Ana, so there is no FTB counter in Riverside or San Bernardino County; the nearest are Santa Ana (600 West Santa Ana Boulevard, Suite 300, 714-558-4505) and Los Angeles (300 South Spring Street, Suite 5704, 213-897-5196), both by appointment. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, for sales and use tax, has offices at 3737 Main Street, Suite 1000, Riverside, and 35-900 Bob Hope Drive, Suite 280, Rancho Mirage (1-800-400-7115), and the Employment Development Department, for payroll tax, has an employment tax office at 658 E Brier Drive, Suite 300, San Bernardino (1-888-745-3886).
Federal and state collection are separate tracks: an IRS installment agreement does nothing to stop a California garnishment, and a state payment plan does not pause the IRS. Every the Inland Empire case we take is mapped across both agencies before anything is negotiated. Our California state page covers the state side in detail.
the Inland Empire taxes people forget about
Beyond the IRS and the FTB, the Inland Empire has local obligations that show up as surprise bills, usually when a business or a rental has been running for a few years without them:
City of Riverside business tax certificate: all persons or companies conducting business in Riverside must pay the business tax, expressly including independent contractors, home businesses and commercial and residential landlords; for a new business it is due on or before the first day of business, and penalties escalate with delay.
City of San Bernardino business registration certificate: any person, corporation or sole proprietor conducting any business within the city, directly or indirectly, must secure a certificate from the Business Registration Division at 201 North E Street, which also collects the city's Transient Lodging Tax.
Ontario and Temecula licenses: Ontario requires a business license before commencing business and a new application on any change of location or ownership, with processing handled by its contractor HdL; Temecula requires a license for anyone doing business within city limits plus a home occupation registration for home-based businesses, and every license expires January 31.
Riverside County Transient Occupancy Tax: hotels, motels and short-term rentals in unincorporated Riverside County must register with the County Treasurer-Tax Collector and file quarterly TOT returns due the last day of the month after each quarter, even when a platform such as Airbnb remits the tax; stays over 30 consecutive days are exempt.
Riverside County business personal property: the Assessor sends a Notice to File Online each February instead of mailing forms, and the statement must be filed by May 7 to avoid penalties whenever the Assessor requests one or personal property exceeds the statutory threshold; the county also points new businesses to the County Clerk for fictitious business name filing.
The the Inland Empire tax problems we see most
Every metro has its own pattern of tax trouble, because it has its own mix of work. In the Inland Empire the cases that reach us most often look like this:
Trucking owner-operators hauling from the Ontario, Fontana and Moreno Valley warehouse corridor: Settlement income arrives on a 1099 with no withholding, so income and self-employment tax are due through estimated payments, and the IRS Trucking Tax Center says anyone with a heavy highway vehicle registered in their name must also file Form 2290 each year. Missed 2290s, missed estimates and thin mileage records are the usual pattern.
Warehouse, logistics and staffing operators paying workers on 1099s: The EDD applies the AB 5 ABC test, under which a worker is an employee unless all three contractor conditions are met, and audits employers to enforce it. Reclassification brings state payroll tax assessments and a matching federal employment tax exposure.
Short-term rental hosts in Temecula wine country and the mountain and desert communities: Hosts in unincorporated Riverside County must register with the Treasurer-Tax Collector and file quarterly TOT returns even when a platform remits the tax, while city hosts follow city rules. The rental income must also be reported to the IRS and the FTB.
Home-based businesses, small landlords and independent contractors in Riverside: The City of Riverside's business tax reaches home businesses, independent contractors and residential landlords, which surprises people who assumed only storefronts register. The city bill usually arrives alongside a federal or FTB balance from the same unreported income.
Gig drivers commuting into Los Angeles and Orange County: The IRS Gig Economy Tax Center says driving income must be reported even when no Form 1099 is issued. Drivers who skipped estimated payments face self-employment tax plus penalties when platform reports are matched to a return.
Three things to know about the Inland Empire cases
Two large counties share no FTB field office; the FTB's five counters are in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego and Santa Ana, so Inland Empire residents handle FTB matters online, by phone or by driving to Orange County or Los Angeles.
IRS in-person coverage is split: the San Bernardino center on N. D St. serves the core cities, Palm Springs serves the Coachella Valley, and the IRS office locator shows no center in the city of Riverside.
Licensing is city by city: Riverside issues a business tax certificate, San Bernardino a business registration certificate, Ontario routes licensing through a contractor, and unincorporated Riverside County collects transient occupancy tax through the Treasurer-Tax Collector.
How we work with the Inland Empire clients
The process is the same whether you are in Ontario, Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga or overseas. You sign IRS Form 2848, which lets us speak to the IRS for you and pulls the notices to our office instead of your mailbox; for state matters we file the state's own power-of-attorney form. We then pull your IRS account and wage transcripts and the state account history, so the first conversation is about real numbers rather than guesses.
From there the order is almost always the same: stop any active levy or garnishment, file whatever returns are missing (a return the IRS prepared for you is usually far higher than the real liability), and only then negotiate the balance through a payment plan, an offer in compromise, penalty relief or currently-not-collectible status, depending on what the financials support. Meetings are by phone or video, documents move through a secure upload link, and signatures are electronic. You never need to visit an office, and neither the IRS nor the FTB requires an in-person meeting for the vast majority of cases.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an IRS office in Riverside?
The IRS office locator shows no Taxpayer Assistance Center in the city of Riverside; the nearest is San Bernardino at 290 N. D St., with Palm Springs serving the Coachella Valley. All centers are appointment-only through 844-545-5640, and most notice, levy and payment-plan work is done by phone and mail.
Can you handle the FTB and the IRS at the same time?
Yes. The IRS is authorized through Form 2848, and the FTB accepts its own Power of Attorney Declaration, Form FTB 3520, which allows a representative to talk to the FTB, receive account information and represent you. With no FTB office in the Inland Empire, that work is remote in any case.
I am an owner-operator and the IRS says I owe self-employment tax plus a Form 2290 penalty. Where do I start?
Start by confirming which years are unfiled and pulling IRS transcripts, since the IRS may have filed substitute returns without your expenses. The heavy highway vehicle use tax on Form 2290 is a separate annual filing from the income tax return, so both must be current before any payment arrangement is considered.
My staffing company received an EDD letter about workers we pay on 1099s. What is that about?
The EDD checks classification under the AB 5 ABC test and audits employers to enforce it. If it treats the workers as employees, state payroll taxes are assessed, and the IRS applies its own employee-versus-contractor rules to the same facts, so the response should address both agencies.
Do you meet clients in person in Riverside or San Bernardino?
No office visit is needed. All State Tax Resolution works by phone, video and secure document upload, and we file IRS Form 2848 so an Enrolled Agent is authorized to speak with the IRS on your behalf. Inland Empire clients are handled the same way as clients nationwide.
Related Reading
Talk to an Enrolled Agent
This article is general information, not individual tax advice. If you want to talk through your own IRS or California notices, book a free 15-minute review or call or text us directly.
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