We had an unexpectedly large tax liability. We paid what we could and then we worked out an installment plan with the IRS. We missed one payment and we got a lien as a result.

If you've paid at least 90 percent of your current tax liability by April 15 or 100 percent of the previous year's taxes, you won't have to pay the late payment [0.5 percent] fee.

The summer before my third year of law school, I worked at a law firm in Washington, D.C. I turned 25 that July, and on my birthday, my father happened to be playing in a local jazz club called Pigfoot and invited me to join him. I hadn't spent a birthday with him since I was 3, but I agreed.

You won't have to pay up if you don't have a tax liability or if you have overpaid tax for whatever reason.

If you have a child under 17, you can take up to $1,000 off your tax liability per child and it doesn't matter how many kids. If you have five, that's $5,000.

If you do have a balance due, the IRS has an installment plan. If you ignore it, it's just going to continue to accrue.