Chances are, you or someone you know has been looking for a job this year. With businesses “right-sizing” and looking to cut costs, employment opportunities are scarce. Those who are hiring usually have their pick of a wide range of qualified applicants. So how do these employers narrow the field?

We got a call the other day from a man whom I’ll call Al, who had an all-too-familiar tax problem. He hadn’t filed in about 5 years, and had substantial balances due. When I asked Al how he got into this predicament, he said that he had followed some “bad advice” from a friend at work.

Al works on the line at GM, and a co-worker had told him that by increasing your exemptions, you could take home a much larger paycheck. It sounded like a good idea at the time- who wouldn’t be tempted by some extra money each week? Al followed his friend’s advice and switched his exemptions to the maximum of 9, and his checks did indeed go up because practically nothing was being taken out for taxes.

It was announced yesterday that the Swiss bank UBS is going to release the names of some U.S. citizens who are account-holders, and who are suspected by the U.S. government of using the Swiss bank to hide assets and thus avoid paying taxes on those assets. To date, there have been four criminal prosecutions arising from the release of names; however, the government is offering amnesty for those who voluntarily come forward prior to Sept. 23, 2009. Those who come forward will still have to pay up, but will avoid the stigma of a criminal trial.

In a recent story in the Detroit Free Press, it was revealed that City Council member and well-known Motown entertainer Martha Reeves has tax liens from the IRS and State of Michigan totaling nearly $280,000. Much disgust was expressed by some Detroit residents that someone as presumably wealthy as Reeves could fail to pay her taxes. However, this is a much more common occurrence than you may think, and a problem that touches the wealthy and struggling alike. (Remember several months ago, when it was brought to the nation’s attention that Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner was behind on his personal taxes?)

You may have seen commercials for tax services promising “pennies on the dollar” for your IRS tax debt, and wondered if it was legitimate. Is it really possible to get a tax liability significantly reduced? And if so, how does it work? Perhaps you even know someone who has gone through this process, which is known as an Offer in Compromise. If you have a large tax bill and are unable to pay through a payment plan, there are a few things to know about settling your tax debt that may help you to determine if an Offer might be an appropriate option for you.