Here 4: Gabriel Morrow

What do you do when the system meant to serve you turns its back on you?

This week, I sit down with Gabriel Morrow as he shares his deeply personal battle with the American government over his tax situation. As an expat, Gabriel has spent years navigating a maze of red tape, unanswered questions, and mounting frustration—fighting to receive what he truly believes he is owed.

But this isn’t just about taxes.
 It’s about fairness.
 It’s about being heard.
 It’s about standing up when you feel invisible.

Gabriel knows he can’t be the only one caught in this struggle. And taking on the government is daunting enough—but doing it alone can feel impossible.

If his story moves you, please consider checking out the links below and helping spread the word. Awareness is power, and even the smallest act of support can make a difference.

Because sometimes, the hardest battles are the ones no one sees.

https://archive.org/details/2026-03635-44994-1

https://youtu.be/ZjFut7pzPw0?si=a5E6fZOTv9rVWIVL

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4AcQfhoeTIvdSqJhlv9zni?si=7oK9bNdVRLquYIqo9bdWhA&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A0KdQo3B66ZeXHxXXtkOBAE

Transcript

0:03

Hey, I'm Eric and I'm here for you. This week I got to sit down with a very amazing individual with a very unique situation. As we go into tax season, this is one of those things that most people dread, right? You don't know if you're getting a tax return. Is it gonna be as big as you thought Are you gonna have to owe, These are all crazy stresses, but Gabriel Morrow had to deal with. Something completely different. Something that, you know, to our current understanding now just hasn't been dealt with before. And I think there are people dealing with this situation and have probably let it fade away. But for Gabriel being an expat, following his heart, going to live with, his wife and pursuing a different dream outside of the states. He felt like he was still owed something and I think at the end of all this, he is. So I hope if you're listening to this, you take the time to really understand not just Gabriel's story and the unique situation he's dealing with fighting the government and the tax structure, but understand the kind of guy Gabriel is and pushing forward and really sticking to his belief that this is something for the future, it's not just something he's dealing with. if you are dealing with something like this please feel free to reach out to Gabriel. All that information will be provided to you in the show notes So please, I hope you enjoy my conversation with Gabriel.

Gabriel 1:39

I'd be cool with it. I've been trying to figure out ways to get it in short form because I know my story's a long form story, but I've been trying to figure out how to get it in short form because I want to tell people my story. But I've noticed nowadays people, if you can't share it in the thirties. Second or 62nd clip, they lose attention.

Eric 1:55

that's everybody, right? they wanna hear your whole life story in 10 seconds, and if you can't do

Gabriel 2:00

Yeah,

Eric 2:00

point?

Gabriel 2:01

it's hard because my story is a complex topic involving taxes and stuff that most people don't even fully comprehend or understand.

Eric 2:09

Exactly. God knows I won't. Right. so I'm gonna need you to walk me through it like a child. please let me get a little bit of background of you. you grew up in America and then you're an expat. You're Gonzo. Is that right?

Gabriel 2:21

I grew up in Tennessee originally and spent most of my life there. I technically, lived with my grandparents the bulk of the time helping them around the house I didn't move to Canada until 2020.

Eric 2:35

Oh, okay.

Gabriel 2:36

came here as a visitor in 2020 and then legally became a permanent resident in early 2021.

Eric 2:43

Oh, so no time at all. and you left at a troublesome time'cause pandemic was right there.

Gabriel 2:48

Yeah. the pandemic made it, well, in some ways it made it easier to travel in some ways, wor worse. I mean, the airports were not that busy.

Eric 2:57

Okay, so you went from Tennessee, so you lived in Tennessee your whole life. Is that correct? Until

Gabriel 3:02

Yeah,

Eric 3:03

moved

Gabriel 3:04

I lived in Tennessee my whole life.

Eric 3:06

and, what'd you move out of, the states for? You're just done with this? Mm-hmm.

Gabriel 3:10

Well, I moved to Canada originally'cause I'd met my wife through Facebook and we'd visited each other a few times and I decided I wanted to move in with her. I couldn't really move her to the States'cause I didn't have the money for that So I decided to just move here, and that's what I eventually did.

Eric 3:27

Okay. And you met her through Facebook. How long were you guys, talking and dating before you decided to make that leap? to a whole new, place.

Gabriel 3:35

originally we met in 2014, online We didn't start dating until 2018.

Eric 3:42

Okay.

Gabriel 3:43

And we met in wheel life in 2018 and eventually I visited Canada a few times, vice versa, and I just moved here.

Eric 3:52

Yeah, I bet it's beautiful up there.

Gabriel 3:55

Eh,

Eric 3:56

thing. Oh.

Gabriel 3:58

If you like snow, it's good, but if you don't like snow or cold weather is not so much fun.

Eric 4:04

Being from Tennessee, I bet that became an issue for you.

Gabriel 4:06

Well, surprisingly, I was prepared for the snow and ice sports. Probably got me the most, was just the dry skin.

Eric 4:13

that's, you know what? That would kill me. That would ruin me. So, know,

Gabriel 4:20

I.

Eric 4:20

you're dealing with an incredible challenge. Right now. I mean, it's been ongoing. can you tell me a little bit about what's going on? What's the main reason behind This tax issue?

Gabriel 4:31

Well, it started out simple enough. in 2020 I had moved to Canada I followed my taxes in 2021. Now, I was due a refund,

Eric 4:41

Mm-hmm.

Gabriel 4:42

because I'd made wages in the states I was due a refund. around$1,800, I didn't think much about it being lost or not receiving the refund because I knew COVID was going on. I knew international mail was delayed, I'm enjoying my life here now. I'm not gonna worry about that. it wasn't really worth going through the hassle of making long distance phone calls to the states I know IRS was a total mess back then with customer service. it's common sense to think, oh, your EPOS just lost in the mail. Not a big deal.

Eric 5:10

Yeah,

Gabriel 5:10

At least that's what I thought at the time. would you think the same thing as me?

Eric 5:16

That's the hope. you expect to get it at some point but I'm sure that they

Gabriel 5:19

Yeah,

Eric 5:19

probably had something you could check online, right?

Gabriel 5:21

well, they do have a thing called check your e refund. But it just showed InProcess in process and I knew there was a lot of delays, so I just saw nothing of it. But apparently they had flagged the return as possible, identity theft, refund fraud, and somehow also lost the return. Don't know how they did that.

Eric 5:40

the return was lost, but then also identity

Gabriel 5:43

Flagged as possible identities if weep on part. But like I said, I knew nothing about this at the time. I just thought it was lost in the mail, which is reasonable because, well, I moved to Canada. I was mailing my fund to Canada COVID delays, things like that. I mean, I didn't even know the IS could flag a return and keep it like out.

Eric 6:01

Yeah.

Gabriel 6:02

I always thought they just processed stuff as they got it. if it was an issue, I thought it would be something that you dealt with after the fact, not something where they preemptively grab your refund and hold it. you have to go chase after it.

Eric 6:13

So about what timeframe did you sit there and realize, hold on, this isn't lost in the mail and you started doing some digging. How long was that

Gabriel 6:22

That wasn't until 2023.

Eric 6:25

really?

Gabriel 6:26

oddly enough, I think other things were going on too, I think God was probably intervening because I know h and r Block had a slight mix up with my return that year. I ended up getting two years of tax long in the us since I wasn't paying anything to do my US taxes and. Since it was lost as far as I knew, I didn't know any better, I just really didn't pay any attention to it,

Eric 6:48

Yeah.

Gabriel 6:49

about my normal business until 2023 when I had a settlement with my prior employer. Because of my mask mandate, I had a fight over my mask with my US employer that I had before I moved to Canada. I got a legal settlement with them and it was paid out in W2 wages. That meant in 2023 I was technically due a refund for the taxes withheld on my wages.

Eric 7:17

Okay.

Gabriel 7:18

also at that time, h and o blocked had switched to do an E following of tax returns. So. That's when I knew I had a problem.'cause before that, I'd always mailed it in. And since I wasn't doing re refund, apparently the IS had just kept freezings the returns that I was FA sending in and not processing them. But since I was due a refund that year, and since it was e default and it needed an ID pen, I started having a new problem there because I'm like, what the heck is an id? PN and H lock wanted me to get one. So I started having to call the IS in 2023. And figuring out what an ID pen is, figuring out how to get one. I spent a lot of time on the phone with the IRS proving that I was who I said I was and all this nonsense.

Eric 8:05

Right. so 2023 was technically the catalyst to kicking off this whole menage of like, where's

Gabriel 8:12

And.

Eric 8:13

what's going on with this money? how does it escalate to the point where you're at now because you are all over the place talking about this injustice that happened to you, that's assumingly happening to other people as well. at 2023, what was the pivot point to say, okay, let's go hard into this.

Gabriel 8:30

Well, in 2023 I managed to get All tax years except for the original 2020 tax year resolved. mainly it's because apparently 2021 and 2022 had been just the IDT refund fraud flag. They still had those returns, but the 2020 return was lost, and I didn't know that. That's why I couldn't get the IRS to unfreeze it because they didn't have a return to unfreeze and now they lost it.

Eric 8:54

Yeah.

Gabriel 8:55

Anyway, near the end of 2023, I had been spending countless hours dealing with the IRS and still hadn't gotten my 2020 leaf bond, so. I started looking online. I started realizing relatively quickly that Congress didn't know all about these laws or how they was implemented or anything like that, especially when it came to expats. I started thinking, well, I'm a taxpayer. I'm no different than any other taxpayer under the law. So what laws exist in the state that help taxpayers get lawyers if. They can't afford one or if they can't get a lawyer, I tried calling around to get a lawyer and I couldn't find one. It would take my case over$1,800. They just saw it as too small of an amount. So I called around these tax clinics. I saw those, they took cases. So I called the one in Tennessee. I knew my 2020, that was the issue. Part of it was in Tennessee for that year. they said, well, we can't take your geographic location. And they said, we suggest you call a tax clinic near the border. So I thought, okay, I'll call the one in Washington, dc but I was actually calling the one in Washington State, the University of Washington, to be exact And left a message and I called a few other places, but the University of Washington eventually got back to me a few weeks later and took me as a client. That was in 2024, early 2024, and didn't know much about it or think much about it, but I was the first taxpayer outside the United States to use a low income tax clinic. So that's, so that created its own unique legal problems. That's whenever I started becoming more than just a normal tax issue and into uncharted legal territory

Eric 10:34

And with that statement right there, you're on a whole different level at this point, right? Because again, people deal with this, I think this is a pretty common thing that some people deal with and it is annoying and taxing some people would sit there and say,$1,800 from 2020. It is what it is. Call it a wash. But no, that's$1,800. So you wanna find the best way to get, you know, that helps a lot of people across the board. I'd say about 90% of people would want to have$1,800. so it's understandable. you want to go the extra mile for this, but now you're not just going the extra mile, you're creating the standard at this point fortunately, you're kind of the kickoff point, so hopefully people don't have to deal with this, anymore. Maybe you're creating the book for this now, but is that taking a toll on you throughout this time? Because there's no way this could be simple or easy for you. It has to be draining.

Gabriel 11:26

I mean, it is a bit draining. mainly I think it's just, I don't know how this is gonna unfold. I know there's a government report that shows I use the task clinic. I got FOIAs that show that and stuff. But I can't post those FOIAs because the lawyer that got me them is a bit scared of political fallout. He doesn't wanna be tied to this,

Eric 11:45

That's,

Gabriel 11:46

I applied for a job and there's legal issues around the job posting,

Eric 11:49

that's, well now you're talking about something completely. I'm terrified. What? It's everything. Okay. On that front.

Gabriel 11:57

The job itself is the taxpayer advocate panel international position, and here's the issue around that.

Eric 12:05

are

Gabriel 12:05

that your wifi or mine? I can hear you now, but a minute ago we was waking up,

Eric 12:09

it looks like I've got you, both at a hundred percent. You're looking pretty good.

Gabriel 12:12

Oh, okay. But yeah, the job, now I haven't really discussed it much on other podcasts, but here's the thing about that job It's the international position on the taxpayer advocacy panel that got questions around it. normally these are unpaid jobs. that panel was set up under the Bush administration and their job was to provide recommendations to Congress on how to improve the tax code, which is fine and dandy until a few things happen first. There's a slight error in the job posting.

Eric 12:49

Oh.

Gabriel 12:49

Which means it's not a valid job posting

Eric 12:53

Mm-hmm.

Gabriel 12:54

under labor law that there's legal issues around that. But normally that's not a problem because you can't sue with that job.

Eric 13:02

Yeah.

Gabriel 13:02

But wait a minute, don't I have a unique legal situation with my 2020 taxes? So I can say I've got experience. If that report comes out, I can say, I've got job experience for this position. And now that job becomes a bit of a constitutional crisis and somehow lawyers don't want to touch that thing.

Eric 13:27

I can see where lawyers nowadays are a little bit dicey on certain aspects of things. and again, it comes down to the point of for them, is it enough?$1,800 to them may be nothing but$1,800 to me and you is, a month's worth of, food. That's rent, that's mortgage, you know, that's stuff that keeps life going. And so them it's, they don't want to touch it'cause it's their career, but for us it's, you know, it's livelihood. I commend you for pushing as hard as you are because most people wouldn't even consider going this far for this.

Gabriel 13:58

the job posting, I think the reason they're a bit scared of that is'cause, how do you assign wages to such a position It is supposed to be an unpaid job for obvious reasons, but now it could potentially be a paid job, which is a bit of a problem for the Congress.

Eric 14:14

Mm-hmm.

Gabriel 14:15

that's kind of incompatible with the Constitution as its witness. It's not like the Supreme Court can just invalidate that.

Eric 14:22

Yeah,

Gabriel 14:22

So it's a problem there, but as far as the lawyer goes, they just don't want to face any problems related to that. they did foia, the documents, they're the O, they're the only lawyer that is FOIAed as far as I know, the documents related to that university and stuff.

Eric 14:39

So if I can jump back to where you are currently, in this process. I know that you've been on a lot of podcasts. You've been pushing yourself to get this out as far as you can. Have you seen this being progressive for you in this whole ordeal?

Gabriel 14:55

I mean, it is been progressing. It's just been progressing a lot slower than I'd like recently there was a Reddit post where I shared some FOS I got related to the taxpayer advocacy panel. They don't directly tie into my legal issues. At least I don't have proof of that, but I suspect it is. I have a hypothesis around why the taxpayer advocate panel was gonna be vetted, but I don't have a proof of it. I do have a fos that weighs a lot of questions about that political news article posted in September about vetting the panel. So I posted that and it went a bit by or on Reddit. It got close to a hundred thousand views and something like 450 up votes last time I looked within a 24 hour period. So it did pretty well for that. considering its legal documents that was shared on the internet archive, that's actually a really good post for something like that.

Eric 15:46

Yeah. and I think right now you're hitting at a perfect time, right? Legal documents anywhere people are looking at it, but just to have eyes on it is important, right?

Gabriel 15:54

another thing that's going on is I am talking to a few reporters, especially one at Bloomberg, I think will probably be the one that likes the story around this. there's been a lot of interesting chat between me and one Bloomberg reporter and how I met him It's all very unique.

Eric 16:12

how'd you meet the reporter, if you don't mind me asking,

Gabriel 16:14

Well, I mean, of every reporter I reached out to, this particular reporter I met by talking to the Bloomberg Managing Director of investigations at Bloomberg on LinkedIn originally. you could say I talked to a managing editor and he apparently spent several weeks finding reporters for this'cause of how niche the subject is.

Eric 16:36

Mm-hmm.

Gabriel 16:36

he told me that,

Eric 16:38

Yeah.

Gabriel 16:38

but he put me in touch with the reporter I'm talking to now, and that was the first interesting thing that happened with this reporter. First talked to him on Christmas Eve though, I continue to stay in touch with him there's still stuff ongoing. I don't know how much he'll be happy with me sharing about my conversations with him right now. So I'm kind of a bit cautious to say too much about him. But

Eric 17:01

Okay. let's keep him as happy as he can be.

Gabriel 17:04

yeah, at least until he reports on the story, then I don't mind telling the story about how I interacted with him.

Eric 17:09

of course. my, one of my biggest concern is, you know, I'm. I guess I should say, like, when it comes to my understanding of the tax structure I'm a simple guy, My wife is so much smarter than me, so she handles the taxes, she handles all the financial stuff for the most part. So, you know, you throwing this at me trying to understand your situation, I can't, I can't begin. To, you know, understand where you're coming from and how, how you're able to stay so confident and stable through this process. Because just you explaining it to me right now in this moment, it's way over my head. So, kudos to you for continuing through this process and really being the trailblazer to write the book on how to get past this and help reform these situations. I truly don't know how you're doing it. It seems like a lot of stress.

Gabriel 17:57

it's a lot of stress, but I don't have a choice but to do it. It's just is what it is. I mean,

Eric 18:04

I mean, you

Gabriel 18:04

I,

Eric 18:04

you could let it go, right? You could sit there and say, Hey, I'm done with it.

Gabriel 18:07

I could let it go, but there's a government report that's probably gonna eventually hit Congress. I don't know when it's gonna hit Congress, but it will hit Congress and I ain't gonna be able to let it go then. So, I can't really escape it.

Eric 18:21

Well At this point, right. so what is the game plan? what is the hope that we get out of this and what's the final resolution?

Gabriel 18:30

Well, the final resolution is, is that when government report gets pushed to Congress and Congress addresses the illegal problems that it causes me, whatever they may be, in the fallout of it.

Eric 18:42

Yeah.

Gabriel 18:43

Now when that happens, I can't say for sure. I don't think it'd be much longer because I'm starting to see action like that viral Reddit thread and more and more podcasts I'm popping up on.

Eric 18:54

Mm-hmm.

Gabriel 18:54

So eventually something's gonna break around it. I just don't know when

Eric 18:58

Yeah. when it does, do you have any, game plan for when it does break? Because at that point you're, I would assume you're pushed into a different light, You're not just on podcasts talking about it. you're actually front and center.'cause this is a unique situation I assume.

Gabriel 19:13

I have a small PR firm that's helping me for close to nothing. Kevin of Prophetic Communications is the name of the, PR firm he's been involved since may pitching the story to reporters They have business limits to what they can do. and reporters still have to be willing to cover our story. So that's been going on. But once it does break, he'll probably be, helping to manage some of the chaos because I have a feeling my phone's gonna blow up.

Eric 19:43

Yeah.

Gabriel 19:43

I'm not gonna be able to,

Eric 19:44

Potential.

Gabriel 19:45

be able to answer everybody's call.

Eric 19:48

Exactly. And that's not, I guess what I'm trying to get at here is none of this seems to be daunting to you. I mean, like I've said, stressful and you've mimicked that, but it seems like you're ready for this. Like, whatever the fallout may be, whatever concludes, it seems like you're, straightforward. this is your war, essentially.

Gabriel 20:05

I've been dealing with this so long, I just wanted to get over with so I can move on and deal. I mean, I want 2020 was COVID deal. I wanna move on from COVID year. I'm still dealing with COVID nonsense.

Eric 20:17

You know, one thing,'cause I know we're focused a lot on the tax, and that's the main focus, right? I wanna make sure that we're getting your story out there and people hear about that, but another key factor to your life, is that transition from Tennessee up into Canada. how have you been up there? are there anything you miss from back home? Anything you wish, you know, maybe you say, ah, you know, maybe I get the wife. We come back down to America and we really just kind of started new.

Gabriel 20:42

Well, I used to think about moving back to the states but my grandparents kind of passed away last year and my grandpa another 2025 passed away and my grandma in late 2024, and I lived with them most of my life, there's a dynamic around my grandpa's estates being sold soon. The house is supposed to be split like four ways according to wheel. But with everything going on with my taxes, I have a feeling that's probably gonna be a unexpected turn on that. So I really don't know what's gonna happen around that estate.

Eric 21:12

Oh

Gabriel 21:13

But as far as moving back to Tennessee goes, I mean, I wouldn't mind visiting it, especially during, the winter months.

Eric 21:21

Yeah,

Gabriel 21:22

But I don't know if I'll ever move back there. I like the Canadian summers.

Eric 21:27

I mean,

Gabriel 21:28

I honestly wouldn't mind visiting Texas during the summer and staying here in the winter

Eric 21:32

don't

Gabriel 21:32

visiting Texas in the winter and staying here in the summer, that's what it.

Eric 21:36

there it is. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do that. I'm born and raised in Texas, and I'll tell you firsthand, the coldest it'll get down here is a random freeze, once every five years. other than that, you're looking at forties most of the time for like a week.

Gabriel 21:48

That sounds nice Here. It's minus forties.

Eric 21:51

Good God, you willingly chose to go up there. That was your choice.

Gabriel 21:57

Yeah. Well, if you get on enough clothes, that ain't that bad. But it still ain't fun. I mean, you usually try and hibernate. You just don't go outside in the winter months,

Eric 22:09

That brings another question. How long are these winter months? Are we looking at regular seasons? two, three months, four months maybe?

Gabriel 22:17

about four or five months where it stays,

Eric 22:19

I.

Gabriel 22:20

you get snow and it stays on the ground.

Eric 22:22

That's half the year.

Gabriel 22:23

I think we got about five feet of snow outside right now, actually.

Eric 22:27

my Five

Gabriel 22:28

And it won't melt until probably March or April.

Eric 22:32

what are you doing? You can come back whenever you want. We'll take you back. My man. America's

Gabriel 22:38

I mean, the issue there is that if I did come back, I'd want to bring my wife And she's got her own set of health issues. there's also immigration issues around that

Eric 22:45

Okay, but let's say your family here in Tennessee, you said the, you know, first let me go back to say, I apologize for your grandparents, you know, from what you said, that they raised you and took care of you, most of your life, and that can't be an easy thing. I hope you got to, at least talk to'em or spend a little time with them before any of that transpired. as it stands right now, you said it was split four ways, so I'm assuming you have more family that was, down in Tennessee or in the surrounding areas. Is that right?

Gabriel 23:16

Yeah, I got my dad there and my two aunts and a few other family members in Tennessee. I don't know what's gonna happen after the estate sales. the number one thing that's probably the most sad about it is my grandpa's cat. when the closing of the estate happens, the cat will most likely be put down because I don't think the cat would survive anywhere else. it's technically like 13 years old, I've had a lot of interesting issues around cats lately, so that's just another Whipple.

Eric 23:43

Is, well, you can't, now you're throwing another thing mile away. interesting things around cats,

Gabriel 23:49

I've had a lot of health issues with the cats we've had here.

Eric 23:53

huh?

Gabriel 23:54

I think it might be something in the basement at my mother-in-law's house, but at least two cats have had health issues here.

Eric 24:00

Oh.

Gabriel 24:02

I think, well the first cat had issues with like related to like, it had been put on Prednisolone whenever it was young because it had asthma. And then the vet here, whenever I moved to Inglehart, tapered him or got'em off asthma that I think that caused a flare up and issues But my other cat, Felix. I had to sue Andrew not too long ago I'm assuming it probably got heartbroken whenever it lost its brother Jasper because we had to put Jasper down. So it started acting a bit off. I didn't have the money to start taking it to the bed every week to see what's wrong with it, to do this test, that test and everything else.

Eric 24:38

Yeah.

Gabriel 24:39

to surrender it.

Eric 24:40

Oh,

Gabriel 24:41

So I'd like to get it back, but I don't know what's gonna happen with Felix or the cat in the state. I've had a lot of issues around cats lately,

Eric 24:49

Yeah, I see that. it seems like it's piling up. You got cat issues, your family situation. And then this whole text thing doesn't make it better.

Gabriel 24:56

and it definitely doesn't make it better Then again, I was eating on the hunt about that. some people call it stress polyp. Well, you just get everything stressing on you at once and then it all disappears at once. Some people say that happens.

Eric 25:07

I

Gabriel 25:08

I don't.

Eric 25:08

for you. Ready to get gone? I think you're looking at a

Gabriel 25:11

I hope it goes soon. I'll be glad once the tax issue and everything else gets resolved and just gets behind me.

Eric 25:17

Yeah,

Gabriel 25:18

and whatever is after this, I can deal with.

Eric 25:21

Yeah. I'm looking forward to that being resolved. I think that's coming sooner than not. I think a lot of things are happening in the current, climate where a lot of these things are gonna come to light for you. And I think it's gonna be a good thing for you to have your voice out there, to get your story out there and to have you front and center to take care of this. I know I'm not alone in saying that I'm rooting for you and I wish you the best. What you're doing is, definitely more than what I could do in that moment. You're better than me in that stance. is there anything in regards to your tax issue or anything specific that you want people to know about in regards to it and kind of push that front and center to make sure that on people's minds that do get to his, to this?

Gabriel 26:01

I guess you could do is just, I mean I did post se FOIAs on, on the Reddit and stuff. You could share those or try and get as many eyeballs on it. share the video or podcast everywhere and just try and get as many eyeballs on it so it will eventually get to Congress. maybe put pressure on the Bloomberg reporter to actually cover it.

Eric 26:23

I'll

Gabriel 26:23

eventually I think,

Eric 26:24

to you.

Gabriel 26:25

I mean.

Eric 26:25

reporter.

Gabriel 26:27

I think eventually they'll cover it. I don't know when they did say they had seven other stories, but they also forwarded me a press release that the IRS released related to low income tax clinic funding. While I was on a call and they said, it's funny they release this press release, so I don't know what's gonna actually. I don't know what's going through that Porter's head. I wish I did know, but at the minimum, I don't want to try and burn any bridges with that porter.'cause I kind of need him to cover my, to cover it. But by the same token, I don't know. I mean, he may cover it anyway just because John Shoemaker, who's the current holder of the Taxpayer Advocate Panel international position, the one they put in place whenever they declined my application. He's trying to push this report to Congress as well, so it's not just me. There's someone actually working at the IRS officially trying to push it. But the management in the panel, they seem less than cooperative because I know. Hernandez declined that foyer that I posted on Reddit, and then I got records showing he declined it and attempted to charge me$800 in search and review fees for it. But a DM manager which is one of the people who review foyers before they get released, said that was excessive. And also technically they couldn't charge it because it had been past the, Statutory deadline for them to charge for it. So they didn't charge me for that, but I can show where he attempted to do that.

Eric 27:55

Okay. I mean, the deeper I go, the more difficulties I see you facing, and again, doesn't seem easier at all. So I really do hope this stress pile up fades for you sooner than not.

Gabriel 28:08

I do too. I'm hoping it ends soon. I've been talking to my therapist every two or three weeks on it. I could definitely use more money to help pay the legal to help deal with my various financial problems.

Eric 28:20

Yeah, of course. I mean, that's kind of the crux to all of this, right? It's again, going to the main point of,$1,800 to some people it's like, why go through the trouble? But for most people, I mean, this is livelihood and

Gabriel 28:34

at this stage, I think I would've been better off had it been actual identity theft, refund fraud, and I just lost the refund altogether to deal with the legal issues around it.

Eric 28:44

would you that choice

Gabriel 28:47

I mean, if I could change the time. I kind of would've preferred that. it's funny because I actually had LifeLock, my grandparents in the States was actually covering LifeLock subscription. So if it had been something minor like IDT refund fraud, LifeLock would've helped deal with it. But the problem with possible IDT refund fraud, is the load possible there?

Eric 29:10

Yeah.

Gabriel 29:11

mean things more than IDT refund bought or possibly something worse. And this is definitely something worse now than actual IDT refund bought.

Eric 29:21

gosh.

Gabriel 29:23

Yeah.

Eric 29:25

I gotta ask if there's anybody out there listening to this right now that may be dealing with what you're dealing with what's something you would tell them to keep their spirits up through this process?

Gabriel 29:37

never stop asking for help or trying to switch out to people. that's kind of what I've learned. that's how I originally got in touch with the tax clinic. That's how I got in touch with John Shoemaker. That's how I got in touch with you.

Eric 29:52

that's always been the motto that my, my mom's kind of pushed to me is that people are always good, they're innately good. And you should help where you can. that's always what we want to do. So if anyone is listening and dealing with your situation, I hope they heard that don't stop, keep pushing. but always ask for the help.'cause there's always gonna be people there that, that are willing to.

Gabriel 30:12

And maybe there's someone who's listening to this podcast that can help me out with this

Eric 30:16

goal. Hopefully there is somebody that, that's paying attention to this and said, you know what? I, I have an in for this. So that's what I hope we can do. Gabriel, I appreciate you taking time today to speak with me. It is amazing to hear your story, your travels, the, the troubles you're dealing with and, and I'm sorry that you're having to deal with this. I'm sorry that. the tax structure couldn't do right by you. I know things are gonna get resolved. You keep pushing. You're doing fantastic. you're a great voice for this. I really appreciate you taking time today to speak with me. if you need anything else, if you need to come back on for anything, I have nothing but time for you.

Gabriel 30:49

Yeah, I'll definitely be on again with you I'm not really afraid of information being out there about mam. I'm, I'm, I'm just a normal guy. At the end of the day. I'm not, there's nothing particularly, I mean, I'm not anything special. I mean, I may have complex special legal issues, but Oh, while I'm just average one of the male guy with, I mean, I do sup, I might have autism. I'm gonna be tested for that eventually, but I mean, oh, all, I'm not any different from 99% of other people

Eric 31:17

I'm gonna have to with you. Move outta Tennessee, follow their love, go to Canada and then deal with these troubles the way you have been. I think it's very unique. Most people, myself included, would've fallen short of all that, and you pursuing this and pushing it the way that you have been, that shows me that you're a very special, unique person on your own. So don't sell yourself short. I think you're gonna do incredible with this. I think you're gonna come out on top, and I look forward to reading about that.

Gabriel 31:44

Yeah. Well that's good to hear. I mean, you're kind of unique too. I would never be able to edit podcasts or do any of this nonsense

Eric 31:51

I

Gabriel 31:51

beyond my, beyond me.

Eric 31:53

I don't know that I'm editing'em well, so don't hype me up just yet. But I'm hoping we can keep enough traction to this and keep enough, voice that you get what you need from this and I really do hope we push you to where you need to go.

Gabriel 32:07

I hope so too.

Eric 32:08

Thank you so much. I look forward to

Gabriel 32:10

You are welcome.

32:14

Thank you guys so much for listening. I had an incredible time talking with Gabriel about all of this, and I really hope that people listening to this, if there's anybody dealing with this situation similar to his, I know he's in a unique position, being an expat, but everybody deals with tax problems from time to time. I urge you. To go out there, try and find some help with those situations. If you ever feel lost or confused when dealing with government structures because we can all feel the same way, that maybe they aren't looking out for your best interest all of the time. But at the end of the day, you have people like Gabriel who are fighting not just for his rights, but for yours as well. And if you have any information, you could possibly help him in any way. Please feel free to reach out, to me at the Here for You podcast here for you. HEAR, the number four YOU. At gmail.com. If you have any information, I would love to send it off his way. I'm sure he'd love to talk to you directly as well. So anything is helpful If you feel like being a guest on the podcast, please reach out at the same email. I would love to talk to any of you and every one of you to get your story and just understand you a little bit better. Thank you all so much for listening, and I look forward to talking to you soon.