my name is johnny, and i'm making this fundraiser in an attempt to get some relief from crushing debt. before i say anything else: THIS FUND IS STRICTLY TO PAY BACK IRS DEBT. I DO NOT INTEND TO USE THE FUNDS FROM THIS FOR OTHER BILLS. i am still poor, and may ask for help with poverty-related issues on social media bc despite working, i do not make enough to stay afloat. but anything deposited into my bank from THIS fundraiser will go immediately to the irs.

okay. first, i'll explain how i got here. if you followed my link from social media, you probably know at least part of this story. i'll repeat it here just so everyone's up to speed.

i am disabled, trans, and have been living in poverty since childhood, including multiple stints of homelessness. capitalism has not been kind to me, and i have struggled my entire life to pay my monthly bills, much less cover yearly taxes. when i last worked a "real" (corporate) job, it destroyed my physical health, making it impossible for me to hold any job that isn't work-from-home without an absolutely crippling increase in my chronic pain. so i work as a self-employed artist, which means my tax burden is massive.

my partner and i were barely able to keep up with it, but in 2024, everything fell apart when my youngest brother died in a traumatic and unexpected way. since then, i have faced a familial loss, medical emergency, or crushing life problem every, single month. within 2 years, i lost my brother, aunt, grandfather, 2 cousins, 2 high school best friends, my cat, and my dog; my partner was hospitalized on a ventilator in a medical coma for 4 days bc of mold in our rental home; and my car was totaled a week after i refinanced it.

i already struggle with cptsd from childhood and poverty, and for a long time i just fell to pieces. i was unable to work for nearly a year because of grief and trauma, and relied on the help and kindness of others to survive. my partner's disability - the same thing that put her in the hospital - has made it impossible for her to find steady employment. i have nearly 6k in credit card debt at this point. we were denied disability and snap. i have applied for assistance of every kind i could multiple times and am always denied.

so that's where we are now. despite all of this, the irs refused to put a pause on my then-manageable back tax bill, and long story cut short, we now owe them nearly 13k. we made every single payment they asked of us last year, and my bill has only gone up. i am in perpetual debt. they want 180 dollars from me a month for the next decade, minimum, and i am struggling to pay bills as it is. i missed a payment, and now they're threatening to levy (seize) my bank account. (NOTE: as you can see in the image above, i have attempted to call them as the notice told me to do. they literally don't have anyone available to speak to me and hang up.) if this happens, i and my partner will be homeless. we are both disabled. we cannot survive that.

before all of this, i was on track to apply for a mortgage with a decent shot at being approved for the first time in my life. now my credit is destroyed, and we barely have money for food each week. i can't fix this on my own; there's just no physical way for us to make enough money to do so, and i don't want to hand over 2k to the irs every year for a decade just to tread water. given how my chronic pain is worsening with time, i'm frankly terrified of what will happen if they don't get their money asap.

anything helps. i know times are hard for lots of folks, so do not feel pressured to give me anything if you're also in a tough spot. but i'd appreciate any sharing of my link or spreading the word. thanks to everyone in advance.

NOTE: i'm asking slightly more than what we owe because of gfm fees as well as interest i'm sure will accrue while we try to pay this down. the number may go up, but we're starting with 13k as the goal. we owe ~12.5k.