As published in the Winter Park/Maitland Observer, Thursday Jan. 3, 2012 Edition Offers... Read More »
IRS Offers Feeble Tax Relief in Hopes you Won’t Hire a Tax Professional
IRS collection officials do not want you to hire a tax professional. Why? Because when you represent yourself the IRS has a decided advantage. First, it is easier for them to intimidate and frighten you because they know you don’t know the law. Second, it makes it infinitely more likely that their procedural mistakes, their over-assessments and their violations of your…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Announcements, Back Taxes, Taxpayer RightsIRS is Trying to Trick Delinquent Taxpayers into Not Hiring a Tax Professional
WARNING: The IRS has a vested interest in you not hiring a tax professional. That’s because when you are unrepresented it is easier for them to intimidate you and more likely that their procedural mistakes, over-assessments and violations of your rights will be undetected and unchallenged. I am a tax lawyer and a CPA. Based on my 25 years…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Back Taxes, IRS Procedure, Taxpayer RightsIRS to Seize Homes and Retirement Counts for Back Taxes
Again, from Paul Caron: IRS to Wage ‘Full Court Press’ Against Homes, Retirement Accounts for Back Taxes Washington Examiner, Obama’s IRS to Initiate Full Court Press, Warn Tax Law Experts: As 2012 approaches, tax attorneys are sounding the alarm: The IRS will squeeze every cent it can and “it will be nastier than ever.” The…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Installment Agreements, IRS Liens and Levies, IRS Procedure, Tax CollectionsIRS: No More Mister Nice Guy
The tax gap – the difference between what taxpayers’ should pay to the IRS every year and what they actually pay – is estimated to be about $300 billion a year. Karen Hube writing for the Washington Post confirms what we have reported here: The IRS is stepping up its enforcement activities (emphasis is mine):…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Audits, Tax CollectionsSenate Holds Hearing on Tax Complexity and Closing the Tax Gap
The Senate Committee on Finance is holding a hearing today in the Dirksen Building on Complexity and the Tax Gap: Making Tax Compliance Easier and Collecting What’s Due. I am watching it live now and will report on it later. I know, I know. You’re envious of my life.
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Legislative Watch, Tax CollectionsIRS Financial Statements: How to Complete Them
If you can’t pay your tax debt in full, you will have to completely disclose your financial circumstances to the IRS. There is no way to avoid this disclosure requirement other than making full payment. A taxpayer’s financial information is provided on one or more of the following prescribed IRS forms: IRS Form Number Description…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Back Taxes, Blog Posts, IRS Settlements, Tax DebtsWhen You Can’t Pay Your Tax Debt
In these bad economic times few of us have any extra cash laying around after we pay our monthly living expenses. The IRS doesn’t care about that, right? Wrong. If you can’t pay your debt and can prove it, the IRS will stop (at least temporarily) attempting to collect the debt from you. Non-Collectible Status…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Tax DebtsIRS to Intensify Collection of Unpaid Payroll Taxes
According to WebCPA the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) says that a larger percentage of IRS collection agents are not following the proper procedure in payroll tax cases: The collection of taxes through employment tax returns is a significant source of revenue for the federal government. As of Sept. 30, 2009, the total IRS…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Payroll Taxes, Tax CollectionsIRS to Step Up Enforcement to Close Tax Gap
Ezra Klein of Newsweek writes that the IRS should expend it’s new resources¹ on going after tax cheats: A report released by Citizens for Tax Justice shows that between 1995 and 2005, the IRS’s budget was slashed by a fifth. Between 1995 and 2003, its enforcement division lost 36 percent of its staff. They were…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Audits, IRS Liens and Levies, IRS Procedure, Tax Collections, Tax CrimesIRS Employees Threatened with Death if they Enforce Healthcare Provisions
“You can’t always get what you want.” - The Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger might have been thinking about democracy when he wrote that line. I don’t like the new healthcare bill. I think it’s too expensive and I think it’s bad for the economy. Still, I accept it as the law of the land because it was passed by a majority…
Read Full Article Categorized in: healthcare reformIRS Installment Payment Plan Program Flawed
It will surprise no one who regularly represents taxpayers that there are significant problems in the way the IRS processes collection cases. Now, courtesy of WebCPA, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), in a comprehensive study, has corroborated what most tax professionals already know (emphasis added): [W]hen delinquent taxpayers respond to balance-due notices from the IRS,…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Tax CollectionsIRS Uses Twitter, Facebook and Google Street Map to Catch Tax Cheats
Back in 2008 I wrote about a group of Oklahoma college students who had bragged on MySpace about how much money they were making in their party business. Unfortunately for them, a state tax investigator was one of their “friends”: Five current and former University of Central Oklahoma students bragged on MySpace that their party business had served thousands. Actually,…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Audits, IRS Procedure, News, Tax CollectionsThe 4 Cent Tax Bill: Urban Myth or Reality?
In a story that’s been getting a lot of attention in the taxosphere, Bob Shallit of the Sacramento Bee tells about a car wash business that was visited by two IRS agents demanding payment of 4 cents of delinquent taxes: It was every business person’s nightmare. Arriving at Harv’s Metro Car Wash in midtown Wednesday…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Procedure, Tax CollectionsThe New IRS Notices are Here! The New IRS Notices are Here!
You know you’re a tax nerd if you get exited when the IRS issues new streamlined notices. It reminds me of Navin Johnson in the comedy classic The Jerk: Navin R. Johnson: The new phone book’s here! The new phone book’s here! Harry Hartounian: Boy, I wish I could get that excited about nothing. Navin R.…
Read Full Article Categorized in: Announcements, IRS ProcedureIRS Lien Procedure
The IRS will place a lien on your property to secure payment of your tax debt. A Notice of Federal Tax Lien may be legally issued by the IRS only after the following 3 requirements are met: The IRS makes an assessment against the taxpayer; The IRS sends the taxpayer a written Notice and Demand for Payment; and The…
Read Full Article Categorized in: IRS Liens and Levies