IRS PROBLEMS:
IRS Audit Representation
Nothing strikes fear in the hearts of people more than receiving an IRS Audit letter in the mail. Audits also take significant time away from your business and family, requiring you to gather records substantiating each and every item reported on your tax return, as well as forcing you to develop a comprehensive understanding of tax law.
The IRS leaves no stone unturned in its mission to determine the accuracy of your tax return. If you don’t comply with the Auditors’ wishes, the IRS will recalculate your taxes and send you home with a hefty tax bill as your parting gift.
Many taxpayers decide to handle a tax audit themselves, and discover they may have been “penny wise,” avoiding a representative’s fee, but “pound foolish,” because they received a substantial bill for a significant tax deficiency.
You see, IRS Auditors are trained to extract more information from you than you have a legal obligation to provide. IRS Auditors know that most people fear them and are also ignorant of their rights. As a result, they know they can use that fear and ignorance to their advantage.
Rarely do our clients even have to talk with the IRS. We handle it all for you so that you don’t need to take time off to handle the bureaucracy and paperwork of the IRS. You simply forward notification of an audit to us and we will handle it from A to Z.
Non-Filed Returns
Let us give you the peace of mind you deserve as we help you get in compliance with the law. If you voluntarily file your delinquent returns, you’ll likely avoid further problems rather than having to pay the interest and penalties.
If you wait for the IRS to file your returns for you, they will be filed in the best interest of the government, usually with little or none of the deductions you are entitled to.
Before we can extract you from this predicament, all the returns must be filed. You must be current. In most cases, you will likely owe taxes, interest, and penalties after you file the returns. Once we see how much you owe, we’ll set a course of action to get you off the hook!
Back Taxes Owed
Back Taxes owed refers to a situation in which you have filed your returns but didn’t have the money to pay what was owed. You may find yourself several years in arrears and suddenly there is a notice from the IRS, stating that you owe three or four times the original amount.
Payroll Tax Problems
The IRS views failing to pay payroll taxes as the cardinal sin of tax delinquency because a large portion of the payroll taxes are your employees’ withholdings. In the eyes of the IRS, not paying your company’s payroll taxes is tantamount to stealing your employees’ money.
As a result, penalties for failing to pay your payroll taxes and filing your payroll tax returns on time are much more severe than other types of penalties. They can drastically multiply the amount you owe in a very short period of time.
If you are behind on your payroll taxes, DO NOT meet with the IRS on your own. How you answer their initial questions can determine whether you stay in business or not. It is critical that you hire a professional representative who knows how the IRS operates.
Liens
When your taxes are unpaid, the IRS establishes a lien against all your assets (especially real estate). This gives the IRS the legal right to collect taxes from the sale of your assets, which includes just about everything you own.
The lien can be against you, your spouse, or your company. A lien against your company could mean the seizure of your accounts receivables. In this unfortunate scenario, everything you own is just one short step away from becoming the property of the United States Government.
When the IRS files a lien, it also shows up on your credit report and often prevents you from opening a checking account or borrowing against any assets, like your home. The banks don’t want the extra work when the IRS comes in to take your money.
With a Federal Tax lien on your record, you won’t be able to get a reasonable loan to purchase a car. Think about paying 18-22% interest on a car that is already too expensive. You definitely cannot buy or sell any Real Estate. The list is endless.
Levies
Levies can really do a lot of damage and even ruin your life. A levy is the IRS’s way of getting your immediate attention. What they are saying is, we have tried to communicate with you but you have ignored us. Levies can also be used to seize your wages and whatever other assets you have. If you own it, they can take it. That includes checking accounts, auto’s, stocks, bonds, boats, paychecks, and even Social Security checks!
Imagine waking up one morning and finding all your bank accounts have been cleaned out. They will take every dime. If the amount taken did not cover what is owed, they’ll keep taking your money until you cover your tax liability. They know that levying your bank account will cause checks to bounce, alerting many people that you have tax problems. But they don’t care! Their sole objective is to collect the taxes owed. Period.
A wage levy, or garnishment, is when the IRS goes after your paychecks, leaving you with little to no income until the debt is paid off.
Seizures
Unlike the levy which involves intangible assets such as your bank account, a seizure is the taking of physical assets, such as your home or car. Seizures usually happen in aggravated cases when someone ignores many requests over a long period of time to pay their outstanding taxes.
A Seizure should not be taken lightly. The IRS will ultimately pursue seizure of your physical assets. Don’t think they won’t. Many a newspaper or television show has reported citizens being forced out of their homes after it was sold at an IRS auction, often for as little as half its value.
When the IRS seizes your assets they want to quickly sell them at auction. They often get less than half your asset value, so they often seize everything you own including your home, cars, boats, jewelry, motorcycles, insurance policies, and even your retirement funds.
IRS SOLUTIONS:
Offer in Compromise
Did you know that you can settle your debt with the IRS for just pennies on the dollar with their Offer in Compromise program? This program allows taxpayers to settle with the IRS on tax debt that has been incorrectly assessed as well as liabilities they cannot afford to pay.
The IRS Code states: “We will accept an Offer in Compromise when it is unlikely that we can collect the full amount owed and the amount you offer reasonably reflects the collection potential…” (Internal Revenue Code section 7122).
Often it is possible to fully and completely eliminate the taxes you owe – as well as all penalties and interest – at an enormous discount. There is no preset bottom limit that the IRS will accept to settle your debt especially if your offer is done by a professional.
The IRS may settle your debt for as little as 5-15% of what you presently owe. The most important thing is to determine the lowest amount that the IRS will accept before you make the offer.
Payment Plan
If you don’t qualify for the IRS Offer In Compromise program, a Payment Plan may be the way to resolve your problem. Setting up a payment plan with the IRS gives you a little more time to pay off your tax debts.
Unfortunately, the IRS charges penalties and interest as you pay off the debt. You must pay the interest on your tax debt. Luckily, we may be able to get your tax penalties removed.
Innocent Spouse Relief
Did you know that you may have the option to avoid tax penalties if your spouse has committed misdeeds or fraud? Innocent Spouse Relief was designed to alleviate unjust situations where one spouse was clearly the victim of fraud perpetrated by their spouse or ex-spouse.
Obtaining a Copy of Your IRS File
Did you know that you can obtain a copy of your IRS file? Most people don’t know how much the IRS knows about them. Obtaining a copy of your IRS file is critical in analyzing the options available to resolve your tax problems. Requesting copies of your IRS file is best done by a professional who understands how to obtain them, interpret the information in your file, and analyze your options.
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