IRS Leins
Federal Tax Liens can really make your life miserable! When your taxes are not paid the IRS establishes a lien against all of 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 would seize your accounts receivables. At this point everything you own is just one short step away from becoming the property of the United States Government.
Liens filed against you by the IRS also show up on your credit report and often prevent 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 can’t 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.
IRS 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 are used to seize your wages and whatever other assets you have. If you own it, they can take it. That includes checking accounts, automobiles, 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 this amount 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.
As bad as that is, a worse method is a wage levy (or garnishment). That’s when most of your pay check goes to the IRS, they don’t leave you enough to pay the bills, and most of your check goes to the IRS each and every week until the debt is paid.
If that doesn’t accomplish what they want, they’ll pull out all the stops. They’ll seize your assets, and sell them at auction. That includes everything you own; home, cars, boats, jewelry, motorcycles, insurance policies, retirement funds, anything of value.
We are often able to get those levies released and help you get out of this terrible situation. Our goal is to get you even with the IRS, with what you can afford, and let you start life anew.
IRS Wage Garnishment
You received a notice of “intent to Levy” 30 days ago and you forgot or ignored it. Now it’s Payday. Expecting a check, you open the envelope and find that the IRS has taken most of your money. What’s left is not enough to pay the rent, car payment, buy groceries, or pay the rest of the bills. This action will continue on every check due you, until the tax owed is paid in full.
Now you’re in big financial trouble. No matter how hard you plead with your employer they can not give you your money. Because once a wage garnishment is filed with your employer, your employer is required by law to collect a large percentage of each of your paychecks.
We are regularly retained to negotiate the release of IRS wage garnishments by arranging a payment plan. The payment plan negotiated by us is always more favorable than any IRS wage garnishment. It allows you to receive your whole paycheck without fears of future wage garnishments.
IRS 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 by the IRS 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 assets value, so they often seize everything you own including your home, cars, boats, jewelry, motorcycles, insurance policies, and even your retirement funds.
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? The program allows taxpayers to settle with the IRS on tax debt that has been incorrectly assessed or for 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 – including 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 “right.”
If done correctly your debt may be settled for only 5-15% of what you presently owe. The key is to determine the least amount that the IRS will accept from you before you make the offer.
IRS 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, penalties and interest will continue to be charged on your outstanding balance as you pay the debt off. You are required by law to pay the interest on your tax debt.
Bankruptcy
Your back taxes, interest and penalties can be wiped out by filing bankruptcy. If you qualify, bankruptcy can be the best solution to resolve your crushing tax problems.
Unfortunately, not everyone qualifies to wipe out their tax debt in bankruptcy. Certain rules have to be met first. If you file bankruptcy and don’t meet the rules, the IRS will still be in hot pursuit after your bankruptcy is over. Proper pre-bankruptcy planning is key to determining if bankruptcy is or can be a viable solution.
Innocent Spouse Relief
Did you know that you can get out of the tax debt due to the misdeeds or fraud committed by your spouse? 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.
Retrieve Your IRS File
Did you know that you can obtain a copy of your IRS file? Most people would be surprised to learn 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 without raising any red flags as well as how to interpret the information in your file.