Tax Law Attorney Serving
Johnson County, Kansas, & Jackson County, Missouri

Potential IRS Solutions for Your IRS Problems

Some problems are just too big to handle on your own. Let the tax experts at Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC help you solve your tax problems — and help you get your life back! Our tax attorney has fifteen (15) years of experience dealing specifically with IRS tax problems and more than twenty (20) years experience dealing with general tax matters and legal issues. Because each tax problem is different, the solution to each problem is unique. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we can develop a solution that is customized to your particular situation — a solution that addresses your specific needs and concerns. We do not attempt to apply a one-size-fits-all solution to every problem. For your convenience, we have provided a summary of some of the more common solutions to taxpayer problems.

Offers in Compromise

The Offer in Compromise program is the only IRS – approved way of reducing your total tax debt. It is a great way to resolve outstanding tax liabilities, if you meet the qualifications. Unfortunately, the IRS continues to increase the requirements so that fewer people qualify for this program. Successfully obtaining an Offer in Compromise requires submission to the IRS of a substantial amount of financial information. The entire process may take as long as 12 months (or longer). After you submit your financial information, the IRS will determine how much of your tax debt you can pay. The key to a successful Offer in Compromise is to fully analyze your financial situation and to properly submit your financial information to the IRS. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we can help you qualify for the relief you need. Our tax lawyer have been helping taxpayers successfully obtain relief under the Offer in Compromise program for fifteen years.

Installment Agreements

A standard installment plan does not reduce your overall tax debt; instead, it allows you to pay your existing tax debt over a period of time. The benefit of an installment plan is that as long as you are making your monthly payments on time (and you are meeting all of your other tax obligations), the IRS cannot take aggressive collection action against you (e.g., no wage garnishments, no bank levies, etc.). If you owe more than a certain amount, the IRS will require that you submit financial information to them so that the IRS can determine how much you can afford to pay on a monthly basis. Again, the key to obtaining a reasonable monthly payment is proper analysis of your financial situation and the appropriate submission of your financial information to the IRS. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we can help you qualify for the lowest monthly payment allowed by law. Our lawyer has been helping taxpayers successfully obtain installment agreements for fifteen years.

Penalty Abatements

If you do not file your taxes on time or pay your taxes on time, the IRS can (and usually does) assess a penalty against you. These penalties can add more than 25% to the amount of tax owed. Under some circumstances, these penalties can be forgiven if you have a good reason for not filing or paying your taxes. As an added bonus, if the penalty is canceled, the interest related to the penalty is also canceled. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we can help you determine if you qualify for penalty abatement.

Bankruptcy

Some (but not all) taxes are dischargeable in Bankruptcy. Bankruptcy may be an option for those taxpayers who meet the qualifications. These qualifications are complex and confusing to many people. Before pursuing this option, you should consult with a qualified bankruptcy/tax advisor who can properly advise you on both the tax aspects and the non-tax aspects of this option. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we have helped numerous people discharged taxes through bankruptcy. While not the solution for everyone, it is a wonderful solution for those who qualify. Call us today to see if you might be able to qualify for bankruptcy relief!

Audits

An IRS Audit or Exam is when the IRS attempts to verify your income and deductions taken on your tax return. IRS audits can be extremely time – consuming, at best, and horribly stressful and intimidating, at worst. The best way to reduce the time, intimidation and stress of an audit is to hire someone who is experienced at dealing with the IRS. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we can not only help you survive your audit, but perhaps even thrive after the audit is complete. We believe that if you are or are about to be audited by the IRS, you should be represented by someone who is skilled and experienced in audits…not necessarily the person who prepared your return. Most tax preparers are very good at what they do – preparing tax returns. But most of them are not experienced in dealing with the Examination Division of the IRS. The best chance to protect your interests and to minimize future problems is to have skilled representation right from the beginning of your audit. Most of our audit clients never meet with the IRS. We understand the tax law and we know how to use it to your advantage. If you have already been audited and disagree with the auditor, you may have appeal rights. If you have new information or new facts to support your position, you may be entitled to a second audit – an Audit Reconsideration. If you have received an audit notice, you should contact us immediately. If you are involved in any way in an audit, call us. We can help you determine your best course of action. Would you go into surgery without a doctor? Why do battle with the IRS without a qualified tax lawyer on your side? The IRS has thousands of attorney on its side – working to make sure the IRS collects as much money as possible. You need an experienced tax attorney working for you.

Tax Liens

The IRS issues tax liens to protect the government’s interest when you have unpaid taxes. These tax liens are a matter of public record and are filed with the county clerk in which you live (or your business operates). These tax liens can destroy your credit and make it difficult or nearly impossible to borrow the funds to pay off your tax debt. Unfortunately, once a valid tax lien was issued, it is difficult to remove until all the taxes are paid. Levies and liens are usually the IRS´ last resort in collection. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we can help you remedy this threatening course of action. If you have received an IRS Notice of Intent to Levy or Lien contact us today to see how we can help you.

Tax Levies

After the IRS has issued all of its required notices and taxes are still unpaid, the IRS may begin to take your assets. This is known as a tax levy. Tax levies can take many forms, such as wage garnishments, levy on bank accounts, and even seizure of physical assets. If you have received an IRS Notice of Intent to Levy, you should take immediate action to protect your assets. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we can take action to protect your assets from IRS levy. BUT you must act quickly. The tax law only gives a short window after you receive such a notice in which you can assert your rights under the law. And even if you have missed this short window, you can still take action to stop aggressive IRS collection action. Contact us today to see how we can help you determine the best way to stop the IRS aggressive collection tactics and get your life back. Remember: Stopping IRS levies before they occur is much easier than removing them after they occur — and much less expensive too.

Wage Garnishments

A Wage Garnishment is a specific type of levy. Your employer is required to pay the IRS all wages owed to you (you are allowed to keep a small exemption amount – and it is small). Your employer must continue to pay your wages to the IRS until the Garnishment is canceled by the IRS or the total amount of taxes, penalty and interest has been paid. Garnishment can be embarrassing, at best, and devastating to your finances, at worst. If you are subject to a wage garnishment, what you waiting for? Call us today so that we can help you put a stop to these aggressive IRS collection actions. Experienced, professional, and local tax help is just a phone call away.

Levy on a Bank Account

A Levy on a bank account is a specific type of levy. Along with wage garnishments, a levy on a bank account is usually one of the first aggressive collection actions that the IRS takes. A levy on a bank account can be inconvenient, at best, and devastating to your finances, at worst, by causing bounced checks and other disruptions to your cash flow. If the IRS has levied against your bank account, call us today so that we can help you put a stop to these aggressive IRS collection actions. Experienced, effective, and local tax help is just a phone call away.

Payroll Taxes

When a business pays wages to its employees, the business is required to deduct social security, medicare and federal income tax from the employees’ paychecks. These deductions from the employees paychecks are referred to as the “trust fund taxes” and should be paid to the IRS in a timely fashion. In addition to the trust fund taxes, businesses must also make a matching contribution on behalf of their employees for Social Security and Medicare taxes. The trust fund taxes and matching contributions are commonly referred to as payroll taxes. When these payroll taxes are not paid into the IRS in a timely fashion, the IRS usually acts quickly and aggressively to collect these amounts. The penalties for late payment of these amounts are very severe. Many business owners who have formed a corporation or an LLC believe that they are protected from the nonpayment of payroll taxes because they have “limited liability”. Unfortunately for many business owners, this is simply not true when it comes to the trust fund taxes. Federal law gives the IRS the ability to transfer the liability to those who are responsible individuals of the business. The individual owners of the business are then subject to collection activities. If you own a business and you are getting behind on your payroll taxes, call us immediately so that we can help you devise a plan to minimize your personal tax liability.

Unfiled Tax Returns

If you owe taxes, the law requires that you file a tax return. For various reasons, some taxpayers do not file their tax returns by the due date. Many people believe that if you cannot afford to pay your taxes, you should not file tax returns. This is not true. Filing accurate tax returns is usually the first step in solving your tax problems. Whatever your reasons for not filing your tax returns, we can assist you with filing all the required returns and create a solution to your tax problems. If you do not voluntarily file a return, the IRS may file a return for you. The worst thing about the IRS completing your tax return for you is that your tax will be computed in favor of the IRS. Even if this has happened to you, you may still file a voluntary return to take advantage of all deductions and credits to which you are entitled.

Appellate Division Review

Like any large government agency, the IRS has several levels of bureaucracy. In some cases, when dealing with the first level of IRS Agent, the taxpayer may not get a favorable result. When this happens, many times, we are able to successfully appeal to the Appellate Division of the IRS and obtain a much more favorable result for the taxpayer. Using our experience, knowledge and skill, the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, has successfully appealed numerous decisions to the IRS Appellate Division.

Innocent Spouse Relief

For married couples, income taxes are generally lower if a joint return (rather than married filing separately return) is filed. One disadvantage of filing a joint return is that both the husband and wife owe the entire income tax balance on the return (although the IRS can collect no more than the total amount owed). Sometimes the husband or the wife does not report an item of income and the IRS makes an additional tax assessment. In this situation the innocent spouse and the guilty spouse both owe the additional tax and the IRS can collect from either spouse. We may be able to persuade the IRS to release the non-guilty spouse from liability for the additional tax. There are many factors that the IRS will consider including how much did the non-guilty spouse know about the improper item or the existence of physical or mental abuse of the non – guilty spouse. In a situation when a joint return is filed but the tax owed on the return is not paid, both parties are liable for the full amount of the tax even if one spouse had very little or no income. If the parties later separate or divorce and the tax is unpaid, we may be able to divide the joint liability proportionately so that the spouse with little or no income is only liable for a small portion or none of the tax.

Collection Statute Expiration

As a general rule the IRS can collect taxes, penalties and interest during a ten year period which starts with the assessment of the tax (usually the filing of the return). This ten year period can be extended under several circumstances including the filing of an Offer in Compromise or Bankruptcy. We may be able to force cancellation of tax, interest and penalty if this collection period has expired. We may also be able to obtain a release of any lien that has been filed for the expired collections period. If your tax debt is really old, call us today to see if this solution might be appropriate for you.

Identity Theft and Tax Issues

Identity Theft is becoming a more widespread problem.  While all taxpayers are at risk for identity theft, delinquent taxpayers may be even more at risk for identity theft for several reasons.  First, delinquent taxpayers may be more susceptible to phishing scams and bogus e-files website in an attempt to quickly address their delinquent tax status.  Second, when tax liens are filed against a delinquent taxpayer, such tax liens are public information and contain a reasonable amount of personal identifiable information such as address, tax years that are delinquent and the last four digits of your social security number (the IRS used to include the entire social security number but no longer does).

Please take the following steps to avoid being a victim of tax related identity theft:

1. Never respond to an e-mail claiming to be from the IRS. It is the experience of the Tax Solutions Law Firm (and the stated policy of the IRS) that the IRS never contacts taxpayers by e-mail.

2. Always use the genuine IRS website: IRS.gov.  Beware of phony websites that try to look like the IRS website. Such websites may look very similar to the IRS website and have URLs such as www.IRS.com or www.IRStaxes.com.  It is our recommendation that you always go to the genuine web IRS website by entering the website directly into your browser and not clicking on links to the website.  However, if you do click on a link, verify the link starts with www.IRS.gov.

3. If you believe you have been a victim of identity theft or maybe a victim of identity theft, call the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit Hotline at 1-800-908-4490. Specially trained IRS personnel are available to assist you with your identity theft related tax problems.

Bottomline: The IRS does not make first contact with taxpayers by e-mail. Period. No exceptions.  If you are contacted by e-mail about your tax problems, it is a scam in almost all circumstances.   Usually, a letter is the first contact you will receive from the IRS about unpaid taxes (or an in-person visit from an IRS agent).  Use only the genuine IRS website: www.irs.gov.  Never give out your Social Security number (or other financial information) in an unsolicited e-mail or phone call.

Other Tax Related Matters

We can also assist you with many other tax related issues. Do you owe state taxes as well? We can help. Are you looking to refinance your mortgage? Perhaps a lien subordination is the answer. Call us today to discuss your tax problem. Whatever your tax problem might be – there is a solution. Successfully dealing with the IRS requires knowledge of the tax system and, more importantly, an understanding of the IRS. At the Tax Solutions Law Firm, LLC, we possess the experience, knowledge and skill to obtain the best possible results for you in dealing with your tax problems.

Call us TODAY to see how we can help you. We are a local tax law firm that CAN help you solve your tax problems so YOU can get your life back. Call Today!