Financial News, Tips & More!
Can IRS Penalties Be Abated Because of Addiction?
When a taxpayer files a tax return late or has an unpaid liability, the IRS will assess substantial penalties along with interest on the penalties. If there is “reasonable cause”, penalties and related interest clearly can be abated or removed for physical disability. However,...
Owe back taxes to the IRS? Say GOODBYE to your Passport!
Passed in Congress and signed into law on December 4, 2015 was the Fixing America’s Surface Transportion Act. The language in this law prevents you from traveling outside of the USA if you owe money to the Internal Revenue Service in excess of 50 thousand dollars. The law is a...
IRS House Seizure and Sale: It’s More likely than you think
Losing your house to the IRS may be your worst fear. The law does allow the IRS to seize and sell a home to pay a back tax debt. It is a difficult process for IRS, but IRS Revenue Officers are increasingly threatening to do just this. More often than not, the threat by an IRS...
When the IRS levies your Social Security
The IRS regrettably may levy social security benefits under two provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, IRC 6331(h) or 6331(a). IRC 6331(h) is an automated levy that is limited to 15% of the social security payments. Section 6331(a) is a less frequently used manual levy by IRS...
IRS Levy Again? An Appeal Doesn’t Stop Them In CA!
Have you ever actually tried to call the IRS to discuss your tax problem? You’ll literally wait for hours before you get through to a human being. To add insult to injury, when you finally do get through to someone, you’re often told their computers are down and you’ll need to...
The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998
In 1997, Congress held extensive hearings about IRS abuse. During those hearings, there was testimony about taxpayers literally committing suicide because of the harassment they say they were receiving from IRS collection agents. In response to public outrage, Congress enacted...
Tax Debts to the State of California
The state of California has three tax agencies that collect taxes: The Franchise Tax Board, the Employment Development Department, and Board of Equalization. The Franchise Tax Board collects income taxes; the Employment Development Department collects payroll taxes, and the...
The Administrative Summons
A person represented by counsel may be required to attend an interview if summoned to do so. An Administrative Summons is issued under authority of IRC section 7602. Thus, even a taxpayer who is represented by a Power of Attorney, may nevertheless, be summoned to appear to give...
The IRS and Your Right to Representation
The Internal Revenue Code makes it clear that any time you are dealing with the IRS, you have the right to representation in connection with contact with any employee or officer of the IRS. IRC 7521(b)( 2)provides as follows: “If the taxpayer clearly states to an officer or...
IRAs and Tax Debt
Lately, the IRS has shown an increased willingness to seize IRAs and retirement accounts to pay delinquent tax debts. These deplorable levies are genuinely frightening to a retiree who cannot survive on Social Security alone. IRS management moves slowly in it’s approval of such...