The IRS can place a Wage Garnishment on your wage when you have liabilities. The IRS can force your employer to hold back your weekly wage to pay off your debt. Having your wage garnished can be a difficult and embarrassing experience.

Our professionals understands how stressful and disturbing a Wage Garnishment can be to you and your family. Immediately after your call or meeting with one of our tax experts, we will begin negotiations with the IRS to release the Wage Garnishment. Often we can secure a release with our first contact. If not, we will determine what the IRS requires to stop the Wage Garnishment and work quickly to get your paycheck back into your hands.

 A levy is a legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt. Levies are different from liens. A lien is a claim used as security for the tax debt, while a levy actually takes the property to satisfy the tax debt. If you do not pay your taxes (or make arrangements to settle your debt), the IRS or State agency may seize and sell any type of real or personal property that you own or have an interest in.

For instance:

The IRS could seize and sell property that you hold (such as your car, boat, or house) OR

The IRS could levy property that is yours but is held by someone else (such as your wages, retirement accounts, dividends, bank accounts, licenses, rental income, accounts receivables, the cash loan value of your life insurance, or commissions).

The IRS usually levies only after these three requirements are met:

The IRS assessed the tax and sent you a Notice and Demand for Payment

You neglected or refused to pay the tax

The IRS sent you a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to A Hearing (levy notice) at least 30 days before the levy.

The IRS may give you this notice in person, leave it at your home or your usual place of business, or send it to your last known address by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested.

NOTE

If the IRS levies your state tax refund, you may receive a Notice of Levy on Your State Tax Refund, Notice of Your Right to Hearing after the levy.

If the IRS levies your wages, salary, or federal payments, the levy will end when:

The levy is released

You pay your tax debt

The time expires for legally collecting the tax

If the IRS levies your bank account, your bank must hold funds you have on deposit, up to the amount you owe, for 21 days. This holding period allows time to resolve any issues about account ownership.

After 21 days, the bank must send the money plus interest, if it applies, to the IRS.

If you are facing a Bank Levy, you should contact us immediately.

We will research the details of your particular situation and advise you on the best actions and likely results. We will represent you and negotiate with the IRS to free your resources as quickly as possible.

Federal Tax Liens give the IRS a legal claim to your property as security or payment for your tax debt. A Notice of Federal Tax Lien may be filed only after the IRS assesses the liability.

You will be sent a Notice and Demand for Payment – a bill that tells you how much you owe in taxes; and you neglect or refuse to fully pay the debt within 10 days after the IRS notifies you about the lien. Once these requirements are met, a lien is created for the amount of your tax debt. By filing notice of this lien, your creditors are publicly notified that the IRS has a claim against all your property, including property you acquire after the lien is filed. This notice is used by courts to establish priority in certain situations, such as bankruptcy proceedings or sales of real estate.

The lien attaches to all your property (such as your house or car) and to all your rights to property (such as your accounts receivable, if you are a business).

Caution!

Once a lien is filed, your credit rating may be harmed. You may not be able to get a loan to buy a house or a car, get a new credit card, or sign a lease. Therefore it is important that you work to resolve your tax liability as quickly as possible, before lien filing becomes necessary.

It is critical to contact us before the lien is attached to your property. You do have appeal rights when a lien is filed. These must be exercised within 30 days of the notice filing date. If the lien has already been attached to your property, we can contact the IRS and begin the process of releasing the lien.

 An Offer in Compromise (OIC) is an agreement between a taxpayer and the Internal Revenue Service that resolves the taxpayer's tax liability. The IRS has the authority to settle, or compromise, federal tax liabilities by accepting less than full payment under certain circumstances. A variety of IRS formulas exist to determine whether a taxpayer qualifies for relief. It is critical to employ an experienced consultant to structure the request. Otherwise, the taxpayer might end up paying more than needed, or have their request completely denied.

The Accounting Firm of Albert Haft, P.A. is highly experienced at using the Offer in Compromise process, which is an excellent vehicle to resolve federal tax liabilities.

The first step in this process is to file all delinquent tax returns. This step must be completed before the IRS will even begin to consider the eligibility of the client for an Offer In Compromise agreement. Our office will prepare all returns for you.

The IRS may legally compromise for one of the following reasons: doubt as to liability, when doubt exists that the assessed tax is correct; doubt as to the collectability, when doubt exists that the taxpayer could ever pay the full amount of tax owed; or effective tax administration. Under effective tax administration, there is no doubt that the assessed tax is correct and no doubt that the amount owed could be collected, but the taxpayer has an economic hardship or other special circumstances which may allow the IRS to accept less than the total balance due.

By scheduling a meeting with us, we can determine your eligibility for an Offer In Compromise and prepare the request for the IRS.

Your IRS debt can grow quickly as interest and penalties are added to the amount owed. However it is possible to challenge these amounts and in many cases reduce or eliminate them.

Penalty Abatement is based on your claim that circumstances beyond your control led to your IRS debt. If you can prove that you had reasonable cause not to make your payments and showed due diligence and no neglect in attempting to repay your debt, then you may be able to reduce your penalties.

Some of the possible reasons for not paying your tax debt are:

Serious Illness, Death, or Unavoidable Absence

Unable to Obtain Records

Incorrect Advice from a competent tax professional

Incorrect advice directly from the IRS, written or oral

Fire, Casualty, Natural Disaster, Other Disturbance

Our experts will meet with you to discuss the details of your situation. We will help you gather the necessary receipts, documents and forms to assemble a Penalty Abatement Request. If penalties and interest were paid incorrectly, you might qualify for a tax refund.

The mere thought of an IRS tax audit causes fear and anxiety in the minds of most American taxpayers. The process appears intimidating and you are thinking:

What records should you bring?

What are they looking for?

What did you do wrong?

What penalties are involved?

Our tax professionals have been representing clients during IRS audits for many years. You do not have to fear a tax audit when you are well prepared. But it is to your advantage to meet with us to discuss your records and circumstances

During our first meeting, we can examine the details of your situation and determine the best methods to research and present the facts to the IRS. We may need additional information, which we will help you gather. We will consider all aspects of your personal and professional finances, and how they may affect the tax audit.

Taxpayers should file all tax returns that are due, regardless of whether or not full payment can be made with the return. Depending on an individual’s circumstances, a taxpayer filing late may qualify for a payment plan. All payment plans require continued compliance with all filing and payment responsibilities after the plan is approved.

Facts about Filing Tax Returns

Failure to file a return or filing late can be costly. If taxes are owed, a delay in filing may result in penalty and interest charges that could increase your tax bill by 25 percent or more.

There is no penalty for failure to file a tax return if a refund is due. But by waiting too long to file, you can lose your refund. In order to receive a refund, the return must be filed within three years of the due date. If you file a return, and later realize you made an error on the return, the deadline for claiming any refund due is three years after the return was filed, or two years after the tax was paid, whichever expires later.

Taxpayers who are entitled to the Earned Income Tax Credit must file a return to claim the credit even if they are not otherwise required to file. The return must be filed within three years of the due date in order to receive the credit.

If you are self-employed, you must file returns reporting self-employment income within three years of the due date in order to receive Social Security credits toward your retirement.

NOTE:

Taxpayers who continue to not file a required return and fail to respond to IRS requests for a return may be considered for a variety of enforcement actions. Continued non-compliance by flagrant or repeat non-filers could result in additional penalties and/or criminal prosecution.

We will gather the necessary information from you to complete all of your late tax returns (personal, corporate, payroll and sales tax). Once the total tax liability is known, we will work with you to decide on the best course of action. Please contact us to arrange a meeting.