It’s possible to discharge (have tax debt wiped out) most federal taxes in bankruptcy. There are exceptions, however. Many of the times when taxes aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy are very straightforward, but one is open to interpretation and thus quite murky. Read more »
September 13, 2021
The IRS and the FTB don’t negotiate tax debt. Neither agency will write off a dime of tax debt because the taxpayer asks it to. Their missions are to collect taxes owed equally from taxpayer, and to inflict financial pain to do so because there can’t be favoritism in collecting taxes owed. Read more »
August 17, 2021
Is it true that there is no law requiring payment of income tax? After all, many tax protesters assert this. And, in my 10 years as an attorney for the IRS, I came across several particularly colorful protesters, including one who attempted to evade taxes by claiming he was a ship. Seriously. Read more »
August 11, 2021
A client spoke IRS with an IRS revenue officer about his payroll tax issue (before he found me). The revenue officer said not to worry about it, that my client’s matter wasn’t a high priority, and that they thus had time to work things out. But two weeks later the IRS levied on his payroll account, despite what the revenue officer said. Read more »
July 29, 2021
I enthusiastically applaud President Biden’s proposal to increase the IRS’s budget by $1.2 billion, or more than 10 percent over this year’s budget. In fact, call me a huge cheerleader for this proposal. Read more »
June 24, 2021
Congress granted the IRS the power to revoke passports in December 2015. Under this law, if you owe more than $51,000 to the IRS, then you could lose your passport. Read more »
June 9, 2021
A business-owner client recently claimed an R&D tax credit available to him. The IRS denied his use of the credit, he hired me, we went to Tax Court and ultimately won most of the issues. My client wound up owing something, just much less than what the IRS originally asserted. That made my client happy. Read more »
May 26, 2021
It’s late April. More than 13 months into the pandemic. Almost 40% of Americans have received at least one Covid vaccine. So, you’d think IRS processing times – which slowed to a virtual crawl when the pandemic hit – would be starting to improve, right? Guess again. Read more >>
April 26, 2021
Katie Clunen is a terrific family law attorney in Westlake Village. Tax issues often arise when couples divorce, so Katie and I often need to speak. Read more >>
March 5, 2021
Katie Clunen is a sharp family law attorney in Westlake Village, CA. She recently asked me whether a couple with tax issues going through a divorce need separate attorneys to deal with the tax problem, or whether they can jointly hire a tax attorney. Watch this short Vlog for the answer. Read more >>
February 12, 2021
