Most people don’t know that the IRS is broken into two, almost separate halves: the Assessment Division and the Collections Division. So what? Who cares about the IRS’s Org Chart? You should care. Because that division has a lot of implications for taxpayers. Read more>>
The IRS’s enforcement priorities often appear – well – insane. Consider the cases of two current clients: one client owes the IRS $900,000, and the IRS thinks the other client owes $6,000 from a IRA distribution he took the year of the Woolsey Fire. We’re disputing the $6,000: Congress relaxed the rules for people in the disaster zone. Who’s the IRS going after? My client who had to evacuate from his house with the $9,000 tax bill. Huh? Seriously? Read more>>
For anyone who owes back taxes to the IRS, obtaining Uncollectible Status is like reaching a Promised Land for Tax Debtors. It means the IRS has decided to temporarily halt any collection actions against the “uncollectible” tax payer because it’s just not worth it. Read more>>
A newly divorced woman comes to me in shock: in the divorce settlement, her husband accepted all responsibility for the $400,000 in taxes they owed, but the IRS is now threatening to levy on her meager bank accounts. What’s up? Read more>>
Readers of my blog know I frequently berate Congress for having cut the IRS’ budget while dramatically increasing its workload in the past decade. But here’s the politically conservative Wall Street Journal, letting us know how the IRS’s woes are encouraging tax evasion. Read more »
The IRS’s 2021 responsiveness has been rightfully panned . Due to budget constraints, Covid work restrictions for IRS employees, and a huge work increase from administering much of the Economic Recovery Read more »
Business owners with payroll tax debt often ask me why the IRS won’t lift its levy or lien. After all, these clients argue, I just need a bit of free cash to invest back into my business, to make the money to pay what I owe. If the IRS cripples my business with liens or levies, then I can’t make the money to repay them. So, why doesn’t the IRS act more like my business partner, let me continue to operate, and make the money to pay them back Read more »
Since the fall, I have seen a big uptick in desperate people calling me for tax or bankruptcy help. What kind of desperation? These people have been either on the IRS’s radar, or been having debt problems, for many years and then the crisis hits: the IRS puts a lien on a house, or a creditor gets a default judgment and the sheriff Read more »
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. This program does not inspire confidence: here Read more »
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 Read more »
