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 »
As readers of my Newsletter and Blog know, dealing with the IRS daily means I uncover unreasonable policies and bizarre agents at the IRS on a regular basis (and don’t Read more »
My website outlines the many ways in which the California tax agencies (Franchise Tax Board, CA Department of Tax & Fee Administration, Employment Development Division) are FAR harder to deal with, and aggressive Read more »
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. In this short Vlog, Read more »
When a taxpayer doesn’t pay income taxes, the IRS automatically gets a lien against the taxpayer’s property. That means that legally, the taxpayer can’t sell anything without using the proceeds to pay the IRS. The IRS almost never enforces this “silent lien,” however. It’s silent because no one else knows about it. Read more »
A tax lien is a relatively passive way for the IRS or California’s Franchise Tax Board to get paid the back taxes you owe. Why passive? Because it can take a long time for the IRS or FTB to get paid. Suppose there’s a lot of equity in your house and owe you the IRS: when the IRS files a notice of tax lien against your house, nothing changes immediately. Read more »
Clients often arrive in my office, panicking, with big problems such as unpaid student loans, huge tax or business debts, and creditors filing liens. They want their problems to go away immediately – rightly so because the stress is terrible. But, for many clients, the only effective strategy is one that will take time. Often lots of it. Read more »
Everything the IRS knows about you exists on a piece of paper called the Account Transcript. I get a client’s transcript when I begin representing them because I need to know what the IRS knows about Read more >>
