All tax matters are different. Each requires a careful, individualized solution, not a cookie-cutter response.
Your Morgan Easley Tax Attorney may be able to contest tax assessments, challenge collections actions, or negotiate a reasonable Installment Plan for amounts that you may owe. We prepare Offers in Compromise (OIC) to get some or all of your tax debt discharged (though you should be aware that there are very limited circumstances under which the IRS accepts OICs–do not pay money to any organization on the internet that claims it can file an OIC for you without fully understanding your position as the IRS rejects most OIC filings).
Tax assessments will sooner or later lead to collections actions. The IRS may contacting you by mail or send a Revenue Officer to your home or place of business. This is not the time to put your head in the sand. We can help, but Tax assessments and collections actions have very limited windows of appeal. If you refuse a piece of certified mail, fail to collect a certified letter after a notice has been left, or fail to respond to IRS correspondence, you can lose your right of appeal and may end up owing the money, plus penalties and interest, whether or not you owed it in the first place!
What should I do if I receive a certified letter from the IRS?
Don’t refuse it or fail to collect it. Once the IRS has started the collections process and attempted to deliver a notice to you at the last address it has on record for you, it can sweep bank accounts, seize assets, intercept your federal or state tax refund, and take a number of other actions. Your rights to stop these actions are extremely time sensitive.
What should I do if a Revenue Officer comes to my home or place of business? Should I speak to her?
Yes, politely… but see below.
What should I say?
“If you would be so kind as to leave your name, identification number, full contact information, and any documentation you have regarding your purpose for visiting me today, my attorney will contact you shortly.”
Anything else?
No. IRS agents are trained to get you talking, and you may say things you did not mean to say. Revenue Officers are debt collectors. They are not your friends. They are not your go-between with the government. You probably don’t know the tax laws. They do. You probably don’t know your rights. They do. Once you have said something, it cannot be unsaid. The Revenue Officer will quite likely try to get you to sign a piece of paper or commit to a date by which you will send certain documents. The paper may look hand written and informal. Don’t be fooled. Politely stick to your position and say, “I have nothing prepared to show you at this time, but my tax attorney will contact you shortly.”
One more thing… Beware of Scammers
If someone calls you on the phone and says he or she is an IRS Agent or Revenue Officer and that you need to pay an outstanding tax debt immediately or you will be arrested, or even perhaps that there are police on the way to your home right now, THIS IS A SCAM. HANG UP. The police don’t work for the IRS. Thousands of people have lost millions of dollars to criminals using these schemes. Sometimes the scammer seems to know a lot about you. Don’t be fooled. Sometimes he will tell you he can accept payment by Target gift card or iTunes card if you will just go down the street right now and buy one and read the number to him right over the phone. Honestly, do you think the Department of Treasury accepts iTunes cards?
Call the Shepherd, not the Wolf!
If you have received any of the following notices from the IRS, call Morgan Easley or a tax lawyer of your choice; DON’T CALL THE IRS:
- Information Document Request
- Tax Discrepancy Adjustments
- Notice of Deficiency
- Notice of Federal Tax Lien
- Notice of Intent to Levy
- Final Notice of Intent to Levy
- Any other IRS correspondence that is not your tax refund!
Morgan Easley provides trusted, experienced, knowledgeable business tax planning services as part of its business law practice and represents individuals and businesses to resolve tax problems with IRS in the following scenarios:
- Audits
- Collections
- Civil Tax controversy matters
- Offers in Compromise