Can’t Afford The Tax? Now what?
You’ve got the tax bill, but you can’t afford it.
They put a lien on the house, and you need it off.
They garnished your wages, and now you can’t afford to pay your rent.
With more than 14,000,000 cases in IRS collections, don’t be ashamed if you fall into one of these categories. With more and more of the IRS’s review and audit division, it is highly unlikely that anyone can slip under the radar for very long.
The good news? There are things we can do about it.
So, you received the nasty letter. Now what?
#1 – The very first thing we have to do is get you into “compliance”. How does the IRS define “compliance”? It means that you have filed at least all of the last 6 years of tax returns, and that you are current compliant on your current tax withholding (having taxes withheld from your W2, paying quarterly estimates if you are self-employed, current on your payroll taxes if you have employees, etc.). Once we can check that box, we have options. Now, don’t got get all crazy and randomly filing tax returns. If there is going to be a large sum owed, there may be some strategy we can employ here that will help reduce what you ultimately owe.
#2 – Now, we have options. Don’t have the funds to pay in full? We can look at an Offer In Compromise, where you can make payments at a reduced rate. Can’t pay at all? Let’s look at getting you into Currently Non-Collectible status. Don’t actually owe the tax? Let’s see if we can make an argument to have it removed entirely. The point here is that now we have opportunity to get the issue resolved: get the garnishment released, get the levy lifted, get the letters and collections to stop.
Need help resolving your IRS “love letter” issue? Shoot me an email and lets schedule a consultation: Sabrina@SernaTax.com
*Disclaimer: This post does not contain any tax advice. These are simply concepts you should consider and discuss with your tax advisor. Without knowing your specific situation, and having an engagement letter in place, I cannot provide specific tax advice over an internet post or video. To discuss your specific tax situation, feel free to send me an email to make an appointment for consultation.