Los Angeles IRS Tax relief help – 3 signs you need help now
Feeling overwhelmed with handling your tax problems on your own? That is usually the first sign that you need to hire someone to help with IRS tax relief. An experienced tax relief attorney is by far the best choice. Tax attorneys have gone to law school and are well-versed with IRS law. Stay away from tax relief companies, tax resolution companies and others that are not tax attorneys.
Other obvious warning signs that it is time to hire some IRS tax relief help from a licensed tax attorney:
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What if I have a Receipt of IRS notices
If you are receiving IRS letters telling you an amount is due, you should be concerned. If you start receiving a barrage of IRS collection notices threatening to levy your bank accounts and/or wages, it’s time to hire a tax attorney. The IRS will not go away as some often think and hiding from them only makes matters worse. Think about it, if you do not feel you owe the tax debt and have proof that you do not, sometimes it is tough to get the IRS to understand your point of view. It’s even hard to get a hold of the IRS with the long call hold times and frequent hang ups. When you finally reach the IRS, the documents and argument have to be submitted properly so that the IRS representatives can understand. And, sometimes, it’s pretty hard to get through to them. A tax attorney that works with IRS representative’s day in and day out, with expert negotiation skills, can push the argument through and help the IRS representative understand in a calm and skilled manner.
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Will the IRS use Wage garnishment and/or bank levy
If you waited too long to work with the IRS and ignored their collection letters, the inevitable conclusion is a wage garnishment and/or bank levy. Sometimes, these efforts can take some time, especially if you are self-employed and they can’t find an employer for you. Then they will try to attach your bank account if they can find it. Once you receive notice a bank levy, you generally have 21 days to prevent it. Act quickly and find tax relief help with a tax attorney because once they levy your bank account, it is almost impossible to get the money back on your own. If you are experiencing hardship and you need that money back, find a professional tax lawyer to negotiate on your behalf. Likewise, it is difficult to remove a garnishment from your paycheck when it finally attaches. Your tax attorney can work directly with the IRS to get this lifted in a timely manner and can find a resolution such as a non-collectible status or payment plan.
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What if you can’t pay your tax debt
IRS tax debt comes up in many ways: like underreporting of income, audit or not withholding enough over the course of the year. Another way, which is occurring more often, is when a taxpayer gets behind on filing their tax returns. If this happens, it is a great time to hire a tax relief attorney to guide you in getting compliant. Once filed, a flood of tax debt may come your way for multiple years of filings for which your tax attorney can prepare you. Tacked on to your debt are IRS penalties (i.e., failure to pay, failure to file) and interest that can seem more than the debt itself. Your tax attorney can also assist in getting these removed where appropriate. Once your tax debt is assessed and you agree to it, you may not be able to pay it all off. This is a common scenario and it always seems the IRS coming after you happens at the worst possible time. You may have paid off a large medical bill or are putting a few kids through college. If this is the case, there are options, so don’t feel the situation is hopeless. The best thing to do is move fast, hire a tax attorney and face the problem head on. Some of your IRS tax relief help options include:
- Currently Not Collectible (CNC) status—due to your financial hardship, the IRS will suspend collection activity against you. This is just a temporary fix, until your financial condition approves. It is a valuable resolution option because it can allow you time to get your finances in order.
- Payment plan/installment agreement— allows you to pay off your tax debt over time. Usual agreements range from three to seven years. You can elect to pay off the entire amount over time or attempt to negotiate a reduced payoff amount (i.e. partial payment installment agreement). With a PPIA, a full set of financials is required to be submitted to the IRS showing you can only pay a reduced amount.
- Offer in Compromise—settling your debt for less than you owe. It allows you to settle your tax debt in a lump sum payment or with a short-term payment plan. As with the Installment Agreement, you can attempt to negotiate with the IRS to accept a lesser amount that what you owe to satisfy your tax liability.
Los Angeles taxpayers needing IRS tax relief help should seek the advice of an IRS tax attorney. The Federal Tax Attorneys at Delia Law have many years of IRS tax resolution help experience and will competently represent you before the IRS. Please call for a no-cost tax attorney consultation for IRS tax resolution We look forward to helping you.
