Tax Problem Attorney Blog

Is There Anything I Can Do to Stop an IRS Wage Garnishment?

December 7, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

It’s best to try to stop a wage garnishment before it happens. If you owe the IRS back taxes and do not have any arguments for why the tax assessment is improper or incorrect, you should consider entering into an installment agreement or negotiating an Offer in Compromise. This will prevent any collection actions—such as a wage garnishment or bank account levy—as long as you fulfill your end of the agreement.

However, you may reach the point where a wage levy is imminent and you don’t have much time to stop it from happening. Fortunately, the IRS is required to give you a Collection Due Process (CDP) notice before initiating a wage garnishment against you.

Stop Wage Garnishment at a Collection Due Process Hearing

How Do I Know Which Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Option to Use?

December 4, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

You will need to get a tax litigation attorney’s opinion on whether or not you willfully failed to file Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBARs) and report foreign income on your tax return. The answer to this question has several consequences, including the following:

Non-willful FBAR violations carry a $12,459 penalty per violation, while willful violations result in a penalty that is the greater of $124,588 or 50 percent of the balance in the account at the time of the violation
Taxpayers who failed to file FBARs non-willfully are eligible for the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures, which allow you to amend previous year tax returns for the previous three years, and disclose your unreported foreign bank accounts

When is Tax Debt Dischargeable in Bankruptcy?

November 30, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

Some types of tax debt can be discharged in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and a debtor may pay less than the full amount owed for some taxes in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The amount of tax relief that is available will depend on several factors including:

The type of bankruptcy you are filing
If your tax debt is old enough to be discharged (explained in detail below)

How to Discharge Property From an IRS Tax Lien

November 27, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

The blanket IRS tax lien automatically applies to all of your property whenever you owe taxes to the IRS. This lien does not result in immediate collection of your tax debt like a bank account seizure or wage garnishment, but it does encumber your property, making it difficult to sell or refinance once the IRS files its Notice of Federal Tax Lien. If you need to sell your property or get rid of the lien, you need to request a discharge from the IRS.

How to Get a Tax Lien Discharged

Once the IRS records a lien, generally by filing it against your real property at the county recorder’s office, any subsequent purchaser takes the property subject to the lien. Since a buyer is not going to want to be responsible for your delinquent tax debt, you will likely need to negotiate a lien discharge before you can sell your home.

How to Avoid Big Fines for FBAR Violations

November 22, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

If you were previously unaware of your obligation to file Foreign Bank Account Reports (FBARs), you have a strong argument that your conduct was non-willful, which could qualify you for reduced penalties under the Streamlined Filing Compliance Procedures. However, once you are aware of your obligations, you can no longer turn a blind eye to your unreported foreign accounts or you risk being considered a willful violator, subject to harsher penalties and disqualified from using the Streamlined Procedures.

Get an FBAR Attorney’s Opinion on Willfulness

If there was ever a situation where you should NOT attempt to handle a tax issue on your own, determining whether you willfully violated your foreign reporting requirements is it. The penalties for a willful FBAR violation may be the greater of $124,588 or 50 percent of the balance in the account at the time of the violation, for each violation. If you submit your amended returns under the Streamlined Procedures, but the IRS later decides that you were a willful FBAR violator, you could subject yourself to these penalties, along with the potential threat of criminal prosecution.

Exceptions to The Three-Year Statute of Limitations for IRS Tax Audits

November 20, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

The general rule of the IRS is to audit returns that have been filed in the last three years. Because of this, some taxpayers may breathe a sigh of relief once the three-year period has expired, but the rules regarding the statute of limitations are not quite that simple. There are circumstances where the IRS can go back even further to audit your return or assess additional tax, and the IRS has unlimited time to assess tax in the case of an unfiled return.

IRS Audits for Substantial Errors

If the IRS detects a substantial error on your return, the IRS can wait up to six years after your return was filed to conduct an audit. A substantial error involves an understatement of income of more than 25%, based on the income claimed on the return. Congress has extended this definition of a substantial error to include basis overstatements which result in less capital gains tax being owed after the sale of property. Some of those are discussed below.

How to Respond When the IRS Makes a Mistake

November 17, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

Charged with administering, enforcing, and collecting taxes from millions of Americans, the IRS understandably makes mistakes. If the IRS is trying to charge you penalties or assess taxes incorrectly, or is attempting to seize your bank account or put a lien on your house, you have options for disputing the IRS action and arguing your case.

How to Handle Incorrect Tax Assessments

If the IRS sends you a Notice of Deficiency and you do not believe you actually owe the tax, you should file a petition in Tax Court. You have 90 days from the date of the notice to file your petition. If you miss this chance, you will only be able to argue your case in court AFTER paying the full amount and filing a refund claim.

South Carolina Bank Involved in Employment Tax Fraud Scheme

November 15, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

The former Vice President of a South Carolina-based bank has pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the United States by participating in an employment tax fraud scheme that resulted in over $1 million in unpaid payroll taxes. This case shows that the Department of Justice will go after those who are complicit in employment tax fraud in addition to businesses or individuals that fail to remit payroll taxes.

Douglas Corriher made several loans to a bank customer who operated staffing companies in North Carolina. These loans were made through nominees to circumvent federal laws that limit the amount that can be loaned to a single entity. Engaging in illegal activities is one of the badges of tax fraud, so these illegal loans may have indicated to the IRS that an intentional violation of a known legal duty was occurring.

The staffing company handled the payroll responsibilities—including remitting payroll taxes and filing W-2 forms—for thousands of low-wage temp workers. The W-2 forms indicated that the employment taxes had been withheld from the workers’ wages, even though they had not actually been paid.

Should I Wait to Disclose My Offshore Accounts?

November 6, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

If you aware that you have unreported foreign financial accounts that expose you to liability for Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR) or Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) violations, you should carefully consider the risks of waiting to disclose your offshore accounts, including the following:

The IRS does not have to continue to offer offshore disclosure programs, and can change the terms of these programs whenever they wish. The Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) or Streamlined Filing Procedures can be ended at any time. If the terms of the programs are changed, they could be less favorable to taxpayers, resulting in higher fines or stricter eligibility requirements.
You are not eligible for offshore disclosure programs if you are currently under IRS examination. This is true even if the examination is for issues completely unrelated to your undisclosed offshore accounts. Once the IRS begins to ask questions and request information from you, you may be put into a very difficult situation if you have foreign accounts that you haven’t disclosed, and you won’t be able to receive any type of amnesty from these programs.

What is an IRS Summons?

November 2, 2017 | by Dennis N. Brager

An IRS summons is an official order to produce information or provide testimony to aid in an IRS investigation. Summonses may be issued to the taxpayer being investigated or to third parties who may have information that the IRS wants to use in the investigation. If you receive a summons, you should immediately consult with a tax litigation attorney to determine what information you are required to produce, what arguments you have for refusing to disclose certain information, and whether you may incriminate yourself by producing certain information.

Before you receive a summons, you should receive several other notices from the IRS, beginning with an Information Document Request (IDR). An IDR is a more informal notice, but will often be requesting the same information as the summons. The IRS would prefer that you respond and give them the information they want without requiring the issuance of an official summons, which can be enforced by a federal district court.

The IRS will have to prove to the court that the summons is necessary to obtain information that may be relevant to a legitimate investigation. The taxpayer will be asked to show why the summons is not proper, and a failure to respond to the summons after a district court orders it enforced will usually result in a citation for contempt which can include time in jail.