Tax Facts federally licensed Enrolled Agents and U.S. Tax Court Practitioner counsels provide a full range of tax controversy representation services for individual and business taxpayers before the IRS to resolve your tax compliance issues.
Delinquent Tax Returns
Installment Payment Agreement Plans
Examinations and Audits
Penalty and Interest Abatements
Administrative Appeals
Collections Appeals Process Hearings
Collections Due Process Hearings
Taxpayer Assistance Orders
Innocent Spouse Claims
Employee Status and Worker Classification
Trust Fund Recovery Penalties and Actions
Settlement Actions and Offers in Compromise
Collateral and Closing Agreements
When you select our team of tax experts, we will review the merits of your tax matters and diligently begin the processes to resolve your tax controversy.
This process initiates with an Engagement Agreement that specifies the terms of services necessary to advocate on your behalf along with a written estimate of anticipated fees, terms of payment plans, and details of information or documents needed from you. Fees for representation services are very reasonable and based upon the complexity and time involvement necessary to prepare your case and advocate on your behalf.
We will prepare an IRS Form 2848 Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative for your authorization. This procedural requirement enables our Enrolled Agents or U.S. Tax Court Practitioner counsels to contact the IRS, make scheduling arrangements, obtain necessary transcripts, information or other documents to advocate on your behalf and resolve your tax controversy matters.
During the procedures your Tax Professional Representative is routinely in direct contact with you, keeping you apprised of the progression of your case, any new developments or pending schedules.
To schedule your case for IRS Representation, please contact us, one of our Enrolled Agents or U.S. Tax Court Practitioner counsels will be in touch with you shortly.
EXAMINATIONS, AUDITS & APPEALS
If you have delinquent tax payments or unfiled tax returns for prior tax years, your efforts to regain tax compliance before the IRS or state tax authorities take action against you to force compliance may lessen penalties, interests or potential criminal prosecution that may be imposed for willful failure to pay or willful failure to file.
If you were due a refund on a prior year unfiled tax return, your refund may also be “fading” fast. Refunds on tax returns that are filed more than three years after the original due date of the return including any extensions are lost forever. If your tax filing is beyond the Statute of Limitations date, the IRS may by Congressional law retain your refund and it may not be used to offset a past due tax liability.
You have options and we are here to represent and guide you through the maze of those options.
For delinquent tax payments, in most circumstances, the IRS will allow you the benefit of making your tax liability payments by monthly automatic debits. These are commonly known as installment payments. There is a separate fee charged to you by the Internal Revenue Service for installment payments requests that will be added to your tax liability due by the department.
If you owe a balance that is in excess of an amount that you have the financial capability to pay, in certain financial circumstances, you may qualify for an Offer in Compromise to settle your tax debt for less than the full balance due. There are very strict rules, regulations, and procedures that must be followed for various settlement types including an Offer in Compromise. We are tax experts to assist you in obtaining a settlement agreement.
Have you received an IRS issued Notice of Examination informing that your tax return has been selected for examination review procedures, or have you received a Notice of Audit informing that your tax return has been selected for audit review?
Have you received a Notice of Deficiency?
Have you received a Notice of Intent to Lien or Notice of Intent To Levy?
Have you received an unfavorable Notice of Determination?
Don’t panic!
Our team of tax controversy experts routinely represent taxpayers subject to each of these tax matters.
NEVER IGNORE any notice received!
Delays or ignoring these notifications may limit your Taxpayer Rights and ability to positively resolve these issues.
Additionally, penalties and interests may continue to accrue.
Deficiency notices indicate that the department has already assessed your tax liability and determined your tax balance due. Failures to timely pay may result in more stringent collections actions imposed by the IRS such as lien or levy. A Deficiency notice also has substantial importance! This notice is subject to statutory provisions. There are only 90 days after the IRS issuance of this notice mailing to your U.S. last known address to timely file a Tax Court petition to challenge the underlying tax liability assessment. Delays can substantially limit your taxpayer rights and the statutory dates for filing cannot be extended.
Determination notices similarly are subject to statutory provisions to protect your taxpayer rights. There are only 30 days after the IRS issuance of this notice mailing to your U.S. last known address to timely file a Tax Court petition for review or redetermination.
Generally, there are four types of Audits:
- Correspondence Audits;
- Office Field Audits;
- Small Business Self Employed Audits (SBSE);
- Large to Mid-Sized Business Audits (LMSB);
Professional representation intervention is imperative to protect your taxpayer rights.
Tax Facts Enrolled Agents and U.S. Tax Court Practitioner counsels have the expert knowledge, qualifications, and experience to represent your tax case before the IRS examination and audit divisions.
Know that what you say or do as well as what you don’t say or don’t do can compromise your taxpayer rights!
Know that the documents and records you do provide as well as the documents and records you don’t provide will have a significant impact on the outcome of your examination or audit!
Know that the tax authorities have the ability to expand the scope of the examination or audit procedures to other tax matters, tax years or tax periods in certain circumstances!
Upon conclusion of the examination or audit procedures, the examiner or auditor of the IRS will submit their findings and recommendations for changes to the return reporting, adjustment(s) to liabilities or a finding of no changes.
These recommendations or decisions can be appealed to the IRS Office of Appeals.
If the examination or audit procedure results in disallowance of taxpayer claimed credits or deductions disallowance, then such disallowance will result in increased tax liability to the taxpayer. The IRS will assess the deficiency in tax, apply any penalties or interest accrual as an addition to tax and issue a Notice of Deficiency. Upon issuance of the Notice of Deficiency that is mailed to the taxpayer at a U.S. last known address applies a statutory provision permitting the filing of a timely petition to Tax Court within 90 days to challenge the underlying tax liability deficiency assessment. If a taxpayer’s case is not timely petitioned to U.S. Tax Court within the statutory period and the taxpayer has not paid the deficiency assessment, then upon expiration of the 90-day period the IRS may proceed with demand for payment and procedural collection actions if the tax liability debt remains unpaid.
IRS OFFICE OF APPEALS
The Internal Revenue Service Office of Appeals is a separate independent organization within the IRS that services as an administrative division to hear tax disagreements arising from examination and audit procedures or collections actions.
Within the procedural limitations of the IRS Office of Appeals, they will make attempts to resolve or settle the tax dispute prior to the necessity for either the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service or the taxpayer to petition file the case to a jurisdictional court.
The Office of Appeals will conduct a hearing of review then will issue a Notice of Determination relating to the tax controversy or collection action.
Professional representation intervention is imperative to protecting your taxpayer rights and resolving your tax matters.
Tax Facts Enrolled Agents and U.S. Tax Court Practitioner counsels have the knowledge and experience to represent your tax case before the IRS Office of Appeals to settle your tax controversy or collections action case.
COLLECTIONS ACTIONS AND THE IRS OFFICE OF APPEALS
Have you received an IRS Notice of Intent To Lien or Notice of Intent To Levy?
Panic is normal!
However, any taxpayer receiving this type of notification has, in most circumstances, previously delayed or ignored prior notifications from the department for examination and/or deficiencies.
IMMEDIATE ACTION is NECESSARY!
The taxing authority may place liens against your personal or business assets or property, may levy your bank account(s), or worse yet, levy your wages or salary! It’s not too late to resolve your tax controversy, but TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE.
A lien is used to secure a tax debt owed and establishes a priority to the IRS or state department against other creditors and attaches to all assets for payment.
Tax liens are negative reporting on your credit and severely lower credit ratings often result in difficulty for taxpayers to obtain financing.
Tax liens are also public records filed with the Clerk in the county where you live or your business operates.
A Notice of Tax Lien may be filed after the department has assessed your tax liability, issued a Notice for Demand of Payment (tax bill) and the taxpayer has neglected or refused to fully pay the tax debt within 10 days.
A levy is an action by the department for taking of your property and bank account assets or income to satisfy the tax debt.
This is a FAR MORE SERIOUS matter!
The department may levy or seize any property or bank accounts asset a taxpayer has.
In the event of a bank account levy, your bank must hold funds you have on deposit on the day of the levy up to the amount of tax debt and forward it to the department within 21 days. This 21 day period is crucial for resolving the tax matter with the department or negotiating a settlement.
If the tax matters are not resolved with the department within the 21 day period, the funds on hold are seized.
Any levy on wages or salary is very SERIOUS!
This is a continuous levy that requires your employer to provide the department with a significant percentage of your net take-home pay until the department has collected all of the tax liability due or alternative payment arrangements have been secured.
Also, of substantial concern is the employer’s right to terminate employment. Many employers have personnel policies that can result in employee terminations if the employee’s wages are subject to a governmental levy.
Although either a Lien or Levy notice is a very serious issue, it is NOT the end of the road for a taxpayer.
Tax Facts Enrolled Agents and U.S. Tax Court Practitioner counsels have the qualifications, knowledge, and experience to represent your tax case before the IRS Office of Appeals to settle your tax controversy or collections action case.
Our representation can assist you through the filing of an APPEAL to the tax lien or levy action.
Each taxpayer is entitled to an appeal and has the RIGHT to a Collections Due Process or Collections Action Process hearing with an impartial IRS Office of Appeals officer to resolve the tax matters and tax liability.
Again, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE to preserve your rights!
To be granted a Collections Due Process hearing, the appeal request MUST be filed with the IRS Office of Appeals within a statutory 30-day period. This favorable CDP hearing procedure also confers rights for judicial review by U.S. Tax Court upon conclusion of the CDP hearing and IRS issuance of their Notice of Determination. If the tax issues are not resolved regarding the tax deficiency collections actions during the appeals process, then the taxpayer’s case may be petitioned to U.S. Tax Court within 30 days after the office issues their Notice of Determination.
A Collections Action Process hearing may be granted for appeal requests late filed to the IRS Office of Appeals after the statutory 30-day period. However, although a CAP follows the same Office of Appeals guidelines it DOES NOT confer rights for judicial review upon conclusion of the CAP. Therefore, if the tax issues are not resolved regarding the tax deficiency collections actions during the appeals process, no judicial review options are available. Hence, the urgency of timely filing to protect your taxpayer rights!
FYI
“Words” from our experiences.
Often, we see taxpayers who have attempted self-filing for income tax returns preparations, used substandard business and tax preparation services or over-the-counter software and are suffering examination and audit consequences.
Also, we often see both individuals and business owners who have “listened” to a friend, family or business associate regarding tax deductions and tax matters only to later suffer the EXAMINATION or AUDIT consequences of improper deductions claimed and improper filings.
Tax returns are executed and signed by each taxpayer under penalty of perjury.
Therefore, each taxpayer is independently responsible for the amounts claimed on a tax return.
Failing to report all sources of income or claiming credits or deductions a taxpayer or business is not entitled to, that cannot be substantiated by appropriate records, leads to significant problems for both individuals’ taxpayers and business entities.
These circumstances make professional tax planning and professional tax preparation imperative for both individuals and businesses. We are here to professionally guide you through the maze of what is allowable and what is not.
Taxpayers who represent themselves or are represented by individuals who lack in-depth knowledge of federal and state tax authority’s procedures and practices most often find themselves owing the tax authorities more in deficiency assessments, penalties and interests than the tax professional preparation and tax professional representation fees to the taxpayers would have been.
For more information on the Tax Facts Resolution Representation services available for you, please contact us, one of our Enrolled Agent Tax Professionals will be in touch shortly to arrange convenient scheduling for you.