Schaumburg Tax Lawyers Solving Tax Problems in the Chicagoland Area
Many tax solutions exist for taxpayers facing IRS problems today. Sometimes the solutions are simple; but in more serious or immediate situations, taxpayers should seek an attorney who understands how to use these solutions to stop your problem.
The IRS is a Federal Agency divided into local Districts. Each District office solves standard IRS problems in a slightly different manner. Some IRS Districts believe that seizing taxpayer assets is a desirable way to collect taxes. Others prefer payment plans.
Our Schaumburg tax lawyers would like you to gain a better understanding of how your IRS problems may be resolved. The following solutions are available to many taxpayers, and we can help you choose the right one for your situation:
IRS Payment Plans
We help arrange these plans on a regular basis for our clients. Maybe we can help you. The IRS will always accept some type of payment arrangement for past due taxes. Working with the right attorney is always better than doing it on your own. To qualify for a payment plan, you must:
- Have filed all tax returns (owing money is okay, but you must file).
- Disclose all assets you own, including all cash and bank accounts.
- Not have adequate cash available in a checking, savings, money market or brokerage account to fully pay the IRS.
- Have no ability to borrow the full amount owed to the IRS from other sources (i.e., a second mortgage on your home).
- Have no adequate equity in a retirement account from which you can borrow or liquidate (for example, IRAs or 401Ks) to pay the full amount owed.
If you meet the above list, we can help you arrange with the IRS to repay your taxes. IRS negotiation is either over the phone with ACS (Automated Collection System) or in person with an IRS Revenue Officer.
The total dollar amount you owe usually dictates with whom we will negotiate. Typically, IRS Revenue Officers are not involved in cases where the amounts owed are less than $25,000. The IRS will ask you to complete a personal financial statement; if a business is involved, you must also provide a business financial statement. The IRS has determined allowable monthly expenses for individuals, which will be matched against your actual monthly expenses. The difference between your monthly income and your allowable monthly expenses will be the amount that the IRS will require you to pay on a monthly basis.
These monthly payments will continue until your outstanding tax liabilities are paid in full. Warning: the IRS continues to add penalties and interest while you are making monthly payments. This may cause your balance to increase while you pay what seems to be a large amount every month. The IRS will not explain this to you; you need an experienced federal tax lawyer to help you. Contact federal tax attorney Bianca Emini now.
Penalty Abatement
Every year the IRS issues well over $1 billion in penalties. Were you part of that number? Taxpayers hit with IRS penalties can request the penalties to be abated, which means completely or partially removed. In many cases, the IRS removes 100 percent of the penalty.
The IRS requires a reasonable cause to request penalty abatement. What qualifies as a reasonable cause? It depends on the circumstances involved with your particular situation. Every situation is different. We can help – contact us now.
Audit Reconsideration
This little-known IRS program can be used to reopen a closed IRS audit. The IRS rules on audits are very clear, and when an audit is over, it is usually over. However, the IRS has this program to handle situations if the taxpayer did not get a fair deal in the original audit. For example, the taxpayer may have never attended the original audit because he or she never received the audit letter or did not understand what was going on and failed to provide the IRS information it requested. Any taxpayer who feels he or she did not get a fair deal in an audit can make a request for audit reconsideration.
Sometimes many years go by before taxpayers realize how much they owe the IRS for an old audit. Even in the cases where the time limits to appeal or file a tax court petition have long since expired, the taxpayer can still request audit reconsideration. When the IRS agrees to audit reconsideration, the IRS will assign an auditor to reopen the taxpayer’s audit. The taxpayer then receives the opportunity to have the original audit changed.
Schaumburg tax lawyer Jeffrey Collins worked as an IRS auditor, and he knows how to handle your audit. Contact him now for help.
Appeals
An appeal is a request by a taxpayer who does not agree with an IRS decision. The action of filing an appeal puts the IRS on notice that the taxpayer does not agree with the IRS and is seeking a meeting to change the IRS decision. The goal of the IRS Appeal Division is to “settle” disputes between the IRS and taxpayers.
Every year, the Schaumburg tax lawyers at U.S. Law Attorneys, Ltd. successfully settle appeals with IRS and state agencies. The most common IRS decision appealed is that of an IRS audit when the IRS has increased the taxpayer’s tax liability. Often this increase includes additional penalties and interest.
The taxpayer must file an appeals request within a certain time frame and follow the IRS guidelines for a valid appeal’s request. If a taxpayer does not file his or her appeal request correctly and on time, he or she may lose the opportunity to have an appeals officer listen to the taxpayer’s side of the story. Do not wait until it is too late to appeal – get help now by contacting us immediately to set up an appointment.
Tax Court Petition
IRS’s decisions are not always final to you. The government is not always correct. The United States Tax Court was created for just that very reason – protection of your rights against IRS.
Every year, this firm files successful lawsuits against the IRS and Department of Treasury. The tax lawyers at U.S. Law Attorneys, Ltd. believe that you are entitled to be heard, especially when IRS is wrong. They protect you from incorrect federal tax by requiring IRS to prove whether you are responsible for more tax, penalty and interest.
If you have just been audited, or if IRS has proposed tax against you, make an appointment to see a tax attorney. If you receive a Statutory Notice (called a “90-Day Letter”), contact our tax lawyers immediately. Bring that document so that you may discuss whether we will file Petition with the Tax Court for you.
The business savvy tax lawyers at U.S. Law Attorneys, Ltd. can help you. Contact them now for help.
Offers in Compromise
The IRS offers in compromise program provides taxpayers who owe the IRS more than they could ever afford a chance to pay a small amount as a full and final settlement. This program offers taxpayers who do not agree that they actually owe the taxes in the first place a chance to file an offer in compromise and have those tax liabilities reconsidered.
The offer in compromise program allows taxpayers to get a fresh start. All back tax liabilities are settled with the amount of the offer. All federal tax liens are released upon IRS acceptance of the offer. An offer filed based on the taxpayers inability to pay the IRS looks at the taxpayer’s current financial position and considers the taxpayer’s ability to pay as well as the taxpayer’s equity in assets. Based on these factors, the IRS determines a compromise amount. Taxpayers can compromise all types of IRS taxes, penalties and interest. Even payroll taxes can be compromised. The IRS accepts approximately 50 percent of all Offers filed; estimates say the average amount accepted is 14 cents on every dollar owed. If you qualify for this program, you can save thousands of dollars in taxes, penalties and interest. Get help now. Contact us today.
Collection Appeals
We have several methods to help you! The Collection Appeal is an Appeal by a taxpayer that has been threatened, either verbally or in writing, with an IRS Levy, Seizure or Lien. The IRS allows you to file a Collection Appeal in these situations before following through on the levy or seizure.
Act immediately to get a collection appeal. The Collection Appeal is filed on a one page form where the taxpayer is given the opportunity to explain how they think the situation could be solved without the IRS levy or seizure. Your Appeal is assigned to an Appeals Officer, who is required to make a decision on your Appeal within a very short time. Get help now. Contact us.
Expiration of Statute
The IRS has 10 years from the date of assessment (usually close to the filing date) to collect all taxes, penalties and interest from the taxpayer. The taxpayer does not owe the IRS anything after the 10-year date has passed. It is not usually that easy, however – there are many exceptions.
You have to get the right help from a knowledgeable tax professional to make sure your 10-year period has not been compromised. For example, if the taxpayer agrees in writing to allow the IRS more time to collect or if the taxpayer files bankruptcy during the 10-year period, the IRS’s collection period is extended.
Taxpayers who are approaching this 10-year date should request copies of their IRS transcripts to verify the assessment date so they can accurately compute when the 10-year statute to collect will expire. If the IRS is attempting to collect a tax liability that has expired under the 10-year statute, then the taxpayer must inform the IRS in writing that they no longer have the right to collect this tax liability. If the taxpayer is correct, the IRS will write off the expired tax liabilities. Do not give the IRS more time, and do not pay taxes that are expired – have a professional review your case. Get help now. Contact us.
Innocent Spouse Protection
Taxpayers often find themselves in trouble with the IRS because of their spouses or ex-spouse’s actions. The IRS offers some relief when these situations do in fact occur. To help taxpayers who are having IRS problems because of the taxpayer’s spouse’s actions, the IRS has come up with guidelines for a person to qualify as an innocent spouse.
If a taxpayer can prove he or she fits in those guidelines, then the taxpayer may not be subject to the taxes the taxpayer’s spouse or ex-spouse incurred. The IRS is currently considering new regulations, which would make it even easier to qualify as an innocent spouse. Get help now. Contact us.
Bankruptcy Options
The IRS does not like to talk about the use of bankruptcy to reduce tax liabilities, but the reality is that many IRS taxes, penalties and interest do qualify for complete discharge in bankruptcy. Yours just might qualify.
The laws regarding discharging taxes in bankruptcy are complex. We have seen great success by creating and integrating strong bankruptcy strategies in solving tax collection problems. For a taxpayer to use the bankruptcy laws to avoid paying income taxes, the taxpayer’s income tax liabilities must qualify.
The most common types of taxes eligible for discharge in bankruptcy are old individual income taxes. Taxes that are not eligible for discharge in bankruptcy, include payroll taxes, civil penalties for payroll taxes and sales taxes. Many taxpayers file bankruptcy without first understanding the rules about tax liability, which often results in a failure to discharge income taxes that could have been discharged if the taxpayer had understood the bankruptcy laws.
Even taxpayers whose liabilities do not qualify for discharge still have the option of stopping penalties and paying the IRS through a Chapter 13 plan over a three- to- five year period.
We can help you understand the bankruptcy laws. Contact us now to talk about your IRS debt.
Freedom of Information Requests (FOIA)
Many taxpayers just want to know what type of information is in their IRS files without drawing a lot of attention. Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which requires government agencies, including the IRS, to disclose such information when requested. Freedom of Information documents can also be used to explain why, how, when and where a taxpayer’s IRS problems started.
Having this information is helpful, as it discloses the IRS information used to assess taxes, penalties and interest against the taxpayer. Taxpayers having difficulty understanding what the IRS is doing to them should consider using the FIA to obtain IRS files. Often the information you receive can help you better understand your IRS problems.
For a prompt and resourceful problem-solving attorney who provides personalized service and knows tax law and IRS procedure backward and forward, contact Schaumburg IRS attorney Jeffrey Collins or Bianca Emini for a free initial consultation. We accept credit cards and provide services in Spanish and English throughout Chicago, Washington, D.C., United States, San Juan and Puerto Rico.