Tax Resolution

Are you behind on your taxes? Have you failed to file your return the last few years? Even if the IRS has not contacted you regarding your unfiled taxes, delinquent taxes should not be ignored indefinitely. The IRS often imposes criminal penalties on delinquent taxpayers. So even if the IRS has not contacted you, you should seek the advice of a qualified IRS tax attorney to bring your tax return filing up to date and help you analyze your situation to determine the best course of action. An experienced IRS tax attorney can often prevent any criminal investigation and help make arrangements to settle your tax debt including any penalties you may owe.

Bank account levies and wage levies are the most common types of IRS levies. The IRS can attempt to seize assets straight from a taxpayer’s bank account or paycheck to satisfy outstanding liabilities. As the IRS shifts its attention from customer service to collection and compliance, tax counsel and taxpayers must be watchful to prevent these levies from occurring unnecessarily. Before sending a levy notice to your employer, bank, or other third party, the IRS is required to send the taxpayer a Notice of Right to a Hearing and Final Intent to Levy. This right to a Collection Due Process Hearing is one of the taxpayer’s most influential and powerful tools to help prevent the IRS from abusing its power and to obtain the least burdensome payment method for a delinquent tax liability. Do not let this right to a Hearing pass you by. Taxpayers should never waive their rights without first seeking legal advice from an experienced IRS tax professional.

The IRS has an extremely powerful tool to force taxpayers to satisfy outstanding tax liability.  The IRS will file a tax lien against the personal property of the taxpayer that owes the liability.  Often the most valuable asset owned is a home.  Once the IRS files the Lien, the asset (in this case a house) cannot be sold without paying the IRS.  At Stambaugh Tax Resolution, we are experienced in dealing with the complexities of IRS and State tax Liens.  It may be necessary for you to sell your home or other property for a number of reasons.  Don’t let liens stop you from selling.  Having expert representation makes it possible to negotiate a lien release with the IRS and state government.

An OIC (Offer In Compromise) is an agreement between the government and the taxpayer that resolves the tax liability in favor of a lesser payment than the full amount owed. The IRS goal in approving an OIC is to achieve collection of the amount that it believes to be potentially collectible from a taxpayer at the earliest possible time. Through the Offer in Compromise program, Attorney Stambaugh has been helping many taxpayers reduce their federal liabilities for years. The complicated process of submitting an OIC and being granted IRS acceptance demands substantial attention to details, and compliance with a variety of IRS guidelines, procedures, and regulations.

Filing a joint return with your spouse generally means that both parties are responsible for any errors, understatement of income or erroneous information contained in the return as well as any unpaid tax liability. However, there are situations where a spouse may be granted relief from taxes or penalties resulting from mistakes or understatements they were not aware of when they signed the return. In other cases, a spouse can be granted relief from a tax obligation under certain circumstances.

The failure to withhold and pay Payroll taxes properly is considered a serious violation in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service. Specialized Revenue Officers employed by the IRS focus on the collection of these liabilities from the business, its owners, directors, officers, and other responsible individuals. The Revenue Officer will likely seek to close the business and liquidate its assets if they are unable to collect the delinquent payroll tax. Our firm will help you solve your existing payroll tax issues and help you meet your requirements for future payroll tax payment and reporting.

An Installment Agreement is an arrangement in which the Internal Revenue Service permits a taxpayer to spread out the payment of unpaid tax liabilities over a period of time. Negotiation of this agreement requires substantial knowledge about IRS guidelines and regulations. We are highly experienced in helping taxpayers negotiate the lowest possible monthly payments. If you don’t qualify for an alternate form of relief from taxes and cannot afford monthly payments, we can request to have your account placed on “uncollectible” status. After the IRS classifies an account as “uncollectible”, it will stop its enforcement actions. In certain cases, accounts retain their “uncollectible” state up to the expiration of the collections statute of limitations.

You may be capable of eliminating all or part of your interest and penalties with penalty abatement. However, you cannot eliminate the base tax amount that caused the interest and penalties. With abatement, you will usually be able to eliminate most if not all of these penalties, but not the related interest. Removing these penalties can be a huge financial relief for you, as these penalties can comprise upwards of 25% of the total tax debt you owe.

If a business entity fails to pay the appropriate amount of withholding taxes, the IRS will aggressively seek to collect this from “responsible individuals involved in operating the business”. The IRS has authorization to “pierce the corporate veil” by assessing these liabilities that the business has not paid against the responsible individuals. This assessment is called the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty. Once the penalty has been assessed against you, it may jeopardize your home or other property and ruin your credit rating. If you are the potential target of an IRS assessment of the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty, the time to act is now. Experienced legal counsel can make the difference.