Idaho Tax Resolution Attorney | Boise Taxation Lawyer | Compromise IRS Lien Levy Garnishment Penalty Lawyer Attorney

Our law firm is a leader in the area of tax problem resolution. We have extensive experience representing individuals and businesses facing tax difficulties with governmental agencies at both the state and federal levels. As lawyers, we advise and represent clients in their transactions with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or the corresponding state agency in Idaho, Oregon, or elsewhere, with a view to helping them eliminate or minimize any tax liabilities. Our services in this area include the following:

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HOW THE IRS COLLECTS FROM TAXPAYERS

TAX LIENS: The IRS or State can make your life miserable by filing tax liens. Tax liens are public records that indicate you owe the IRS or State various taxes. They are filed with the County Clerk in the county in which you reside or from which your business operates. Because they are public records, they will show up on your credit report. This often makes it difficult for a taxpayer to obtain any financing on an automobile or a home. Tax liens can also tie up your personal property and real estate. Once a tax lien is filed against your property you cannot sell or transfer the property without a clear title. Often taxpayers find themselves in a Catch-22 where they have property that they would like to borrow against, but because of the tax lien, they cannot get a loan.

BANK ACCOUNTS: A tax levy is the actual action taken by the IRS or state to collect taxes. For example, the IRS or state can issue a bank levy to obtain your cash in savings and checking accounts. Or, the IRS or state can levy your wages or accounts receivable. The person, company, or institution that is served the levy must comply or face their own IRS or state problems. The additional paperwork this person, company or institution is faced with to comply with the levy usually causes the taxpayer's relationship with the person being levied to suffer. Levies should be avoided at all costs and are usually the result of poor or no communication with the IRS or state.

WAGES: An IRS or state wage levy is different. Wage levies are filed with your employer and remain in effect until the IRS notifies the employer that the wage levy has been released. Most wage levies take so much money from the taxpayer's paycheck that the taxpayer doesn't have enough money to live on. State tax levies actually take the person's whole paycheck.

AUDITS: The IRS or state can audit you by mail, in their office, or in your home or office. The location of your audit is a good indication of the severity of the audit. Typically, correspondence audits are for missing documents in your tax return that IRS or state computers have attempted to find. These usually include W-2s and 1099 income items or interest expense items. This type of audit can be handled through the mail with the correct documentation. The IRS or state office audit is usually with a Tax Examiner who will request numerous documents and explanations of various deductions. This type of audit may also require you to produce all bank records for a period of time so that the IRS can check for unreported income. The IRS or state audit scheduled for your home or office should be taken more seriously due to the fact that the IRS or State Auditor is a Revenue Agent. Revenue Agents receive more training and auditing techniques than a typical Tax Examiner. All IRS or state audits should be taken seriously because they often lead to other tax years and other tax deductions not originally stated in the audit letter.

SEIZURE OF ASSETS: The IRS and state have extensive powers when it comes to seizure of assets. These powers allow them to seize personal and business assets to pay off outstanding tax liabilities. This occurs when taxpayers have been avoiding the IRS or State Tax Commission. The IRS or state attempts to collect amounts owed with a seizure as the ultimate act of their collection efforts.

WAGE GARNISHMENT: The IRS wage garnishment is a very powerful tool used to collect taxes owed through your employer. Once a wage garnishment is filed with an employer, the employer is required to collect a large percentage of each paycheck. The paycheck that would have normally been paid to the employee will now be paid to the IRS. The wage garnishment stays in effect until the IRS is fully paid or until the IRS agrees to release the garnishment.

UNFILED TAX RETURNS: Taxpayers fail to file required tax returns for many reasons. The taxpayer must be aware that failure to file tax returns may be construed as a criminal act by the IRS or State. This type of criminal act is punishable by one year in jail for each year a tax return was not filed. Needless to say, it's one thing to owe the IRS or state money, but another thing to potentially lose your freedom for failure to file a tax return. The IRS or state may file "SFR" (Substitute For Return) tax returns for you. This is the IRS or state version of an unfiled tax return. Because SFR returns are filed in the best interest of the government, the only deductions you'll see are standard deductions and one personal exemption. You will not get credit for deductions which you may be entitled to, such as exemptions for spouses, children, interest and taxes on your home, cost of any stock or real estate sales, and business expenses, etc. Regardless of what you have heard, you usually have the right to file your original tax return no matter how late it's filed.

PENALTIES: The IRS and states penalize millions of taxpayers each year. They have so many penalties that it's hard to understand which penalty they are hitting you with. The most common penalties are: Failure to File and Failure to Pay. Both of these penalties can substantially increase the amount you owe the IRS or state in a very short period of time. To make matters worse, the IRS and state charge you interest on penalties. Taxpayers often find out about IRS problems many years after they have occurred. This causes the amount owed to the IRS or state to be substantially greater due to penalties and interest.

Some IRS or state penalties can be as high as 75%-100% of the original taxes owed. Often taxpayers can afford to pay the taxes owed. However, the extra penalties make it impossible to pay off the entire balance.

The original goal of IRS or state imposing penalties was to punish taxpayers in order to keep them in line. Unfortunately they have turned into additional sources of income for the IRS and states. The IRS and states do abate penalties. Therefore before you pay the IRS any penalty amounts, you may want to consider having a tax professional request the IRS or state abate your penalties.

Many of the techniques mentioned here, if applied correctly, will stop the IRS or state from continuing with collection efforts against you. Levies may be lifted, liens prevented and garnishments stopped if the requirements are met.

The IRS is making deals with taxpayers that owe them money. Never before in the history of the IRS have they been so willing to deal on tax liabilities. You have to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the great deals in life!

Well, the time is now. Owing the IRS money is the first requirement of qualifying for these special IRS deals. Not being able to pay the IRS is the second requirement. Chances are that if you are reading this, you meet these two requirements.

Now what? These great IRS deals will not be around forever and the time to act is now. The climate in the IRS is changing with the change in Administration. You need to take advantage of your current financial situation and obtain the best deal possible from the IRS before your financial conditions improve.

States also have programs where you may pay substantially less than you owe for your tax liability.

You may be able to pay the IRS or state a small fraction of what you owe them. You need legal help now if you owe the IRS money. Call Martelle Law Offices, P.A. at (208) 938-8500 and request a free consultation for your IRS problems.

For many taxpayers, they just need enough relief from the IRS or state collection procedures that they can pay the tax. When there are levies or garnishments in place, the IRS or state decides how much you will pay to them. Under an installment agreement coupled with a request for penalty abatement, you are more in control.

Often the IRS seeks to recover taxes from a spouse who had nothing to do with the tax debt. This may include a spouse who had nothing to do with a business, someone who is divorced and being held liable for a former spouse's debt. The injured or innocent spouse may be able to obtain relief from the IRS debt.

Penalties are imposed by the IRS and state which are significant. A little-known procedure which can significantly reduce tax liability is to request a penalty abatement. There must be good cause shown for the penalty abatement, but a skilled professional knows what it takes to show good cause and can advise you whether you qualify.

The rules of bankruptcy are very complex as they relate to taxes. Generally, taxes that are over three years old and have not been liened are dischargeable in bankruptcy. If they have been subject to an IRS or state lien, then the value of the assets securing the lien must be dealt with. This fact is little known to the average taxpayer. This fact can be used in either discharging taxes in bankruptcy or as a negotiating tool when dealing with the IRS or state.

The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

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