Tax Help

IRS Tax Levy On IRA Account

September 15, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Can the IRS levy an IRA for Back Taxes? Yes the IRS can levy your IRA for unpaid back taxes.

Mr. Wayne Smith did not pay his back taxes after filing 3 years of tax returns. He owed the IRS around $36,000 of back taxes. He went to tax court, and the court ruled for the IRS and its $36,000 levy on Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith had a personal hardship, he was spending more than $800,000 plus his IRA income on his gambling addiction and not paying his back taxes.

Ordinary creditors are prevented from levying pension and IRA accounts due to anti-alienation provisions, the IRS does not conform to these anti-alienation provisions as many taxpayers think, the IRS can and will levy IRA and other retirement accounts to collect on any unpaid back taxes. In other words, the IRS is pretty much free to levy IRA accounts at its own will specially in cases of flagrant taxpayers abuse. Learn more by reading Internal Revenue Manual Section 5.11.6.2(5).

Tax Representative: Why Representation Is A Powerful Tool

September 1, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Skills of a Tax Representative

Tax representative is a person who is a licensed tax professional representing individual or business taxpayers regarding their tax issues before the IRS or state taxing agency. Only Enrolled Agents, Tax Attorneys and CPAs are authorized by the IRS to represent taxpayers.

Companies and individual taxpayers with complex tax matters should consider hiring a professional tax representative who would work on resolving your tax controversy problems.

AVOIDING IRS TAX PENALTIES: TAXPAYERS BEWARE Part 2

August 10, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Part 2 of 2

• Dishonored Check – A penalty is charged if a taxpayer’s check is returned because of insufficient funds. For checks of $1,250 or more, the penalty is 2% of the check amount. For checks less than $1,250, the penalty is the lesser of $25 or the amount of the check.

• Paying Late – The penalty is ½% of the unpaid tax for each month or part of a month the tax is unpaid. If the IRS issues a Notice of Intent to Levy and the taxpayer does not pay the balance within 10 days, the penalty increases to 1% per month. The penalty cannot be more than 25% of the tax paid late. The late payment penalty is reduced to ¼% per month for those paying in installments.

AVOIDING IRS TAX PENALTIES: TAXPAYERS BEWARE Part 1

August 5, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Most tax penalties are substantial, punitive and can dramatically increase the overall tax bill. Penalties are assessed for a many reasons. Some tax penalties are due to a taxpayer’s carelessness or inattention to tax details. Other penalties are incurred due to the overstatement of deductions, the failure to report income, missing documentation, negligence, fraud or procrastination.

Recently, Congress added additional penalties for making excessive claims or filing frivolous tax returns. The following is an overview of the IRS penalties that can be imposed on a taxpayer.

The IRS assessed taxpayers over $29,000,000,000.00 (that’s 29 Billion Dollars) in penalties during 2009.

Tax Help

July 26, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Tax Help

Debt in taxes is a serious matter that should not be ignored. Compared to other debts, tax debts do not easily go away unless you find a viable solution to the problem. This is where tax help from the experts plays an important role in making sure that you do not get into further trouble with the IRS when it comes to dealing with your taxes.

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Taxpayer Advocate Report

July 10, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

National Taxpayer Advocate Submits Mid-Year Report to Congress; Identifies Priority Challenges and Issues for Upcoming Year

WASHINGTON — National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson today released a report to Congress that identifies the priority issues the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) will address during the coming fiscal year. The report expresses concern about the adequacy of IRS taxpayer service, particularly as the IRS begins to implement health care reform, about new information reporting burdens facing small businesses and others, and about certain IRS collection practices.Among the areas the report identifies for particular emphasis in FY 2011 are the following:1. Taxpayer Services.

Spending for IRS taxpayer service programs has been declining in recent years. At the same time, more taxpayers have been contacting the IRS for assistance as the IRS has been tasked with administering an increasing number of social benefit programs, including Economic Stimulus Payments, Making Work Pay credits, and First-Time Homebuyer credits. The report says that as a result of the imbalance between taxpayer demand and IRS resources, the IRS has fallen short of providing adequate taxpayer service in important areas. Most notably, after answering a high of 87 percent of its calls from taxpayers seeking to reach a telephone assistor in FY 2004, the IRS answered only 53 percent of its calls in FY 2008 and has set of goal of answering only 71 percent in the current fiscal year.

Christian IRS Tax Help – Audit Representation – Back Tax Resolution

July 2, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Christian IRS Tax Help

By Former Dave Ramsey ELP 2012-2019

Christian IRS Tax help means reliable and professional help by a Christian tax professional. It is correlated with real solutions to IRS or State tax problems of a taxpayer with unpaid back taxes and or IRS audits. Most people avoid this topic while others ignite upon hearing IRS or TAX. But the truth is that, the IRS Tax Help is about tax problems assistance or simply means that there are several ways to help you if you have IRS or State tax problems. For the record, it is not only the duty of the IRS officers and agents to effectively collect taxes or review tax returns or statement of income or perform detailed analysis of financial status of the taxpayer or otherwise give them difficulties and headache, it is also the duty of the IRS to help and assist taxpayers with their taxation problems, or find a solution to a taxpayers’ liability. The IRS also offers tax resolution or relief options to provide tax amnesty in some cases to delinquent taxpayers. Our firm provides IRS Tax help to our clients, either individual taxpayers or businesses with back taxes and IRS audit representation.

IRS Tax Help to Oil Spill Victims

June 28, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS Offers Tax Help to Oil Spill Victims

SOURCE: WEBCPA

The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance to individuals and businaesses affected by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and announced new efforts to help affected taxpayers, including a special Gulf Coast Assistance Day on July 17.

Tax Relief – Get tax debt relief today

June 19, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

Tax Relief – Get tax debt relief today

Reasonable Cause/Good Faith Defense: Even if the taxpayer did not have substantial authority for a position and failed to make adequate disclosure, the substantial understatement penalty does not apply if the taxpayer had reasonable cause for the tax underpayment and acted in good faith [IRC Sec. 6664(c); Reg. 1.6664-4]. This defense is applied on a “facts and circumstances” basis [Reg. 1.6664-4(b)]. However, the key factor seems to be whether the taxpayer made a reasonably energetic attempt to determine the correct tax liability. For example, an honest misunderstanding of fact or law, an isolated computational error, reliance on professional tax advice, or reliance on information returns all indicate reasonable cause/good faith. However, if the taxpayer should have known better, the defense will not apply.

Observation: According to IRM 20.1.5.6, the most important factor in determining whether the taxpayer has reasonable cause and acted in good faith is the extent of the taxpayer’s effort to report the proper tax liability. For example, reliance on erroneous information reported on an information return indicates reasonable cause and good faith, provided the taxpayer did not know or have reason to know that the information was incorrect. Similarly, an isolated computational or transcription error may indicate reasonable cause and good faith. Other factors to consider are the taxpayer’s experience, knowledge, sophistication, education, mental and physical condition, and reliance on the advice of a tax advisor.

Back Tax Help

April 23, 2010 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS Examples of Tax Nonfiler Investigations – Fiscal Year 2010

Mike Habib, EA 877-788-2937

The following examples of Nonfiler investigations are excerpts from public record documents on file in the court records in the judicial district in which the cases were prosecuted.