Tax Relief Blog

Get your IRS Tax Problems solved and relax

June 10, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

Get your IRS Tax Problems solved and relax

Do not lose sleep over your mounting tax debt – Internal Revenue Service () has designed a program to enable willing taxpayers to get some relief from the amount of tax owed by accepting less than their tax debt liabilities or allowing them installment payments or a holiday period from tax. This is known as the tax relief program and is implemented by offer in compromise / tax settlement with the individual who owes large sum of tax and is willing to pay.

If you qualify to pay less than the mounting tax debt you owe, you can settle your outstanding tax debt dues, the best way out for you is to hire a qualified and licensed tax professional who have experience in effectuating tax relief, IRS tax audit representation and or State tax audit representation. With the help of highly specialized and trained tax relief expert who will represent your case, you have a very good chance to get IRS tax relief and or State Tax relief.

Getting to Grips with Wage Garnishment

June 8, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

Getting to Grips with Wage Garnishment

Have you ever heard of a wage garnishment? If you haven’t, and you are responsible for paying the IRS what you owe them, then you should read on! If you’re in a position where you owe the IRS money already, then you shouldn’t just read on, but take note because wage garnishment is something that could very easily be in your future!

Every taxpayer knows that Uncle Sam needs his pound of flesh (or at least roll of dollars), regardless how many mouths you have to feed, and how high your mortgage payments are now that the financial world is in crisis, or how your income has changed. Uncle Sam doesn’t care if you’ve lost your job, or had to take unpaid leave because of health reasons. If you owe Uncle Sam money, he wants it; and in the form of wage garnishments, he’s going to make sure that he gets it.

There are strict procedural guidelines that the IRS must adhere to before they can attach a wage garnishment to your salary, and the first of these is to warn you that it’s about to happen. If you haven’t defaulted on your tax payments, then you need to immediately contact them because they need you in default in order to proceed! If you’re not in default, then they can’t put a wage garnishment onto your salary. You should get about 30 days warning of the wage garnishment going into effect so check the date that it is due to begin and use your time wisely.

Are you a Victim of Identity Theft?

June 8, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

In April 2009, the IRS released a new form for taxpayers who have experienced, or are at risk of harm from, identity theft. Form 14039, IRS Identity Theft Affidavit, is used to report identity theft to the IRS. FTB does not have a similar form, FTB do have internal procedures to help victims who contact them. First and foremost, FTB want the taxpayer or their representative to contact them as soon as they think something is wrong with their tax account, regardless of whether it was ID theft or not. When a taxpayer receives an FTB notice e.g., billing, refund reduction, e-file rejection that a taxpayer/victim believes is attributable to identity theft, their contact is given priority handling. We then focus on the following issues for the taxpayer:

Ensure the victim is held harmless, i.e., they get their full and correct refund.
Minimize the burden on the victim in resolving their identity theft-related tax problem.
Minimize the time to resolve the case, usually within two weeks to two months depending on the complexity.

FTB can also flag the account to block the automated processing of tax returns to a victim’s account. Anything that comes in after FTB flags an account would be manually processed for verification. FTB limit use of this specifically designating ID theft contacts flag.

The sooner the ID theft is reported, the easier it is to get the taxpayer’s account back in order. We would like to remind our readers that if they suspect something is wrong with their tax account or if they have been a victim of ID theft to let the IRS know.

If you are a victim of identity theft and have tax problems, such as back taxes, wage garnishment or a bank levy, contact us today for tax relief options.

HI Tax Relief

June 5, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

Hawaii – Tax Amnesty Program Announced

The State of Hawaii Department of Taxation announced that it is offering a “Tax Fresh Start Program,” running from May 27, 2009 through June 26, 2009.

The program provides an opportunity for eligible taxpayers to pay their back taxes to the state while avoiding penalties and potentially avoiding referral for criminal prosecution. It also offers a 50% reduction in interest from the statutory rate of 8% per annum to 4% per annum.

IRS seeks more regulation

June 5, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS to seek more regulation of tax preparers

The IRS reported that it is working on new rules that will require paid tax preparers to be licensed. This will improve tax compliance and reduce tax preparer fraud; IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman announced that on June 4, 2009.

A whopping eighty percent of taxpayers get help with their returns, either from paid tax preparers or tax software programs, Shulman told a congressional subcommittee. Surprisingly, tax preparers currently don’t have to be licensed, unless they represent clients in proceedings before the Internal Revenue Service.

Florida Tax Relief

May 24, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS Disaster Tax Relief

Added Leon, Levy and Wakulla counties, 5/12/09

Added Dixie and Gilchrist counties, 5/4/09

UBS Client Charged – First to Plead Guilty

May 24, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

UBS CLIENT PLEADS GUILTY TO FILING FALSE TAX RETURN HID ASSETS WORTH $3 MILLION IN SECRET SWISS BANK ACCOUNT

Ft. Lauderdale Yacht Broker Second UBS Client Charged, First to Plead Guilty

WASHINGTON – Robert Moran, of Lighthouse Point, Fla., pleaded guilty on criminal information charging him with filing a false income tax return, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Moran appeared today before Judge James I. Cohn in Ft. Lauderdale and accepted responsibility for concealing more than $3 million in assets in a secret bank account at UBS in Switzerland.

Tax Preparer Fraud – Beware!

May 24, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

U.S. JUDGE BARS TWO CONNECTICUT RESIDENTS FROM PREPARING FEDERAL TAX RETURNS FOR OTHERS

Father and Daughter Prepared Tax Returns That Falsified and Inflated Deductions for Customers

WASHINGTON – A federal district court in Connecticut has permanently barred Wethersfield residents Deowraj Buddhu and his daughter, Sunita Buddhu, from preparing federal tax returns for others. Mr. Buddhu and/or Ms. Buddhu have operated businesses that provide tax return preparation services under the names Paradise Consulting, Phoenix Consulting and Lotus Consulting, in Hartford, and Wethersfield, Connecticut.

Tax Evasion? Resolve!

May 24, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

TAX SHELTER PROMOTER PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRING TO IMPEDE AND IMPAIR THE IRS

WASHINGTON – Anthony G. Merlo, a former resident of Fort Worth, Texas, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States, the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced. Merlo appeared before Magistrate Judge Ellen S. Carmody in Grand Rapids, Mich.

In March 2008, Merlo and five others were indicted by a grand jury in Grand Rapids and charged with conspiring to defraud the United States by promoting, marketing, selling and administering fraudulent tax shelters called loss-of-income insurance policies. These policies were issued through Security Trust Insurance Co., a now-defunct company formerly known as Caduceus Life Insurance Co., that was located in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

IRS Tax Audits on the Rise

May 24, 2009 | Mike Habib, EA

IRS is hiring hundreds of Internal Revenue Agents

The IRS is hiring hundreds of Internal Revenue Agents – It’s a great time to join the agency!

The IRS has begun a major hiring effort to fill hundreds of critical jobs nationwide. Most of these jobs are for internal revenue agent positions (look for series number 0512). At least 30 hours of college-level accounting coursework is required for revenue agent jobs.