Martin Cantu, EA - Tax Consultant - Tax Relief Services Blog

 Chapter 5 How to appeal the IRS when your offer in Compromise is Rejected.   Take One Last Chance at the Offer Specialist Level   Don't Fall For the Misleading Commercials! Lately I’ve seen a commercial on various social media outlets touting IRS Debt Relief, The Fresh Start Initiative and an Offer in Compromise. The commercial illustrates a taxpayer settling a large tax debt for $100. For the record, the only way to accomplish this is to be out of a job, with not job prospects, and living on the edge of homelessness – it’s all a fiction and does a real disservice to educate taxpayers as to how this process work. Set reasonable expectations for yourself – if you live in an expensive house, send the kids to private school, have late model cars, season tickets to local sports team and vacation two or three times a year – it isn’t going to happen for you.   An IRS Settlement Officer (SO) is a trained professional who is responsible for evaluating and negoti...

I'm now addicted to watching BigBrother #BB16, something I never considered watching until I was at my daughter's house. As I watch the "social game" play out, I thought it would be fun to use the players as examples of the type of people and responses we receive from the #IRS. Here are a couple, just for fun -  Devin - heavy handed and insulting; your worst nightmare; you'll do anything to get your file off his desk. Zack - loud, crazy and not much substance; you'll put up with an hour of ranting to get to one minute of rational thought. Nicole - sweet as pie; she'll bend over backwards to help you out, even though you may not like the result. Cayleb - "beast mode tax man"; my way or the highway, unless you're female. Donnie - dumb as a fox; you better watch yourself with Donnie - I think he has a masters in tax law and is former Navy Seal. Derrick - the perfect combination of smarts and empathy.  All in good fun. I wonder wha...

Here are a couple of things not to do when confronted with an IRS issue: 1. Ignore all those certified letters . Certified letters are the IRS' way of slapping you in the face to get your attention. Continue to ignore those letters and you're sure to anger the IRS. If your looking for a levy or garnishment, then you're headed in the right direction.  2. My accountant/lawyer/spouse/ etc  is responsible for filing my returns . Responsibility for filing returns rests squarely on you - not your spouse, not you accountant, not your lawyer or anyone else. Blame has no role in solving your tax issue.  3. The IRS owes me money, so I won't file . Great strategy, until you realize that the limitations period will run and you will lose that refund. And you know the movie script here - you have several years of taxes due that could be wiped out by a refund you did not claim 6 years ago. Just like any 70's disaster movie you lose. You lose the refund and you owe th...

Just when all is lost, the #IRSAppeals section comes to the rescue - sort of. #IRSAppeals is a great tool to use, at the right time and under the right circumstance. It can provide taxpayers with a break to get their house in order and make a good faith attempt to pay off the tax debt, usually via an installment plan. Its not quick fix pill. It takes work to muster the documents needed to support the taxpayer's position and to give the appeals officer the foundation to make the decision you want them to make. I like because is changes the playing field, getting it off one person's desk (collections) and onto another person's desk (appeals). Maybe its a card your don't have to play, or maybe its one you save for an other day. That is where experience plays a big role. As one collection officer told me recently, there are appeals opportunities all through the process. He was right, but the taxpayer has to get involved early to take advantage of those opportunities...