Fort Lauderdale IRS Notices Lawyer Helping Clients Struggling With Tax Problems in Florida
Have you received a Notice from the IRS only to leave it on your kitchen counter, desk, or worse, just hide it under a stack of bills? Are you afraid to even open the letter from the IRS? Unfortunately, those letters from the IRS will just keep coming. Your problem won’t go away, and it is best to not ignore them.
What Should I Do if I Received a Letter From the IRS?
IRS problems can affect many aspects of your life. If you don’t take action, the IRS may make the situation worse by adding penalties to what you already owe.
Adding penalties to your tax bill is just one of the ways they use to get your attention and try to collect the money you owe them – in addition to sending you letters that may become progressively more threatening in their tone. If you received a letter from the IRS, the best thing to do is to not ignore it and contact a financial professional or a tax attorney who can help you chart the best course of action.
What Can the IRS Do if I Have an Unpaid Tax Bill?
As the collection arm of the U.S. Treasury, the IRS has a lot of power. If you have unpaid taxes and have not tried to make arrangements to pay them, the IRS can freeze your bank accounts and even seize all the money in those accounts, too. You may also be impacted by a wage garnishment that could seize up to 75% of your paycheck.
The IRS can also put a lien on your property (including your house), making it nearly impossible to borrow against it to pay off your tax debt. Even if you sell your house, any equity you may get from the sale goes to the IRS. A federal tax lien makes it difficult to borrow any money and negatively impacts your credit, meaning that renting an apartment, purchasing a car, or getting any type of credit is extremely hard. In a nutshell, the IRS can take several types of collection action against you without a court order.
What Should I Do If I Haven’t Filed My Taxes In Years?
Most people with IRS problems haven’t filed in a few years. It is estimated that nearly 10 million people have delinquent tax returns, which means you are not the only one – and there’s no reason to feel embarrassed. It can happen to anyone – you go through a rough patch in life due to an illness or disease that prevents you from working, or you end up losing your job and cannot pay your taxes one year and end up not filing. Then, the next year, you are afraid of filing your taxes because you don’t want to deal with any consequences
Unfortunately, not filing your tax returns is against the law. If you have not filed in a previous year, it is best to get the help of a tax attorney and fix the problem before it snowballs into something even more serious. The IRS will usually be open to working out a plan with taxpayers who want to regularize their situation voluntarily, but it can be very aggressive if the taxpayer is simply ignoring the problem.
Are My Retirement Funds Safe from the IRS?
It is important to understand that the IRS can not only seize the money in your bank accounts and seize your real estate and personal property, but also the money you may obtain from Social Security and other retirement income. This means they have the authority to take money from your pension, 401(k), and IRA.
In short, if you have unfiled and/or unpaid taxes and have not tried to fix the problem with the IRS, they can come after any type of money or property you may have. If you don’t currently have any assets but end up acquiring something in the future, they may want to seize that as well, and the collection efforts will continue until your tax debt is paid in full, jeopardizing not only your financial well-being but also your emotional health, as losing your assets and everything you worked for is stressful and overwhelming.
How Can I Fix My Problems With The IRS?
The good news is that there are many options to get your life back and reach a favorable outcome for your tax problems, including a way to protect your savings and your paycheck and keep your car. There are new laws created to protect taxpayers and help solve tax debt, such as the Offer-in-Compromise program.
When you choose to take action, you may represent yourself before the IRS, but that is risky and not recommended for most taxpayers. Instead, consider hiring someone familiar with how the IRS operates and who knows how to navigate around all its ins and outs to protect you and your rights. At the Law Office of Ray Haselman, our attorney focuses solely on helping taxpayers with their IRS Problems every day, and he is ready to help you stop living in fear of the IRS and take back control over your life.
What Happens After I Hire a Tax Attorney to Represent Me?
The first step to allowing a tax attorney like the Law Office of Ray Haselman to represent you is to sign a Power of Attorney. Once that is done, the IRS is no longer allowed to contact you directly, and your attorney will take over all communications, phone calls, and letters from the IRS on your behalf.
Next, your attorney will likely make calls to request the IRS to release the bank levies and wage garnishments against you and will also retrieve all your IRS tax records to fully understand what you owe and what returns need to be filed. Then, your attorney will help you prepare and file all your delinquent income tax returns.
Finally, your attorney will negotiate with the IRS to seek a That may mean making an offer in compromise, a properly structured payment plan, filing for currently not collectible status, obtaining a penalty reduction, and more. Once the IRS has accepted the amount you offer and you pay the reduced amount, all federal tax liens are released.
Why Hire a Fort Lauderdale Tax Attorney to Help Me?
A tax attorney can help you take advantage of new laws that have gone into effect to help financially strapped taxpayers settle up with the agency, such as the IRS Fresh Start Initiative, which includes the offer-in-compromise program. This program gives qualified taxpayers a chance to pay the IRS a lot less than they owe.
At the Law Office of Ray Haselman, we have helped many clients settle their cases, get penalties and interest removed and reduce the amount they owe the IRS – even if they don’t qualify for an offer in compromise. If you are struggling with the IRS, reach out to the Law Office of Ray Haselman in Fort Lauderdale by calling 786-522-0410 and requesting a free, confidential consultation to see how we may be able to help you.