Tax Attorney Columbus Ohio

While most reasons for not filing taxes are acceptable, the fact is, even late or back taxes eventually need to be filed. No matter how late, filing your back taxes will help to either lessen or altogether prevent any IRS problems. The IRS still requires that you file your taxes, whether you only missed a particular year or have not done so since mid 1980s. This will absolutely lessen your risk of being prosecuted by the IRS and having enforced tax collection procedures thrust upon you.   

While it would be nice to have all tax records readily available, this is not possible for many people. Phenomena like fires, floods and other calamities may destroy all of a person’s belongings, including relevant documents. On the bright side, a great tax attorney and accountant are instrumental in successfully filing your back taxes as they can assist in the reconstruction and retracing of tax records. In some extreme cases, tax lawyers have been known to prepare and recreate relatively accurate and complete tax records dating as far back as 15 to 20 years earlier.

Some people would have wanted to dutifully pay for their taxes had it not been for certain circumstances, like not having enough money to pay the amount due on their returns. Fortunately, they are provided with the choice of filing a missing return or back taxes. Its key benefits include not being imposed with the substantial penalty of 25%, the fee for late filing. Certain states can in fact penalize you with larger fees even if you do not owe them any money, if you fail to complete this legal obligation.

You will definitely conserve a great deal of time if you were able to keep all your tax information from previous years. What you just need to do now is prepare your tax returns. This is the stage when you need professional help the most. The thought of not knowing whether or not you owe back taxes or knowing that you have not paid for them is distressing.  Clients have observed that just making an appointment to see a tax professional who can help them sort through the maze of forms and procedures makes their worries go away.

Most people go on believing that electronic methods can be utilized in filing for back taxes. The IRS, on the other hand, does not allow these, as they prefer to receive these requests through hand delivery or mail. Also, using certified mail is required to have proof of IRS receipt on these documents.

Those who know they owe the IRS some amount of money will most likely be obliged to pay interest and other applicable penalties. In this case, types of IRS assistance, like payments plans, are available.

In reality, filing back taxes can be a relatively quick and easy process. What complicates the situation is your refusal to instantaneously deal with the issue and inaction in filing and paying back taxes.  At worst, you might, in the end, owe significant amounts of money and face more severe consequences because of these IRS issues.

Many good folks each year fall behind in filing their tax returns. The largest reasons for not filing are fear of not knowing how to file and the thought of not being able to pay the balance due. Even if you are unable to pay you should file your return to avoid future penalties for not filing. Penalties for not filing can reach up to 25% of the amount due. If you are due a refund from the IRS there is no penalty for not filing. However, you should file as soon as possible to avoid losing your refund. After three years from the tax return due date you will not be eligible to collect a refund or claim tax credits on your return.

To help those who can not afford to pay the balance due by April 15th the IRS does offer installment agreements to pay off your debt. The downside to installment agreements is that you will continue to pay penalties and interest because you did not pay your yearly taxes in full. If your debt to the IRS is so large that an installment agreement will not help and there is reason to believe that paying would place you in a financial hardship there is the option to file an offer in compromise. In the case that you believe you may qualify to file an offer in compromise you should consult with an experienced professional first.

To help ensure that you do not end up with a large tax bill at the end of the year make sure you are withholding enough tax from your regular paycheck or making estimated tax payments throughout the year if you are self employed. Events such as an increase in earnings or change in marital status may call for the need to change your withholding amount. As long as the taxpayer has paid the same amount of taxes from the prior year or they have paid 90% of the current year’s tax, whichever is smaller, they will not be penalized.

After not filing one year it seems the chances of filing the next year go from slim to none. If you are years behind in filing you should consult with a professional to help you file all your returns correctly. The sooner you file; the better. Penalties and interest will continue to accrue until you decide to do something about them. Finding someone who is knowledgeable in tax law and IRS procedures will help take the stress off of your shoulders. You can sign a power of attorney to allow that person to communicate with the IRS directly on your behalf.

In the event that you owe the IRS money and you have made no effort to arrange for payment the IRS may take action through issuing a tax levy (such as garnishing your wages) or serving you with a federal tax lien. A garnishment of wages, or wage levy, takes place by notifying your employer of your debt and forcing them to send a portion of your wages to the IRS. Depending on your debt and other factors such as marital status and number of dependents; 30% to 70% of your check may be withheld. Wage levies which are often a surprise can make living very difficult for someone by not enabling them to pay their bills. In order to avoid dealing with a wage levy contact the IRS or get a professional to assist you as soon as you receive notice that they are going to levy your paycheck or bank account. A levy can also take place in the form of personal property (your house, car, boat) or other property that is yours but held by another entity (your social security, dividends, or rental income).

As for tax liens, the IRS often file them to protect their interest. If you have a tax lien filed against you it will destroy your credit. For all debts besides secured mortgages, the IRS becomes the next lien holder and they will not release the lien until you have fully paid off the debt or an offer in compromise case has been settled.

Although most cases with the IRS are handled in civil court the consequences for not filing and complying with IRS laws can be brutal. It can be a crime to willfully not file a return. To avoid being investigated you have to make an effort to file your return or make arrangements to begin the process of filing (such as hiring a tax professional) before you receive a letter stating that you are under criminal investigation. In 2006 the IRS obtained indictments in over half of the non-filer cases it criminally investigated. Average jail time given to those that were convicted was 40 months. You must show that you are making an effort to comply with the law in order to stay away from serving jail time and especially to avoid the loss of hard earned property. Remember that going up against the IRS alone is like getting in the lions den without a weapon. Hiring an experienced professional to guide you is the most beneficial option you can take.

Owe back taxes? Not dealing with it yet? You are not alone but there is a solution to your back taxes problem and your tax procrastination.

Any tax attorney or tax resolution professional will tell you that most of their clients who owe back taxes made the problem worse by procrastinating. It is a very human response to a scary problem. However, there’s a solution to “back taxes terror” and “failure to file” syndrome. What tax procrastinators need to fear, is not the amount of back taxes owed, but fear itself.

Back taxes terror can take a number of forms. If solving IRS problems seems too difficult or you feel like you don’t know enough about the tax code, there’s tax help available from a good tax attorney or tax resolution professional. If you’re afraid of the world knowing you screwed up your taxes, that’s nothing compared to failure to file penalties or even gong to jail for tax evasion. Don’t let your back taxes fear get the best of you when it comes to the IRS. People tend to ignore their back taxes problems hoping they will go away – but back tax debt will only get worse.

Fortunately, there’s a solution to every back taxes problem, such as negotiating partial payments via IRS payment plans, applying for tax settlements through the Offer in Compromise program, etc. But the first step is getting over your fears by contacting a tax attorney or tax resolution professional now.

Everyone procrastinates to some degree, however procrastinating when it comes to taxes can be detrimental to your overall financial wellbeing. But there’s hope for tax procrastinators! Procrastination is most often caused by anxiety, not laziness. Back taxes terror isn’t like other forms of tax procrastination. Paralyzing back taxes terror snowballs when you know you owe the IRS delinquent back taxes and your nightmare ratchets up knowing that each delay getting IRS help on your unfiled tax returns or back taxes exposes you to IRS audits, tax liens, wage garnishments, delinquent tax penalties, fines and even jail time for tax fraud.

Procrastinating on unfiled tax returns and back taxes can come in a few varieties.

1. The IRS hasn’t sent you a letter yet, so you think they’ve forgotten about your back taxes.

Maybe you are delinquent on your taxes because you didn’t file your taxes for a number of years and are hoping the IRS doesn’t notice your back taxes owed. Bet your bottom dollar that the IRS will discover every unfiled tax return at the worst possible moment and then the IRS will go after your assumed debt from back taxes with levies, wage garnishments, tax liens, delinquent tax penalties and a tax audit of your federal and state returns.

The sad part of unfiled tax returns is that people who fear back taxes actually end up losing money that would rightfully be theirs.  Bankrate states that  “According to the IRS, 1.3 million individuals who failed to file a tax return in 2004 left a total of $1.2 billion in unclaimed refunds in the coffers. Half of those nonfilers would have received a refund of more than $552. Some also may have been eligible for the refundable earned income tax credit.”

If you haven’t gotten an IRS back taxes notice yet, run to your nearest tax attorney or tax resolution professional as soon as you can. Being proactive gives you an advantage so you can work on YOUR timetable rather than the IRS’  even while your time is running out. Remember, the key to beating tax procrastination is taking bite sized baby steps. The first all important step is contacting a tax attorney or tax resolution professional today. Let them hold your hand through this back taxes process. Taking care of a client’s anxiety is what a good tax attorney and tax resolution professional does.

2. You get a scary-looking letter or notice from the IRS and you’re so terrified you can’t even open the envelope.

So you stuff it under a pile of magazines, hoping it will go away. No such luck. It won’t.  But don’t panic. Most IRS notices are about simple math or form errors. Even if you use tax preparation software, you could’ve clicked on the wrong check box (for example “head of household” doesn’t mean who holds the remote control). Many of these errors actually work in your favor with the IRS owing you money. By not opening that letter, you are letting the IRS keep money that should be yours. But if the error works against you and you owe back taxes, delaying your response won’t make it any easier. The IRS will levy penalties on you and could ratchet up their investigation into a multi-year tax audit. If you feel the IRS is in error or you can’t pay your back taxes, you should contact a tax resolution professional or tax attorney. On no account should you talk to anyone at the IRS yourself. (See below.)

3. You open the big bad scary IRS tax audit letter and you are paralyzed with fear.

If you feel you are out of your depth, you are. Leave this back taxes issue to the professionals. Contact a tax attorney or tax resolution professional. A willful delay paying your back taxes or responding to the IRS could mean jail time.

Did you know it is a misdemeanor in this country not to file a legally required return when due? That’s the whole reason why actor Wesley Snipes went to jail! Even if you haven’t filed one year – it is still considered delinquent. Open your IRS letter and call a tax attorney or tax resolution specialist immediately to make an action plan.

If it is a correspondence audit letter, it will show your filed returns versus what the IRS shows was filed on your behalf by other parties. If you don’t respond with expert help then you will get another letter forcing you to go to tax court or pay up! You will also be sent to collection for your back taxes. This is why you need to go to a tax resolution professional or tax attorney, to resolve your back taxes issues before you get sent to collection!

The wrong thing to do is not respond to your letter. The other wrong thing to do is not get professional help! Here’s why: every audit we go to is an eggshell audit because the first thing that the nice auditor is going to do is ask you 54 questions – so that you can incriminate yourself. Over half of the referrals to the IRS’s criminal investigation division come from that very nice lady or gentleman you’re sitting across the table from. It’s like going to court without a lawyer.

Whether you are a chronic procrastinator or person of action, you only have one choice to deal with your back taxes problem: get expert help! A good tax attorney or tax resolution professional will make you a tax relief action plan. A back taxes solution might be an offer in compromise; the IRS will accept a much smaller lump sum for the total back taxes debt that’s owed- if you can prove that you do not have the future ability to pay the IRS off. If you try to handle your back taxes issues yourself, you’re going up against the most brutal collection agency on the planet and they are trained to say “no”! They are not in the business of saying yes to writing off back taxes and that is why you need tax expert representation!

You need to act today. Often the fear of back taxes results in tax problems compounding for years, until it starts to affect other areas of your life (self-confidence, frustration, personal/family time). So if this is you, the solution is: Stop the procrastination. Let a tax resolution professional help you cope with the pressures of back tax debt and begin the important task of overcoming them so you can regain your personal (and financial) freedom.

Okay back taxes procrastinator, you now know what to do. It is time to get started. You’ll feel better.

For more information on achieving a tax resolution for your unfiled tax returns or back taxes, visit www.taxresolution.com for a free tax relief consultation or call 866-IRS-PROBLEMS.