Choosing a Tax Attorney There are a number of things you should consider when choosing a tax professional or tax attorney to assist you with your tax problem: Hire a Tax Professional If you are facing a challenging audit with the potential for a large tax bill or for harsh penalties, a tax attorney, who is trained in negotiation skills and understands tax law will be best suited to negotiate a favorable outcome. A Read More
Tax Law 101: An Audit vs. Correspondence Audit vs. Adjustment Letter
Coming home to a notice from the IRS is never a fun moment, regardless of whether or not you are someone who always pays their taxes and submits their returns on time. However, just because you received a letter from the IRS doesn’t mean there’s any reason to panic. Although you might have thoughts of a terrifying tax audit circling in your brain, it’s actually fairly unlikely that a comprehensive audit is on your Read More
Facing Your Tax Problems
Business owners and others with tax problems often get into trouble by trying to avoid their problems or by believing at some level that if they ignore their problems, they will go away. A client of mine came to me a couple of years ago after being injured at his construction job.[1] This severely limited his ability to find gainful employment in his field. The settlement process was taking much longer than Read More
Yes, You Can Make a Deal With the IRS!
If you owe the IRS a tax debt and are struggling to pay it off, then you’ve probably come to dread hearing the mailman pull up to your house. But, contrary to popular belief, dealing with the IRS doesn’t have to be so difficult or scary. At the end of the day, the IRS just wants to see that you are making an effort to work with them to figure out how to pay off your debt. That’s why if you’ve received notices or Read More
How to Fight Against Wage Garnishment
Whenever you owe money to the IRS, there are several things they can do in order to make sure you begin repaying your debt. A common route the IRS will take is by imposing a levy on your personal property, money, or wages. Receiving a levy notice from the IRS is a stressful experience, and you’ll want to make sure you do everything you can make sure the IRS does not actually go through with collection proceedings. Read More
New Tax Act Changes What You May Deduct
The newly passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has made big changes to the items that may be deducted as itemized deductions. The TCJA has changed both what and how much is deductible for state and local income or sales taxes, property taxes on homes, home mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and more. The TCJA also raised the standard deduction in 2018 to $12,000 for single taxpayers and $24,000 for married Read More
Understanding Excise Taxes
For both business owners and consumers, taxes make buying and selling things expensive. It’s one of those facts of life. There are many different tax laws that have to be complied with at both the state and federal level, which sometimes makes it difficult to figure out how much things actually cost. As consumers, we’re most used to sales taxes calculated on the total cost of goods or services at checkout. But as a Read More
Reasonable Cause for Abatement of Penalties
One of the most common and costly problems taxpayers encounter is penalties and interest that the IRS can add onto original tax amounts. The IRS can impose penalties for filing your tax return late, paying your taxes after the due date, and failing to deposit estimated tax payments. If they are not paid, penalties and interest can double your IRS bill in about seven years. One way that you can get these penalties Read More
When the IRS Can Take Your Passport Away
Every year, thousands of people take trips to destinations outside of the United States, and the purpose of their journeys vary—business, an exotic vacation, a desire to explore the remnants of past cultures, an admiration for medieval architecture, a religious pilgrimage to a holy city, etc. Most international travel requires the use of a passport. While most people are aware that the IRS can levy bank accounts, Read More
Tax-related Identity Theft
Identity theft. For many of us, it is something really don’t know much about, but that we dread – knowing that it can wreak havoc on our lives. Thankfully, our modern banking institutions are well-equipped to combat banking fraud, and we have many services that render help when our identities have been compromised. But what happens when you’re the victim of tax-related identity theft? In today’s blog, I will discuss Read More