Category: Taxpayer Representation

Yesterday, the IRS rolled out a shiny, brand new version of Form 656-B, the Offer in Compromise application booklet. After years of complaints from every corner of the tax world, including tax professionals, taxpayer advocacy groups, the government’s own Taxpayer Advocate panel, and even members of Congress, the IRS has finally fixed the worst problem that has ever existed with the Offer in Compromise program.

For the past 15 years, the IRS expected you to include in your offer amount the equivalent of your next 4 or 5 years worth of disposable income. In other words, the IRS would look at your current income, deduct your allowable household expenses, and then multiply that number by either 48 or 60…and then expect you to come up with that amount of money (plus the value of your assets) within the next few months, which obviously isn’t practical and defeats the very purpose of the OIC program.

Here’s an example: If you make $4,000 per month, and the IRS “allows” you credit for $3,500 in monthly expenses, then you have $500 per month left over. If you agree to pay your Offer amount in 5 months or less, they multiply that $500 times 48 months, which is $24,000. If you also happen to have $20,000 of equity between a car and your house, your minimum offer amount suddenly becomes $44,000, or almost an entire year’s salary…and they expect you to come up with that amount in 5 months. And if you owe the IRS less than this amount, then you’re not even eligible for the program.

In other words, the Offer program was really only an option for people that owed hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars, and could come up with that kind of cash to make a lump sum payment, OR was only good for people that were absolutely destitute, with absolutely no assets and so little income that they couldn’t even realistically put a roof over their head.

Well, the IRS finally wised up after years of effort by tax consultants such as myself, advocacy groups, and the Taxpayer Advocate. Under the new rules announced yesterday, the IRS has dropped the “multiply by 48 or 60” rule and made it a “multiply by 12 or 24 rule”. If you are paying your offer amount in full within 5 months, this means that your minimum offer amount you must send the IRS just … Continue reading

One of the most common points of confusion among business owners in regard to their tax debt has to do with the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty. I’d like to explain what “trust fund” taxes are, where they come from, how the IRS holds somebody personally responsible for them, and, most importantly, what you can do about them.

What Are “Trust Fund” Taxes?

“Trust fund” taxes are any tax that is collected by you, on behalf of somebody else. There are many different trust fund taxes, but the two most common are sales taxes and income withholding taxes.

Most states are very aggressive about collecting sales taxes (North Carolina will physically arrest you for not paying them). Technically speaking, sales taxes are owed by the person making the purchase. However, because they are collected at the point of sale, they are a trust fund tax. This is because the person paying them (e.g., your customer) is “trusting” you to hold that tax money and pay it on their behalf. When you receive sales tax money from your customers, you are supposed to hold it in a separate “trust” account, and then hand it over to the tax man when it is due (usually monthly, in most states/counties).

Income withholding taxes are also “entrusted” to you by your employees. Specifically, these are income taxes you withhold from paychecks, and the employee’s half of Social Security and Medicare that you take out of their paycheck.

Even though the employee never sees the money that’s taken out of their paycheck, they expect it to exist, somewhere. That somewhere is a trust account (generally your payroll account) where you save that money up and then pay it to the government every two weeks or monthly.

Payroll taxes are the one of the biggest enforcement concern to the IRS. Part of running a business and having employees is exercising ordinary business care and prudence. This is fancy lingo enshrined within the tax code that basically means the IRS expects you to exercise common sense in regards to running your business. Part of this common sense is to understand that your employees cost you more than just the paycheck you actually write them, and if your business doesn’t have the revenue to support those extra costs of having employees, then you shouldn’t have the employee.

So, to recap, trust fund taxes are taxes that are owed by other people, such as … Continue reading

TaxMasters, a tax resolution firm based out of Houston, TX, had been under investigation by the Texas Attorney General since 2010 for unethical sales practices. After finally going to trial earlier this year, a jury has passed down a verdict of $195 million against the firm. This amount includes $113 million in restitution to the firm’s customers, $81 million in civil penalties, and $1 million in attorney fees. The company was found guilty of 110,000 violations of Texas consumer protection laws.

Founder and CEO Patrick Cox himself must pay well over $40 million of the award from his own personal fortune.

The firm was primarily accused of failing to disclose it’s no-refund policy, and for failing to immediately start work on a client’s case, but rather waiting until fees were fully paid before even doing anything to protect clients.

The firm recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection during the course of the trial.

If you were a TaxMasters client, however, don’t expect to get any money. In it’s bankruptcy filing, the company only listed $50,000 in assets, and it is unlikely that Patrick Cox possesses the $40 million assessed against himself.

So, what can you do if you are a victim of TaxMasters, or any other company? Here are some quick tips:

1. Contact your Revenue Officer immediately, to find out the status of your case in the collections process.
2. If you have tax returns that are overdue, get them filed immediately.
3. Assemble any financial information requested by your Revenue Officer.
4. Request a 120 day collections hold in order to give you time to put everything together and prepare a plan of attack, particularly if you can’t pay your tax debt in full.
5. If your tax situation is more complex than you are comfortable handling, then seek professional assistance from a licensed taxpayer representative (Enrolled Agent, CPA, or tax attorney).

It’s a travesty that unscrupulous companies such as TaxMasters, American Tax Relief (shut down by the FTC with a $105 million judgement), Roni Deutsch (shut down by the California AG), and JK Harris (went bankrupt in 2011) have been stealing from hardworking taxpayers for years (TaxMasters complaints ran back to 2005). Always conduct proper due diligence before hiring any tax resolution firm.

Even if you already have representation, if you want a second opinion about your case, be sure to contact a local tax firm in our directory.… Continue reading