Handling IRS Collections Methods

Filing your tax return without including the amount due yet is the first phase in the IRS collections process. The IRS will then send you a bill for the amount owed. This first bill will just bear the reason for the amount due and then require you to make a payment in full. If you don’t pay attention to this notice, another one will be sent to you making reference to the period and amount due as well as any applicable charges. Continuing to ignore what the IRS sends you would lea to the receipt of notices that are more threatening in nature. These notices, on the other hand, adhere to a specific format and are sent in a particular order. Looking them up from the IRS will give you more information and help you understand what each notice implies. In general, getting several notices affirms that you have an IRS problem.

Should you find some errors in the computation of your taxes, you simply have to send the IRS a letter or make a phone call to request for a meeting with them. They are always open for a discussion that will eventually lead to making necessary adjustments in your taxes should it be found out that there were indeed miscalculations in the computation. For instance, if you already paid the bill and they continue to send out notices, you simply need to provide them proof of payment such as copies of a canceled check. Just make sure that you never send any original documents so will always have support data on your IRS payments.

On the contrary, if the tax bill is actually correct and you indeed must pay the amount stated, you still have several payment options.. If the bill is a significant sum of money and you believe you cannot pay it in full, you may request for an installment payment plan agreement. This arrangement, however, means that you have to pay for the debt over a time, you have to be charged with the applicable fees and may be penalized until you are able to pay the total amount.

If, at the present, you are truly unable to make even a partial payment, it may be possible to request the IRS to defer their collection efforts for a given length of time. During this time, you would be considered currently not collective. This will, on the other hand, still cause you penalties and interests that will most likely accumulate. This will only worsen your IRS problem.

Offer in Compromise, also known as OIC, is among the options that IRS offers to those who have problems paying their taxes. Here, a certain percentage of the debt is forgiven and you will only be required to pay a significantly lesser amount. Even though you will be required to go through a more stringent process, applying for this option is worth the risk. OIC effectively eases your IRS problems, at least until the next year.

There are many instances when all it requires to solve an IRS tax issue is to simply call your local IRS office. Some incidents, however, require that you employ the services of an expert for advice on IRS collections methods. Even though you are in debt, the fact still remains that you need to be treated fairly and justly. Just be prompt in answering the notices that the IRS sends you. Doing otherwise results to the enforcement of more threatening and more invasive collections procedures.

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