Georgia Tax Legal Questions

You need to correct the situation as soon as possible, by filing returns for each missing year as soon as you can and paying as much as you can of any amounts owed. You may be best advised to get a good tax CPA to help you, but even if you file them yourself it should still be better than not filing at all. Try to be as complete and correct in preparing each return as you can, and make sure you file on time for the most recent year. If you wait until the IRS catches you, it will just be a worse mess. If you come forward on your own and immediately begin taking steps to try to correct the problem before the IRS notices one, then it puts you in a much better position to ask for and be granted any breaks you might be able to receive.... Read More

It sounds like you may well be able to claim the child legally as your dependent, but if his mother also claims him you may be audited by the IRS. In that case, you will need to be able to show both that you had guardianship legally and that you actually provided the child's support, and not his mother. You should find a very knowledgeable tax-focused CPA in order to help you review the situation and file any return, if you decide to claim the child as your dependent. Best wishes to you.... Read More

It's impossible for me to answer your question without being able to see all the underlying documentation. You should have asked this question before the checks were cut and sent out, too, because sometimes it is too late after that happens. Get a good financial advisor to look at what you have and help you figure out what you can do with it. Best wishes.... Read More

It depends on what type of organization it is. For a corporation, the federal income tax return is usually IRS Form 1120 (or 1120-S for S corporations). For a partnership or a limited liability company treated as a partnership, then the federal income tax return filed is usually IRS Form 1065. If the organization is a single-member limited liability company treated as a sole proprietorship, then it will usually report its income and expenses on the owner's personal income tax return (i.e., the IRS Form 1040, for an individual owner, or the appropriate entity's return if the single owner is another company). State return numbers vary. I would strongly recommend that anyone with a business hire professional tax counsel to help you prepare any returns, however: a good tax CPA, for example.... Read More

The funds most likely are taxable income under the circumstances you describe, at least to some extent. A 1099 may or may not be issued. However, you need to ensure that you report the award correctly even if you don't receive a 1099. Find a very skilled tax accountant to help you prepare your income tax returns for the year you received the award.... Read More

You probably can't have them removed from your credit report. However, you have a couple of ways to try to reduce the impact. One is to contact the agency which holds each lien and ask them to file information with the credit bureaus to show that the underlying debt was paid off and the lien released. The other is to put that same information into a letter you write and ask the credit reporting company to put in your file as supplemental information. As long as the liens were validly issued, however, you can't dispute them and they won't generally be removed, because they are part of your credit history. If they weren't valid, however, you can dispute the information. Best wishes to you.... Read More

You should not have to physically travel to Arkansas to find a realtor to help you sell the property. If you stop paying taxes and a tax foreclosure results, yes, it may well affect your credit negatively. As for your question about what happens to any excess of the sales price over the taxes due: there likely wouldn't be any, and if there is, the right to the excess is determined by state law. Since the property is located in Arkansas, that's the law which would control, not Georgia. I would very strongly recommend that you use the internet and phone to find someone to help you sell the property, instead of just effectively walking away from it and letting it go for unpaid taxes. The results of that could be very negative. In addition, there's no guarantee that you'd even be able to get the state or county for foreclose for the taxes due, so you could get stuck with the land, plus interest and penalties due on the unpaid taxes. Good luck.... Read More

Unfortunately, you may have a hard time finding an attorney who will represent you in an audit for free. You should contact the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation (avlf.org) or the Georgia State University taxpayer clinic http://taxclinic.law.gsu.edu/ They may be able to help or help you find someone. Best wishes to you.... Read More

You need to talk to a NY tax attorney. I would NOT suggest posting this online, however. Find an attorney in NY and schedule a telephone consultation. You might have some recourse, but you shouldn't be posting any information relating to a potential lawsuit in public, and because your location is coming up here as Georgia I'm not sure any NY attorneys will see your question. Best wishes to you.  ... Read More

Under the circumstances you describe, arguably you have been added to the account solely for purposes of your mother's convenience. That does mean, however, that the account will become part of her probate estate and will be dealt with that way, and that you should NOT claim the assets as surviving joint owner. If she is in Georgia, the probate process normally isn't difficult, and if she has any other assets there will need to be a probate anyhow. Expenses until the Executor or Administrator is appointed would need to be paid, yes, but if a beneficiary pays them they can get reimbursed as soon as the estate is open. If you receive the funds as a joint owner (or under a payable on death designation, which is not what you want on the account), then yes, you will be deemed to make gifts if you give assets away or use them to pay estate-related expenses (this would mean that you take the position that you were NOT added to the account solely for purposes of your mother's convenience). You are correct to be concerned. Your mother is not doing things the right way. Unfortunately, sometimes people just won't, and the ones they leave behind will just have to figure things out and make the best of it. I hope she at least has had a Will prepared, along with a power of attorney and an advance directive for health care. If she has those, and they are any good, then they can go a long way in reducing the hassles she may leave behind.    ... Read More

If your divorce agreement gave your ex the right to claim your eldest child as a dependent, then that will normally control, since you waived the normal rules by signing that agreement. I can't tell from your post whether you told the woman at the IRS that the divorce agreement gave your ex the right to claim the child. It sounds like she gave you the normal rule, which would be the case except the divorce agreement changes it. If the attorney who told you that you couldn't claim your son is a tax attorney and should know what he or she is talking about, I would listen to the attorney. If you ignore the agreement and claim your son as a dependent, and then your ex also claims the child as a dependent in accordance with your agreement, then the IRS is going to get involved. If the IRS comes after your ex, then he will rightly show them the divorce agreement in which you agreed that he could claim the child. That means that you will be the one in violation of your agreement. Unless you can show that the agreement was later modified in a binding manner, so that you would have the right to claim the child, you will be the one who loses that argument.... Read More

If you are legally obligated to pay the loan as a co-signer, then you may be able to deduct the interest. You should make sure that your daughter does not try to also deduct it. You should also have the lender issue the 1099 to you. But ideally, do not take the deduction without consulting an actual income tax return preparer who is more familiar with the rules and your actual situation.... Read More

It's not entirely clear what your question is, but it sounds like you received good advice regarding your children and any income tax deduction for them as dependents. If your ex-wife tries to claim them, then the IRS may challenge your claim, but if you can prove that you are providing those items, and especially if the divorce decree says you get the deduction, then you should be able to win that challenge. Unfortunately, there's no way to actually prevent her from trying to claim them anyhow.... Read More

Yes, it is legal. In fact, if you had purchased the motorcycle here, you would have paid sales tax upon the purchase, and still paid ad valorem taxes each year. The ad valorem tax is paid for the privilege of owning property. You may not like it, but it is legal. In fact, it's one of the oldest forms of tax in the United States. If you want to be able to avoid the ad valorem tax on your cars and motorcycles, you may want to sell the current one and buy a new one. Beginning this year, Georgia did away with its share of the ad valorem taxes on motor vehicles which were purchased after the law's effective date. You'll pay a tax up front but not the annual tax based on value. Vehicles you owned before the law's effective date, however, are going to remain subject to the ad valorem taxes as long as you continue to own them.  ... Read More

If your grandmother is still alive, and she transferred the house to you for $1, she made a gift to you to the extent that the fair market value of the house was more than $1 on the date of the transfer. (I am going to assume for purposes of this discussion that neither your brother nor your sister actually received an interest in the house or paid anything for the house as part of this transfer, since it does not appear from your post that they did. The statement about their being heirs is meaningless in this context.) This type of transaction is called a "part-gift-part-sale" transaction, although in this case it would have been mostly all gift. If you receive property as a gift, you take the same basis for income tax purposes as the transferring person had at the time of the gift. If you pay something for the property as part of the transfer, then you can add what you actually paid to the basis to determine your own basis for income tax purposes. It is NOT treated as if it were an inheritance, because it isn't an inheritance. For it to be an inheritance, you would have to have received the property as a result of your grandmother's death. Your grandmother may have made a taxable gift to you when she transferred the house. In addition, she may have caused problems if she ever needs Medicaid benefits for nursing home care. Here's an example of how to determine your basis if you sell the property: Figure out what your grandmother's basis is. Usually, that would be what she paid for the property (or the fair market value of the property at the time she inherited it, if she didn't buy it but inherited). Determine if any improvements made by your grandmother while she owned it would add to that original basis. Add your $1 payment. If the house was worth more than that basis at the time of the transfer to you, then if you sell, your capital gains would be the difference between that basis and the sales price. If the house was worth less than that basis at the time of the transfer, your capital LOSS will be based on the difference between the value of the house at the transfer date, not the basis. So loss on a gifted property is limited. If you sell and then give your siblings part of the sales proceeds, you will be making potentially taxable gifts to them, assuming I am correct that you are currently the only owner of the house at this point. You really should have consulted someone before doing this transaction, and you really should consider consulting someone NOW before you do anything else.... Read More

You and the landlord are pretty much free to agree that you will pay the mobile home and property taxes as part of your lease. In addition, if your agreement is intended to eventually provide you with ownership of the property, it would be fairly typical for you to pay the taxes on the mobile home and the lot. So the short answer is likely that yes, the landlord can ask you to pay these taxes, and you can agree to do so. However, if you don't think that your agreement was intended to include your paying these taxes, then you need to talk to your landlord and get your agreement finalized and on paper as soon as possible. Ideally, you should have had the agreement in writing, mutually satisfactory, and signed before you moved into the property.... Read More

Income reported on a 1099 should be reported by you on your personal income tax returns unless the 1099 was issued to a company you own which is either a corporation or a partnership for income tax purposes (not a sole proprietorship). In that case, the income should be reported on the company's income tax returns.... Read More

If you believe you are the victim of fraudulent tax returns, contact or have your tax attorney or CPA contact the Internal Revenue Service immediately to find out what tax info, tax returns and balances are on your file. Once you have determined which periods appear suspicious or fraudulent, you can contact the IRS to report this problem. If your account is in collections, you may have to speak independently with a collections agent and let them know you believe you are a victim of Identity Theft and request a suspension on collection enforcement to prevent levies and liens. Get tax help now - Contact Atlanta tax attorney and CPA Jeffrey S. Gartzman today. Phone: 770-939-7710 / Fax: 770-939-7743 Address: 2851 Henderson Mill Road Atlanta GA 30341  ... Read More

1.  Unfortunately, even if a licensed tax preparer prepared your tax return, you may still be required to pay your tax liability if the IRS correctly determines you owe the liability. As the taxpayer, it is your responsibility to submit an accurate tax return, this means even if you didn't prepare the return and know about the mistake, you are still on the hook for the tax liability. Before you pay the tax the IRS claims you owe, you may want to have a CPA or tax attorney in Georgia review the returns to determine if the IRS is correct in their assessment. 2. As a general rule, tax preparers could be liable for incorrect returns if it is negligent or intentional. I would speak to a civil litigation attorney for more information. Get tax help now and contact Atlanta tax attorney and CPA Jeffrey S. Gartzman today.Phone:  770-939-7710 | Fax: 770-939-7743 Address: 2851 Henderson Mill Road Atlanta GA 30341 http://www.gartzmantaxlaw.com/... Read More

It would be best to contact a lawyer licensed in the state of Georgia who specializes in Federal and State tax resolution. Navigating the Georgia Department of Revenue is no simple task and the guidance of an experienced Georgia tax attorney can prove to be invaluable. Q: How do I get a lien resolved on my credit report? A: Unfortunately in Georgia, a tax lien cannot be released until the balance is paid in full. If you cannot afford to pay off the balance in one lump sum, it may be possible to enter into a payment arrangement. Additionally, it may be possible to pursue a settlement offer or a penalty waiver which in some circumstances can reduce the balance owed. Once the balance is paid, Georgia will release the lien. The record of the lien will stay on file at the courthouse and probably be on your credit record for 7 years. Once the lien is released, you may contact the major credit bureaus and let them know the balance is paid, but the record of the lien filing will still remain.  In some rare circumstances it may be possible to withdraw a lien, in which case it will be immediately removed from your record as thought it were never filed. This however can typically be accomplished only if the lien is wrongfully filed when it was originally filed.   Get tax help now - Contact Atlanta tax attorney and CPA Jeffrey S. Gartzman today. Phone: 770-939-7710  /  Fax: 770-939-7743 Address: 2851 Henderson Mill Road Atlanta GA 30341... Read More