Tax Legal Questions

The statute of limitations is referred to as CSED (Collection Statutory Expiration Date). It is ten years from "assessed" date. Many things can occur to extend the ten years such as: pending installment agreement, offer in compromise, CDP hearing, bankruptcy. Additionally, if taxes owed include payroll taxes the IRS will assign a Revenue Officer to contact you and you will be personally liable for the Trust Fund Portion of the payroll taxes. Good luck....  ... Read More

Under this scenerio you are not employed. Also, the IRS doesn't ask the question "are you employed". What they ask is do you have income and that usually means employment. However, income can come from investment, pensions, capital gains and a myriad of other sources. Here is the problem; Paypal could report the activity from this account and that will be in your name. The IRS will get a copy of anything Paypal reports, and now the IRS will expect you to file something. If this happens you could likely sort it out, but you are not going to want to spend the time and frustration to do so. Did I mention letting somebody else use your account like this is a horrible idea?  ... Read More

The IRS generally won't take tax law violatoin referrals over the phone. The best way to report this is Form-3949-A. See: https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-you-report-suspected-tax-fraud-activity From the details you provided he would have had to forge your name on the return and then cashed your refund check.... Read More

Hello Ms. Ocampo. Yes, you can apply through the IRS Offer in Compromise program to possibly pay less than what you owe. Acceptance of your applications depends on your current financial information and is not guaranteed. Please feel free to contact me to discuss your options. Thank you.  ... Read More

Hi Luis. If you believe your ex-wfie used your social security information for the tax return improperly, you should file IRS Form 14039, Identity Theft Avidavit and report to the IRS the transcretion. The IRS will then contact your ex-wife according and follow up with you. I hope this helps.... Read More

Hi Joanna. Sorry to hear about your situation.  If the money is not your income, you should just file your return with your proper income, which at this point from you wrote is zero. It is on your sister to file taxes with her online business income. If the IRS comes to audit you, then you have some evidence that this income was not yours.  I hope this helps. Take Care.... Read More

Hi. I am sorry to hear fo your loss. I hope you are doing well. Technically you do not have a debt with the IRS, your late wife carries that debt. So you are not "on the hook" for the debt. If probate has been opened, the IRS will be a creditor and try to collect on her assets to pay that debt. Conceivably the IRS could come back and audit those returns and have you listed as the spouse instead of the dependant. The statute of limitations to audit is three years after the due date for the tax return or the date the tax return was filed, whichever is the most recent. I hope this helps. DISCLAIMER: THIS ANSWER IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE.... Read More

Hi. The time for collection will run out on itself; so they will stop collecting even on an installment agreement. It may take some time to process in their system, especially right now because of COVID. If you do not make a payment in July, you will be considered in default. However, they usually send an Intent to Terminate Installment Agreement letter, which will become moot when the time to collect runs out. Even though I also counsel individuals to make their required installment payments, you could save money by not making the July payment.   If you keep getting notices about your debt even after collection ends, I would contact the IRS to see if maybe the collection statute was tolled for some prior dealings.  I hope this helps.   DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT MEANT FOR LEGAL ADVICE.... Read More

Hello - When dealing with the IRS for prior year deliquent tax returns there is really 2 main areas to consider - First is the actual tax returns themselves including what years can the IRS require you to file based on the statute of limitations and actually preparing and filing the tax returns and timing of such.  Second is dealing with the IRS for collections for any balances due including potential options of installment agreements and Offer in Compromises.  Also, note that you'll most likely have to deal with the Colorado Department of Revenue once the Federal tax returns are filed with the IRS. Thanks, Jeff     ... Read More

For the sales taxes in your questions, you are generally dealing with a couple aspects: 1. Is Sales tax applicable under the rules and if yes what is the amount due.  2.  If applicable, is it still due or does the statute of limitations on collections applies. 3.  Who are the reasonable parties who woudl be liabile to pay the sales taxes. In general, when you are discussing sales taxes and responsible parties you need to reveiw the specific taxing jurisdictions rules.  Depending on the rules, not only can the corporation be held liable for the sales taxes but also responsible parties such as officers and directors can be held personally liable. ... Read More

We have a tax attorney who is also a CPA. He negotiates with the New Jersey tax officials. He would have to review the file and determine where there are opportunities for negotiation. What is your accountant telling you ? Do you have all the tax records ? Please call to discuss. Ed Dimon, Esq. 732-797-1600 ext 235... Read More

Your best bet is to get a good CPA and work on correcting the situation as soon as possible. File all the tax returns you should have filed and pay all of the back taxes, if there are any. If you wait until the IRS comes to you, the situation will be harder to deal with. You may be able to get a payment plan if you can't pay everything at once, and if you've come forward voluntarily you will be in a better position to ask for waivers or reductions in penalties. Plus, by starting to correct the situation, you'll prevent it from continue to be a bigger and bigger problem.   Again- find a good CPA who works with tax controversies. You likely don't need a lawyer for this. Best wishes to you.... Read More

The only thing that you can do to lower your property taxes is to appeal the valuation given to your property by the county. If you're already receiving an actual bill for the taxes, there's nothing you can really do about that amount. But, next year, you can file a property tax return yourself (look at the website for the Georgia Department of Revenue for the return form), and you can state what you believe the value of your property to be. If the county agrees, you'll get a lower value and therefore your taxes should be lower. If the county doesn't agree, they'll let you know. You can then appeal that decision and continue to try and make your case for the lower value. There are property tax services that specialize in helping people appeal valuations. I'd look for one of those and talk with them about your chances for appealing next year's valuation.... Read More

I don't believe that there are any set limits on what a tax return preparer can charge you. It isn't great that you weren't told what the fee would be before you had the return prepared, but you should have specifically asked about fees before you had anyone prepare your return. Also, if you signed anything authorizing the return preparation you've likely agreed to pay whatever the fee was. Don't use this preparer again next year: look for a different one and be sure to ask about all fees and costs and get them explained to you up front, in writing. It also isn't great that the return preparer is having your refund sent to their account, instead of to your account. However, if you got an advance on your refund from them, that would be standard procedure. If you didn't get any advance from them then the refund should be sent directly to you. I don't think this is illegal, but it's not a good sign and you should take it as another reason not to use this preparer again. It's not uncommon for the IRS to take several months to process a return, unfortunately. Do keep an eye on the IRS website, and as soon as you see that a refund has been authorized, contact the preparer and get them to send you your refund as soon as possible. If they give you a hard time about it, call the police if you have to. Best wishes to you.... Read More