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Transcript analysis is the first step to investigate your record of account. This process is also known as a compliance check and begins immediately in order to determine if you have any outstanding filing requirements. This information is obtained directly from the IRS and discloses the amount the IRS claims that you owe, including penalties and interest, the years for which you owe, and any unfiled tax returns.

Every wage earner and business is required to file tax returns. If you do not file your tax returns for more than three years and owe back taxes, the IRS can file criminal charges against you and proceed directly to collection action. The IRS can also file a Substitute for Return or “SFR” on your behalf. The IRS will file returns in the best interest of the government, therefore, the IRS will claim that you owe more than you actually do, because they assume that you don’t have any deductions or exemptions. Read More Then, they add on penalties and interest. If you have years of unfiled returns, it is important to become compliant, as it is an integral part of resolving your tax debt.

Wage Garnishment is one of the most crippling consequences of unpaid taxes. This occurs when the IRS sends a notice to your employer, forcing them to withhold most of your earnings to satisfy the tax debt that you owe. Once the wage garnishment begins, until the tax debt is paid in full, the IRS has the power to leave you with very little money after they seize your wages. Your employer has no power to stop the garnishment. This may also lead to seizing your bank accounts, also known as a bank levy.

An IRS bank levy is a seizure of your bank account. Any asset can be levied but the most common are cash assets, such as your personal and business bank accounts. Your money can be gone overnight. The bank levy usually occurs after several notices of intent to levy, followed by a final notice to levy. The IRS can seize bank accounts, equipment, investment accounts, and accounts payable. Read More When the IRS levies a bank account, the bank is required to freeze whatever amount is available in your account that day (up to the amount of the IRS levy) and send it to the IRS within 21 days, unless notified otherwise by the IRS. Therefore, the sooner you call FORTUNE Tax Management, the sooner we can ensure the IRS cannot get their hands on your hard earned money.

A Federal Tax Lien is the government’s claim against any property that you own or that you come into possession of while you have an outstanding debt. If you have an IRS tax lien filed against you, you will not be able to get it lifted until you resolve the tax matter. Federal Tax Liens can damage your credit and make it difficult to obtain new lines of credit. Additionally, a Notice of Federal Tax Lien is a matter of public record, so your creditors and anyone you know can learn about your problems with the IRS. Read More However, you can avoid an IRS tax lien because there is a sequence of events that take place before the IRS can impose that lien. Most importantly, the IRS must send you a Notice of Demand for Payment allowing ten (10) days after that date of notice to send in your tax payment or make arrangements to pay. FORTUNE Tax Management can help if you have not made payment arrangements and the IRS has filed a lien on your credit report, real estate, equipment or any other valuable assets.

Taxpayers struggling with financial hardship may be eligible for complete relief of their IRS tax debt. If your financial situation shows that you have too little money left after you pay for the essentials of living such as rent, utilities, groceries, etc., you may qualify for Currently-Non-Collectible (CNC) status. Currently-Non-Collectible removes the taxpayer’s balance from active collections with the IRS. Read More A taxpayer can provide documentation of their current financial condition, and if the documentation shows that the taxpayer cannot meet their basic obligations, let alone their tax liability, the IRS will declare a financial hardship. As the Statute of Limitations on a tax debt is 10 years 9from the date the return is filed), the individual must continually file their tax returns and provide any requested information to the IRS in a timely fashion. The Currently-Non-Collectible status allows taxpayers some relief while trying to improve their financial condition.

An Installment agreement is a method of tax debt resolution that allows an individual to pay off their balance over a period of time. IRS payment plans are like paying off a credit card balance. The IRS calculates the amount of monthly payment for each individual based on their income, allowable monthly expenses, and the time remaining for the IRS to collect (their Statute of Limitations). Read More These agreements come in many forms to accommodate the needs of the taxpayer, and their financial obligations, while still satisfying the IRS or State tax debt. The tax professionals at FORTUNE Tax Management have the experience and the expertise to negotiate your IRS Installment Agreement in a way that will be beneficial for both parties, the taxpayer and IRS/State tax authority(s).

Taxpayers that are not currently in financial hardship, but are on the verge, may be able to qualify for an Offer-In-Compromise. This program exists because there are valid circumstances where it is in the best interest of the Government and the taxpayer to compromise. The IRS is very selective about accepting these offers and they require reasonable and documented proof of a taxpayer’s financials. In this situation, the IRS determines the maximum amount they can collect from the taxpayer without causing financial hardship. Read More The remainder of the debt is forgiven and the taxpayer is released from their liability as soon as the taxpayer meets the conditions of their agreement with the IRS. The IRS considers a unique set of circumstances when considering this program:

1. A Taxpayer’s ability to full pay liability
2. A Taxpayer’s Income
3. A Taxpayer’s Expenses
4. A Taxpayer’s Asset Equity

About 75% of these offers are rejected by the IRS, therefore let the professionals at FORTUNE Tax Management negotiate on your behalf to substantially lower your tax debt. If you are struggling financially and do not believe you can pay your IRS tax debt, FORTUNE Tax Management has the experience to determine your eligibility for an Offer-In-Compromise. We also have tremendous success in negotiating these type of offers.

Payroll taxes can be the downfall of many successful businesses. Owing the IRS 940/941 payroll taxes is the worst form of liability because they consider this “stealing” money directly from your employees. Many businesses use the proceeds collected from payroll taxes to pay their operating expenses instead of their payroll taxes. This can get a business in trouble very quickly. Read More The IRS is extremely aggressive about collecting payroll tax and will come after assets, not hesitating to go after the individual owners of the business. The penalties assessed on delinquent payroll tax deposits or tax filings increase the amount owed drastically in just a matter of months. If you don’t take quick action to address business tax audits and payroll tax problems, you will find yourself out of business. The money collected from employees to pay their federal withheld tax, FICA and Medicare (Social Security) does not belong to the business and must be accounted for and paid to the government. If the IRS cannot get payment from the business, they will start collection action against officers, directors, owners and any others involved. Payroll taxpayers have enforceable rights, but must have the knowledge to apply them and to best negotiate with the IRS. FORTUNE Tax Management has helped and saved many businesses and can help resolve your payroll tax debt problems.

The IRS typically will audit when they assume that your tax returns were filed incorrectly. This gives them the authority to examine all of your financial records. Representing yourself in an IRS audit or a poorly defended audit can cost you thousands of dollars in irreversible penalties and add even thousands more to your tax bill. During an audit, the IRS will insist on identifying income, and properly characterizing it under tax law. Read More They will request evidence supporting expenses, qualifications and the amount of deductions you claimed. IRS auditors are tasked with one job to do, which is to collect more money from you. They do this by having superior ability to work within complex tax rules and regulations to accomplish their objective. Tax laws are extremely complex. Let the tax professionals at FORTUNE Tax Management represent your case if you are faced with a tax audit.

If you filed tax return(s) jointly with a spouse, the IRS holds both of you responsible to pay the taxes. However, if you both don’t pay the tax liability, the IRS can come after each of you individually for the entire amount of the tax debt. Your case will be contingent on gathering the right information to structure and present the evidence proving you are innocent. The tax professionals at FORTUNE Tax Management will understand your unique circumstances and will assess if you qualify for Innocent Spouse Relief. Read More This program is contingent on specific qualifications; therefore, it is possible that you may overlook your option(s) without the help of a tax professional. Innocent Spouse can relieve you from being responsible for unpaid back taxes, plus the penalties and interest incurred as a result of the joint tax return filed. Innocent Spouse Relief is a very difficult type of relief to obtain from the IRS and is often denied because of errors made during the filing process or due to lack of representation. The tax professionals at FORTUNE Tax Management can help you achieve spousal relief by framing the facts into a compelling case to represent before the IRS on your behalf.

The IRS aggressively pursues any U.S. citizen with a foreign bank account whose value amounts to $10,000 or more for even one day during the tax year. If you have money and/or assets overseas and do not report it for U.S. tax purposes, the IRS may think you did not file on purpose. The FBAR (Foreign Bank Account Reporting) penalty can be more than $100,000 or half the value of the foreign account. Read More The value of a foreign account is not just the amount of cash in the account, rather the value of all of the non-cash assets in the account. For example, stocks, mutual funds, bonds, insurance policies, ownership interests in boats, planes and real estate. The FBAR guidelines are not easy to understand and FBARs are not filed along with your tax returns. Taking the initiative to partner with FORTUNE Tax Management to file your FBAR accounts will make all the difference in the amount of money you will be able to keep. Most taxpayers believe their overseas assets and/or foreign bank accounts are too small for the IRS to consider, but the reality is that they have signed agreements with other countries and their banks to investigate those U.S. citizens that hold such foreign accounts. Moreover, because FBAR penalties do not have a set amount, the IRS has developed penalty mitigation guidelines to assist examiners in the exercise of applying these penalties. This is why it is in your best interest to call FORTUNE Tax Management and use our seasoned and experienced tax professionals to handle your FBAR negotiation defense(s).