IRS help is easily available, if you have received a collection notice however, you should know whom to approach to solve the back taxes issues. The major mistake that most of the tax debtors is that they try to handle the situation on their own. They think that they will save money by not hiring a tax expert however; they end up finding themselves in deeper trouble. Since they are not aware about the work ethics of the IRS, they find themselves helpless when IRS agent asks complicated tax related questions. A legal counsel is required to deal with the IRS in case of back taxes. It is necessary to get assistance of a tax attorney because they tax professionals are the people who deal with complicated tax issues and IRS agents on daily basis. Tax law keeps on changing with time and if you are not dealing with it regularly it is quite impossible for you to be in-sync with the alterations of the tax law.

If you neglect the collection notice and do not communicate with the IRS, you would be facing IRS levies and tax liens in result. However, only an experienced tax attorney can fix it. He/she is the person who knows ins and outs of the IRS and will handle all the communications with the IRS. Once you know that IRS is on the verge of sending you a next notice for audit or tax lien or levy, you should get in touch with your tax attorney and if you don’t have one search for an experienced one on the internet. You can take some references from your friends and families. A tax professional will keep your bank accounts and credit ratings away from any hindrances. They can appeal for the halt at the proceedings so that you can prepare yourself for the battle with the IRS. Moreover, tax attorney will suggest you some tax debt relief options that will minimize the amount of your back taxes.

In case, you have genuine for not paying the taxes and your financial condition is still not good enough to pay the back taxes, your account will be placed in “currently not collectible.” However, you must have genuine reasons such as death in family, long illness, divorce etc. Getting qualified for “currently not collectible” is not at all easy. Therefore, most of the debtors go for IRS payment plan. Your tax attorney will negotiate with the IRS on the payable amount.

IRS letters are not blaming anyone, if you can answer the IRS question you can come out the mess without even paying a penny. However, if you fail to answer their questions and provide apt proof of your deductions and tax relief options, you would need to pay the remaining amount in addition to the penalties and interest. If you could not pay the amount in time, IRS is authorized to garnish your wages and seize your bank accounts. Whenever you receive letter from IRS, don’t get panic. Go through it thoroughly and try to figure what information IRS wants from you. If you are ready with the information or confident that you can arrange it without any difficulty, you should respond the letter and ask for the meeting.

In case, you find that it is not easy for you to face the complicated questions of IRS, you should call the IRS and inform them that you are hiring a tax professional who will represent your case. It will allow you in buying time and IRS will get an impression of a responsible person. Make sure, you have taken the name and badge number of the IRS agent you had a word after receiving the letter. Also, don’t forget to make a note of the time and date of the conversation. If IRS denies that you never called them, you can show these details as proof of your conversation. In the same conversation, you can clear the reason for auditing.

Once you are clear about the reason of audit, you should arrange all the required documents that too in original at the earliest. Prepare yourself beforehand. Majority of people tend to arrange the documents a day or two before meeting with the IRS. Organizing your records is the most important thing if you want to come out of the audit without promising to pay anything. If you are throwing a bunch of receipts, invoices and bills on the face of IRS agent, you are most likely to get notice of deficiency. Meeting with the IRS will be full of complicated questions. So prepare yourself or hire a tax attorney.

Identifying a bogus mail is not as tough as you must be thinking. You just need to go through the mail thoroughly and you will come across several things that would give you a glimpse that the mail is not from IRS. Most of the mails come from countries where English is not the first language. Therefore, you can easily find the grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Even if there is one grammatical error, the mail cannot be from IRS. You will also come across mails where grammar is correct however, sentence construction is not at its place. This is the second clue.  The senders just need your information and they are not bothered about the name of the agency or firm they are using. This gives you another benefit.

The mails will have incorrect senders’ names such as federal bureau of taxation, tax agency, tax collection agency etc. However, you know that there are no agencies in existence with these names. The names would sound official. In case, you are in doubt, you can always try to get in touch in with the agency over the phone. If the agency name is not in existence; it’s obvious that you would not be able to make any contact with them. Another easy way to identify the fake mail is through the links. IRS official site is irs.gov. If you are getting mail from any other URL, it’s a phishing mail for sure. You will find correct URL in the mail however; once you bring the cursor to the URL it will show you the correct path which might seem to be alien to you.

If you are sure that you have received a phishing email allegedly from IRS, don’t click on any links and don’t download any attachments it might have. If you click any links your system is more likely to get infected with the virus.

Most of the taxpayers who have received this collection notice will get panic. However, it is not going to help you at all. Therefore, you should look out for IRS help rather than cribbing, sulking and making situation worst. If you have received collection notice it means you need to handle this situation in legal manner. Therefore, you should refrain from calling IRS on your own. First of all, you should search for an expert CPA, Certified Tax resolution Specialist or tax attorney. It will ensure you that IRS notice will be responded effectively and professionally. You must have heard about several instances of brutality of IRS in collecting back taxes. So, don’t even think of battling with the IRS without professional assistance.

If you are not hiring a tax professional and abstaining from communicating with the IRS, you are more likely to face tax lien and wage garnishment. IRS is authorized to put lien on your property, car, motorbike and other valuable assets. Even if there is delay in paying taxes from your side, you tax attorney will assist you in communicating with the IRS and get rid of any tax lien and wage garnishment if there are any. Moreover, he/she will figure the things out to get IRS debt relief on the amount of your back taxes. Your tax attorney or certified tax resolution specialist will arrange a temporary halt on all the liens and garnishments and buy time to prepare your case to represent in front of the IRS.

To remove the back tax lien on your bank account or on your property, your tax attorney will file an IRS collection appeal. Main motive of the appeal is to settle back taxes disputes between the taxpayers and the IRS. Even though IRS has got the tag of brutal collection agency, they have some limitations in collecting back taxes for some of the taxpayers. If didn’t pay the taxes because of genuine reasons such as long illness, divorce, death in family or any other extreme circumstances, IRS would put you into the currently not collectible file. If your tax attorney gets success that you have genuine reason for not paying taxes in time, IRS is more likely to offer you a payment plan. Your accountant will calculate how much money you actually owe and tax attorney will negotiate for the payment plan with the IRS.

However, first thing that you should check is that if you really receive the call from IRS. There are many instances in which people have reported scams in which callers represent themselves as IRS. Some people do this for fun but there are people who are trying to get your personal details such as social security number or birth date. If you want to make sure whether you have received call from IRS or not, find the name and the identification number of the IRS agent who called you. In case, you cannot figure out who called you, you can always get in touch with IRS to know if the name and identification are genuine.

After calling IRS, if you found that you did receive a call from IRS, you should first analyze how serious the problem is. The fact that makes the IRS call scary is that IRS choose to call only when you don’t reply to their letters and correspondences. If you have not ignored the letters from IRS at all, you must have an idea about the reason of receiving call. There are several ways you can handle these calls. However, you would need to be polite and should be honest while answering the questions asked by the IRS agent. Moreover, you should not provide any extra information than asked. It might put you into trouble and become advantage for the IRS to put penalty on you.

While calling back the IRS, you should keep all the papers, documents and proof of IRS relief with you so that you don’t need to put the agent on hold to find information he/she is looking for. If you are ready with all the details it will create an impression of responsible person in front of the IRS agent that might benefit you in the future. Do not expect any kind of tax help from the agent. They know every bit of tax law however; they will not help you with the tax code, they would only tell you what tax law allows and what not.

Every year IRS sends “correspondence audits” to millions of taxpayers but every correspondence is not for hardcore audit. IRS sends these correspondence to notify taxpayers about any change in their account, to request the payment of taxes or if they need any additional information. The kind of correspondence usually covers a specific area. The notice and letter you receive from the IRS will contain the information about the money you owe to the IRS or the IRS relief you availed. You will also find specific instructions in the mail that will make you aware about the action you should and take to rectify the issue with the IRS.

In most of the cases, you can take care of the correspondence without visiting the IRS office or calling them. You just need to follow the instructions in the correspondence to solve the issue. If you are finding it hard to understand the instruction, you can always call the IRS office. Sometimes, you find that the information in the letter is wrong and you are not liable to any money or provide any information to the IRS. To address these issues, IRS has mentioned a contact number and address on the letter you have received. You can call at that number or write a letter with explanation why you do not agree with the correspondence. Make sure, you are attaching the supporting documents with your letter otherwise your letter will not be entertained by the IRS. Moreover, don’t expect reply from the IRS in week or so. It will take anytime between one to two months to get response from the tax authority.

At times you receive second letter requesting more information from your side. You should not loose any of the notices sent by the IRS. If you find that the situation is not in your reach to handle, you should hire a tax attorney without any second thoughts. Your attorney will prepare your case to represent it in front of the IRS. If you know nothing about the tax law, you should not even think to face the IRS by yourself. A tax attorney is the best person who can take your out of the tax mess and answer all the questions asked by the IRS in its correspondence.

Calculation Error

It is one of the most common errors made by the taxpayers. There could be several reasons for committing calculation mistakes. You might be tensed with the mess of documents, long calculations and deducting IRS relief correctly. Once you’ve calculated your taxes, you should recheck it to make sure calculation is 100% correct.

Computation Error

Computing your taxes is another major area where taxpayers tend to make mistakes. While computing taxes, you should compute both taxable income and adjusted gross income and recheck them to ensure no errors have been made. In most of the cases, payments and credits get computed incorrectly. Therefore, extra attention is required for earned income credit, education credit, dependent credit and estimated tax payments.

Filing Status

Generally taxpayers file wrong filing status while preparing taxes and this happens especially with those who don’t have knowledge about the tax law. If you have hired a professional he/she will let you know about the status which you should use to file your taxes. If you are married and filing taxes separately, you should not choose the status of Head of household rather file your tax return under Married Filing separate. In case, you qualify for two or three filing statuses, pick the one that allows you to file lowest tax.

Social Security Numbers

If you are availing some tax credits such as education credit or dependent credit, you should not miss out on writing the SSN of your kids or spouse (whichever required). Make sure you are writing correct SSNs. Your filing will not be accepted if you don’t mention SSN or mention it correctly. Moreover, IRS will charge a penalty on you as well.

Omitting Forms, Income or Schedules

Don’t try to act smart with IRS! If you are trying to save money by not reporting your income or not submitting form which is required to declare your income, you are more likely to find your name in the hit list of the IRS. Your return will not be processed until you submit the required forms. If you can’t submit the form in time late fees, interest and penalty will be added to the remaining amount.

Late Filing

IRS expects that every taxpayer files his/her tax return in time. However, if you are unable to file in time don’t forget to appeal for an extension. It allows you to buy time to file your taxes beyond the final date of filing tax return.

There are several things that could help you in identifying if IRS has send you the mail or someone is trying to make fool out of you. If your name is printed wrong on the mail, it is a phishing mail for sure. The name of the company who has sent you the mail sounds very professional such as IRS or Federal Taxes Bureau. There are no agencies with these kinds of names that collect taxes on behalf of IRS or federal tax agency. SO whenever you receive an email asking you to provide your personal information as required by the IRS, your first priority needs to be to check the company’s background. Search about the company on the internet. It allows you to get complete information about the so called company.

In several cases, these kinds of emails are sent by the hackers or cyber criminals sitting in different countries where English is not primary or secondary language. Therefore, don’t get panic, if you receive mail from IRS. First read the mail thoroughly and check if it contains any kind of spelling or grammatical errors because hackers who don’t carry knowledge of English language tend to make mistakes. If you find any error, just delete it because IRS does not require any information electronically from your side. Moreover, IRS has hired well qualified tax lawyers therefore, it in not easy to find errors in their correspondence.

Act smart whenever you receive emails asking for some personal information or money. You should check the URL from where you are receiving the emails and this applies in every case not in the case of IRS. Just remember the link of the website of the IRS. Check the sender’s email id, if it has been sent buy XYZ.com or any other domain name different from www.irs.gov it is a spam. Report it so that by the next time if your email from the same sender, it will go straight in your junk mails folder.

These are just three things that would help you in protecting yourself from spammers. Moreover, you should not click any links within the mail or download an enticing photo or video.

No matter you are preparing taxes or received a notice for audit from the IRS, hiring a tax attorney is always recommendable. In case of an audit hiring tax attorney is necessary because only expert tax professional can tackle the complicated questions of the IRS agents. Moreover, if you don’t want to get under the spotlight of the IRS, you should employ the tax professional who can prepare your taxes so that no errors can be made in filing tax returns. Tax law keep on changing, therefore for an ordinary taxpayer keeping up with the amendment is quite tough. Therefore, you should consider hiring a tax attorney who will have thorough knowledge abut the IRS relief, tax credit options and tax deductions.

Another myth that helps numerous taxpayers to get rid of the scare of the IRS is that you can file a tax extension and IRS will not take any aggressive steps to collect money from you. However, it is just a fiction not a fact! There is difference between tax relief and tax extension. In the process of tax extension, you are just getting some more time to experience which would ultimately happen. You just have few days to prepare for it. In other words, IRS is not giving you time to pay your taxes but giving you time to file them. Many taxpayers also think that if you didn’t have job or money to pay the taxes, you can leave the duty of paying taxes. However, you cannot give excuse to the IRS that you didn’t have that’s why you’re not paying or you’ve paid the taxes. They are smarter than you and are authorized to garnish your wages put lien on your property, car and other valuable assets. So, you should try to pay taxes in time so that you can enjoy the comfort of your luxurious car and home without any hindrance.

Do you know the process of picking taxpayers for the tax audit by the IRS? Most of the people will answer it in yes as according to them IRS pick names for tax audit based on the time of filing. However, it is just a myth. In realty, you will be selected for the audit if you made errors in your filing or try to play with the IRS to save money. But IRS’ systems are programmed in such a manner that even slightest calculation error will be identified by them. There are several myths created by the taxpayers related to tax filing, if you don’t want to fail in audit or in filing of tax return, clear your concepts and stay away from any kind of myths.

If you are filling your tax forms physically, make sure handwriting is easy to understand. In case, you are unable to read your own handwriting, IRS agents will not even bother to give it a second look and right filing will be transformed into wrong filing. Therefore, your filing needs to be neat and clean. Try not to strike words and refrain from overwriting. Once you receive the notice, don’t regret that if you could have filed the return neatly, result would not be the same.

Honesty is the key to remain debt free. If you’ve received payment from the third party, report this income to the IRS. This is one the main reasons that help IRS to catch the some of the taxpayers for auditing. Moreover it’s very easy for the IRS to find out that you’ve been hiding payments from third party because third party will declare its expenses and inform that they made of X amount of dollars to you so that they can get deduction. However, you’ve not reported any income to the IRS. This will bring you under the spotlight of IRS and you will receive letter for audit soon.

Nobody wants to get into the trap of IRS. Therefore, you should file your taxes before the due date. It doesn’t mean you should file taxes a month or two before the last date but three to four days before the due date. It allows you to not seek any extension out to file your taxes because the procedure of extension is full of questions and you’d need to provide the IRS with genuine reason for extension. Never give out any information before asking by the IRS agent. It could put you into trouble. If you love taking, keep it for your friends and beloved. While taking to IRS agent, if you cannot control on your tongue you might speak something that you should not. If you’ve declared deduction that are more than usual, no need to provide back up documents such appraisals and repair bills. Before facing IRS in an audit or filing tax returns, you should know about the work ethics of IRS.