100+ Years of Combined Tax Resolution Experience.
This is part 4 of our series on common tax problems – you can read parts 1 (Wage Garnishment), 2 (Bank Levies) and 3 (License Sanctions) here.
We get quite a few clients who come to us with questions about tax liens – a kind of mortgage the IRS can put on your property if you haven’t paid your taxes. In other words, the IRS makes a legal claim to your property as security for tax liability.
Practically speaking, the lien ties your property down to protect the government’s portion of your money: you’ll be unable to sell until you deal with the tax issue. Liens also show up on your credit report, and can keep you from getting a loan or taking out a line of credit.
Fortunately, there’s hope! Our team of lawyers can work with the IRS to help get your tax lien released (and erased from your credit report). Here’s a quick overview of what you can expect if you’ve received a tax lien filing – and what we can do to help.
A tax lien is usually triggered when the government decides they may have difficulty collecting the amount of taxes you currently owe within the statute of limitations (10 years). Typically, you need to owe at least $5,000 before the IRS issues a tax lien.
Tax liens involve several steps:
Obviously, the best solution is to pay off your outstanding tax debt immediately when you receive the notice and the demand for payment! (And you should also contact us immediately if you receive one of these communications.) If immediate payment is not possible, however, you still have plenty of options.
There are a number of ways that we can work with the IRS to release your tax lien. We can help you set up an installment plan or an Offer in Compromise, and obtain a lien release commitment in exchange for payment. We can request a certificate of subordination to another creditor, or negotiate for a partial release or a withdrawal.
Typically, a lien remains on your credit report for seven years, but we can help you negotiate the IRS Fresh Start program to get the record wiped clean. If a lien is properly withdrawn and reported, Experian will delete it from your credit score.
All these options require timely communication via written requests and proposals. It’s more than just paperwork – it’s an ongoing appeals process. Our tax lawyers know how to negotiate the mounds of paperwork to get rid of your tax lien – we have lots of experience!
If you’ve received a tax lien notice, or if you have any questions about how liens work, you can give us a call at 844-841-9857, or schedule a free consultation here.
We’re in an era in which more small businesses are launching like wildfire. Many people find starting a small business of their own as easy as a piece of cake. However, most of the time, what they fail to prioritize are some of the major players involved in smoothly operating their small business. A...
Do you know why most married taxpayers go for filing joint tax returns? It’s actually because of the benefits that it offers. But with joint tax returns, both the filers hold the responsibility for the tax bill or any penalties and interest that arise from it. Both are legally responsible for the entire liability, even...
What if you owe so much in taxes that you can’t see your way out of it? If you owe back taxes, you might not think there is a way you can ever pay things off. And the more those back taxes have accumulated, the deeper the hole. But that doesn’t mean you can’t dig...
Tax Audits are one of the most terrifying things a taxpayer can endure. Most taxpayers don’t know what being audited by the IRS entails and usually don’t know what to do if they are audited. IRS audits can be confusing to most taxpayers as most don’t know what the IRS is looking for when they...
Receiving a letter from the IRS can be intimidating, especially if you’re unsure what the notice is for or what to do next. Fortunately, many notices are nothing to worry about and are purely informative. Below, we look at everything you need to do — and what not to do — after getting a notice from the...
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is increasing audits on cannabis businesses — the agency is on a mission to ensure that cannabis businesses adhere to the tax code. Unfortunately, cannabis companies must comply with more strict tax laws than other businesses and can claim fewer deductions. Most business owners don’t realize this or aren’t able to meet the reporting responsibilities on their own. If you own a business in...