The Only Sure Thing
About IRS Problems Is ...
             “They Don’t Go Away By Themselves.”

IRS Problems Have a Way of Ruining All Aspects
Of Your Life.    They Take A Toll On You
Financially, Physically, and Emotionally.
You Can Never Really Forget About Them,
As They Always Come Back
Each Morning When You Wake Up!

It's even worse when they keep you up at night — or wake you up. Staring at the ceiling at 2:00 a.m., worrying about what the dawn will bring, just magnifies the situation. In the dark stretches of the night, everything seems worse. And sometimes it is. What never appears out of those dark-of-night panics is — a Solution.

I'm F. M. Turner, III, and for the 31 years that I have practiced law I have helped hundreds of individuals and businesses of all types with many types of problems. I am licensed to practice in Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and the United States Tax Court. My experience includes creating, buying and selling businesses; financial, estate and retirement planning; litigation of business disputes and personal injury claims; and many types of contracts.

Another important area of my practice is helping individuals and businesses resolve tax problems with the IRS and state tax authorities. Experience in this important area of my practice includes resolving unpaid income taxes, payroll taxes, estate taxes and even litigating ad valorem (property) tax valuations. Finding Solutions to the ever-growing burden of IRS problems is particularly rewarding, because in doing so, I give my clients new hope and new opportunities to have the lives and peace of mind that they dreamed of — but were afraid they would never have again.

There are several common types of IRS problems. Which of these do you have?

• Unfiled tax returns
• Unpaid income taxes
• Unpaid payroll taxes
• Late filing penalties
• Late payment penalties
• Interest on
  • taxes
  • penalties and
  • even interest-on-interest
• Audit reconsiderations
• Claims for taxes due to actions by a present or former spouse
• Incessant demands for payment
• Bank account levies
• Wage garnishment
• Seizure of business assets and inventory
• Seizure of homes, businesses, farms and other real estate
• Seizure of cars, boats, and personal property – even home furnishings and children's toys

Does any of that sound like the problems you are facing?

Would it help you to know that there is almost always a solution to every one of them?

For instance, the simplest solution to the first problem is – to file – no matter how late you are in filing. While I'm not an accountant, I have a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance and wide experience dealing with financial, accounting and tax reporting issues. My staff and I are very experienced in helping people collect, and in many cases reconstruct, the records necessary to file and support tax returns due four, five or more years earlier. In addition, we can provide advice to minimize the tax liabilities shown on those returns. We will work in collaboration with your regular accountant and can recommend a good accountant if you need one.

Until you file, the IRS has an unlimited time to pursue you for collection. Once you file, their clock starts ticking. At most, they have 10 years from the date you file to take action to collect, unless you act voluntarily to extend that time.

In some circumstances, it will be in your best interest to extend that time. For instance, when you are close to an agreement with the IRS to resolve your tax liability and want to prevent them from seizing assets or garnishing your wages. While federal law prevents your employer from firing you or otherwise retaliating against you for an IRS wage garnishment, a garnishment inevitably has a negative influence on your employer and supervisors. Unless they have been in your shoes, many bosses can't understand how someone can innocently find themselves so far behind with the IRS. But one serious accident or illness can put any one of us there.

As I write these words, I'm stuck in a chair due to a serious knee injury that required surgical repair. I have to use a walker to get around for the next two months and face months more of physical therapy before I can walk or exercise like I did before a single misstep ten days ago. If I were like several of my current IRS clients, who make their livings as carpenters and long-haul truckers, I would have no work and no income for the next six months. Unless you are so wealthy you don't need to work, anyone would be in serious financial strain — read that "dead broke" — at the end of that time. I am fortunate that I can still do my job, although with some pain and inconvenience, but I have had too many clients over the years whose lives were nearly destroyed by such an event.

In fact, a serious illness or injury is the most common cause of personal bankruptcy in the United States. If you are uninsured, like 70 million Americans are, it is almost a certainty. Don't believe the credit card companies when they claim that most bankruptcies are brought by undisciplined deadbeats. Illness, injury and loss of employment account for 90 percent or more of all filings.

While bankruptcy is a last resort solution to many IRS problems, there are other, less drastic measures that should be explored first. My IRS practice focuses on finding those better solutions.

For example, it is almost always possible to work out an installment agreement with the IRS. Many people can handle this process for themselves. If you can pay within 12 months, a simple phone call will usually solve the problem. Longer term plans require you to submit detailed financial information to the IRS – information about your assets and income that will help the IRS find find and seize them later if you find yourself unable to make all the payments.

One reason that the IRS is so willing to enter into installment agreements is that penalties and interest continue to accrue during the installment period, which also extends the collection period by the length of the payout period. Late filing penalties accrue at the rate of 4.5 percent per month, with a maximum penalty of 22.5 percent; late payment penalties accrue at the rate of 0.5 percent per month, with a maximum penalty of 25 percent. Interest rates are set every quarter. Currently, the interest rate is 8 percent, which is compounded daily, so the effective annual interest rate is 8.3%, better than a credit card but a lot higher than mortgage rates. Plus, the interest accrues on the tax due, the unpaid penalties and the unpaid interest. Unless you specify how each payment is to be applied, the IRS can apply it "in the best interest of the government," which translates to the way that leaves you with the largest balance possible at the end of the installment period. Here's an example:

If this were your only option, you would have no reason to hire me. JUST PAY UP! And that is just what the IRS hopes you will believe. IRS employees are under no obligation to tell you about ways to reduce your IRS debt. In fact, they are under just the opposite pressure — to maximize the government's tax collections. If answering a direct question, they are required to tell the truth, but IRS employees will often play dumb or deflect your question to avoid answering.

But, the fact is that there ARE other options. Penalties can be abated (forgiven, for good cause). Levies, garnishments and seizures can be released. Audits can be appealed and frequently settled at the appellate level. An innocent spouse can be relieved of liability for the other (frequently a former) spouse's conduct. Each of these options has specific requirements and detailed procedures to be followed. But, if the requirements are met and the procedures are followed, relief should be granted. If not granted on initial consideration, an administrative appeal process exists within the IRS for each problem, and review by an independent court (U.S. Tax Court or a U.S. District Court where you live) is available in most cases. The secret in each case is to take timely and specific action to address the problem. An experienced professional is your best help in navigating through the process.

But what if I can't afford to pay even the taxes I owe?

Many times, tax problems are symptoms of larger financial problems. That serious accident or illness that we talked about, or a period of unemployment, can use up savings and leave us unable to pay for our day-to-day necessities, much less tax bills. Fortunately, the IRS and most states have procedures to compromise or settle tax bills for less than the balance due.

These settlement programs are all based on the taxpayer's ability to pay all or part of the tax within the collection period. Tax law and regulations specify the technical requirements for reaching a settlement with the IRS. In addition, the Internal Revenue Manual sets up a stringent and extensive process that must be followed. Until the IRS accepts your settlement offer, penalties and interest continue to accrue. Once your offer is accepted, penalties and interest are forgiven – if you make your required payment(s) and keep your taxes current for the next five years or the payment period of your offer, whichever is longer.

Also, during the period that your offer is in process, the IRS cannot levy on your assets, garnish your wages, or take any other action to collect the taxes included in your offer – if you stay in compliance with your tax filings and payments.

The key to making a successful offer lies in making an accurate assessment of your financial position. The acceptance of a settlement offer is based on following the rules and offering the amount that your financial position would allow the IRS to recover from you within the collection period. However, the financial position on which your offer is evaluated by the IRS is the financial condition report submitted (under penalty of perjury) with your offer of settlement. Some advanced financial planning can often allow you to make an acceptable offer much lower than would initially be required.

Part of this financial planning is determining what bills you can or should pay before you offer the IRS a settlement. In making its own determination of what you can pay, the IRS generally ignores credit card debt, non-mortgage loans, and expenses that they are not required to allow. With some advance planning, assets that would increase the amount you would otherwise have to pay the IRS can be used to pay these excluded debts prior to making the IRS a settlement offer. Without this preplanning, you could be required to pay the IRS more than necessary and be left without the ability to pay your other bills. My financial planning experience is particularly beneficial in making this analysis. Beware of companies that promise to settle "for pennies on the dollar" without discussing the necessity for this advance financial planning. Many of them prey on their desperate, unsuspecting clients. Usually, their offers are rejected and the companies know in advance that this will occur. Their clients end up worse off than before, owing more interest on their taxes and being without the fees paid to these charlatans.

A completed settlement with the IRS or state tax authority resolves the taxes owed, all penalties and all interest, usually for only a fraction of the initial debt and for no more than the original tax.

Free Consultation with an expert
who understands your tax problem

For a FREE CONSULTATION about your IRS problem, call me toll-free: (877) 264-7771. I will personally review your situation and tell you whether and how your particular IRS problem can be solved. No "consultant" whose only job is to make a sale. No ten minute "consultation" by telephone that is mostly an attempt to get your bank account or credit card information. No cost, no pressure and no obligation. YOU WILL MEET WITH THE PERSON WHO WILL HANDLE YOUR CASE FROM START TO FINISH. If you wish us to provide the solution to your IRS problem, we can usually do so for an affordable, flat fee.

Some types of problems, particularly IRS audit appeals and Tax Court litigation, are by nature of uncertain complexity and duration. Hourly rates with affordable payment options are available for such cases.

Haven't you had enough sleepless nights?

It will cost you nothing to get an expert appraisal of your personal tax situation from an experienced practitioner. DON'T WAIT FOR THE IRS TO COME KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR! Call today and regain the peace of mind that you so desperately desire. How many more sleepless nights can your life hold?

Call me toll-free at (877) 264-7771 to schedule your Free Consultation now.