The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) issued a report yesterday stating that the IRS failed to make or inappropriately made tax lien determinations in $1.4 billion worth of delinquent tax cases:
The IRS protects its claims against taxpayers who owe delinquent taxes by filing Federal Tax Liens (liens), which establishes the IRS’ priority among secured creditors for the taxpayers’ equity. However, lien determinations were not appropriately made or were made late for more than $1.4 billion in delinquent taxes.
Failure to protect the Government’s interest on taxes that are owed creates an unfair burden on taxpayers who properly pay their taxes in full and on time.
And imagine, some people actually want these Keystone Cops to regulate the entire tax preparer profession.
Oops! That would be me… but not a guy named Joe.
(Hat Tip: Paul Caron)
Footnote:
¹ Avid pro-tax, soak-the-richers think people like me who demand that the government stop wasting taxpayers’ money like this before it raises taxes on a single American are wacky, stupid and selfish.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Joe Mastriano CPA // Oct 15, 2010 at 3:14 pm
Removing IRS Liens
A good source for detailed information for a lien subordination is IRS Pub 764. Do a Google search and download a copy. It has a great section on how to prepare the application and what to do afterward.
Reasons the IRS will give you a subordination:
* a) You can offer approximately 3 times the value of your liability as collateral, or you can buy an insurance bond for approx. 3 times the liability.
* b) You can show that it will be easier for the IRS to collect more money by doing the subordination, like getting all the proceeds on the sale of your house, for example.
I have received approval for several subordinations depending on the circumstances. The following points should be helpful for your success.
You should acknowledge that you could and probably should have stopped this much earlier in the collection process. Understand that the IRS is not going to be sympathetic to your concerns about how tough it will be to successfully conduct your business. The IRS puts a lien on to protect them against 3rd party creditors getting your assets before they do. So why would they be willing to give up their creditor protection? Their general policy is not to remove or subordinate liens (or levies) unless you fit one of their acceptable categories.
First consider the question of whether or not you can live with the lien. It’s usually not as bad as you initially thought. Is it hurting your credit? By the way, the IRS does not file the lien with the credit bureaus, so don’t ask the credit bureaus to take it off. The credit bureaus pick up the lien on their own from court house records. You can remove it for a short time by sending a letter to the credit bureau explaining how this is not yours, (assuming that it isn’t), or that it is grossly overstated. If there is no confirming response within 30 days, the credit bureau must remove it until they receive a confirming response. But this is the subject for a manual on credit repair. Anyway, you can use someone else’s credit or don’t use any credit till the liability is paid or resolved. Many times people you buy from will be sympathetic and help you work around it. I want you to consider living with the lien and focusing on paying off the liability as soon as possible. It’s better than throwing your money away paying some misleading representative that promises to remove the lien using some type of trick or exceptional experience!
2 Peter // Oct 18, 2010 at 10:23 am
Joe,
Good stuff. Thanks.
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