Handling IRS Collections Procedures

Filing your tax return without putting in the amount due yet is the first phase in the IRS collections process. The IRS will then send you a bill for the amount owed. This first bill will just bear the reason for the amount due and then require you to make a payment in full. Another notice, this time this will reflect applicable charges, will be sent to you if you do not pay attention to the first bill. Continuing to ignore what the IRS sends you would lea to the receipt of notices that are more threatening in nature. These notices, on the other hand, follow a specific format and are sent in a particular order. You can actually look these up from the IRS to find out more details about them and know what each actually means. The bottomline is, if you get these letters, you clearly have problems with the IRS that need to be settled as soon as possible.

If you believe that the IRS committed errors in the computation of your taxes, you can send them a letter or even make a phone call and request for a discussion of your bill. They will be more than happy to grant this request and make the necessary adjustments should it be proven that they incurred some mistakes. If you already settled your bill yet still continue to receive IRS notices, you can just send them your proof of payment. Just ensure that you never send any original documents so will always have support data on your IRS payments.

If the bill bears the correct tax due and you are required to pay the full amount, several payment options are available. If the bill is a substantial amount of money and you feel you cannot pay it in full, you may request for an installment payment plan agreement. In this agreement however, you will be paying for the debt over time and still incur the applicable fees for any unpaid balance or be penalized until you finish paying off the full amount.

If, at the present, you are truly unable to make even a partial payment, it may be possible to convince the IRS to defer their collection efforts for a given length of time. During this time, you would be considered currently not collective. On the other hand, such state still entitles you to fees and further interests that will most likely accrue. This will only compound your IRS problem.

Offer in Compromise, also known as OIC, is one of the options that IRS offers to those who have problems paying their taxes. In this arrangement, you will only be required to pay a certain amount of your total dues, and the remaining portion is forgiven. Although you will be required to undergo a more stringent process, applying for this option is worth the risk. OIC effectively ends your IRS problems, at least until the next year.

In a number of occasions, all you really need to do is simply contact your nearest IRS office to settle your IRS tax issues. Some incidents, however, require that you employ the services of a professional tax attorney for advice on IRS collections methods. Even though you are in debt, you still have the right to be treated fairly and in a just manner. Just remember that it is to your advantage to respond to any IRS notice. Otherwise, they will resort to enforced collections process, which is much more invasive than the usual notices you will receive in the mail.