Is the IRS Knocking at Your Door?
Monday, June 10th, 2013Atlanta CPA: Is the IRS Knocking at Your Door?
Did You Just Receive a Notice of IRS Audit?
A Tax Summons?
A Tax Levy?
A Tax Garnishment?
IRS Forced Enforcement Collections?
Don’t Delay When the IRS Comes Knocking; It Will Cost You More Than Just Extra Money
Do you remember the old car commercials of years back, when the auto mechanic would say “you can pay me a little bit now or more later”. Though the commercial ran decades ago, I have never forgotten the axiom. Similarly, I believe the medical community as well as Benjamin Franklin who teaches us that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. This is perhaps no truer than in the case of being sure that you both timely file and pay your income taxes. To help guide you in what to watch for, I will walk you through some of the common misconceptions about the U.S. tax system and dealing with the Internal Revenue Service.
Common IRS Fallacies Taxpayers Fall Prey To
Constitutional Privilege. There are certain radical sects who have take the position that the IRS and its collection of income tax are unconstitutional. Nothing could be further from the truth. The IRS, like all governmental programs are initially organized and obtain their authority to collect taxes and indeed their laws to enforce from Congress/the President.
Exempt. Frequently taxpayers will feel that their earnings either because of their legal status as resident aliens, individuals here on a Visa, illegal residents or students are exempt from the payment of income tax. Though there are many nuances with some of paying taxes as a student, such as whether you or your parents claim you, may vary, all people here in the U.S. are required to pay income taxes on their earnings. In fact, all U.S. citizens are resident aliens are required to pay income taxes on their world-wide income, regardless of what country the monies were earned in. For example, if you are a U.S. citizen but live and work in Italy, you are required by U.S. law to pay income taxes on all of your world-wide earnings regardless of whether you earned the money here or overseas. However, tax law does allow certain exemptions to certain countries based upon either IRS statutes or tax treaties allowing taxpayers to receive a credit or offset against your U.S. taxes to statutorily offset and reduce the U.S. taxes paid, thereby giving credit for monies earned and taxes paid overseas.
Procrastination. If you fail to handle your responsibilities and duties, they do not go away in fact they most always get worse, not better. I spoke with a client recently whose tax obligations as a result of failure to file penalties, late payment penalties where their tax obligation had grown by almost a 100% over five years. Imagine what would happen today if you suddenly learned that you owed the IRS $15,000 for the current tax year. That, in and of itself, would be a difficult amount for any of us to address. However if we fail to file for several years and to pay the required taxes as they are due, then the $15,000 we might have otherwise have owed per year/years, will now grow exponentially as waiting has cost us dearly.
Don’t be led astray as there is no get rich schemes, no magic pills to take to either improve your cash flow or your credit, no legal tax schemes that create refunds out of thin air. By working closely with a CPA you are most apt to receive good counsel and ensure that you do not fun afoul of the Tax Man.
www.HisCPA.com A Christian CPA Firm in Duluth GA Proudly Offering Corporate and Personal Income Tax Returns, Offer in Compromise, Tax Advocacy, Tax Mitigation and Tax Compliance, Back Taxes, IRS Representation, IRS Appeals, IRS Collections, IRS Installment Plans & IRS Wage Levies
