Tax Firms

In general, the IRS appears to take a cynical view at people’s cost of living, and can be fairly judgmental about how we spend our money. This cynicism obviously increases dramatically the moment you have an outstanding tax debt.

Before delving into specifics, I’d like to make two points regarding the IRS personnel you’d normally be discussing your personal finances with. First, IRS field personnel such as Revenue Officers and Settlement (Appeals) Officers typically have higher salaries than the IRS National Standards for the areas in which they are assigned. In other words, even as public servants, they make more money than their own standards set for a middle class lifestyle.

Second, keep in mind that these people are public servants. In fact, most senior IRS personnel are lifetime bureaucrats, meaning that they have never had to work in the private sector. Some senior Revenue Officers, Revenue Agents (Auditors), and Settlement Officers have actually never worked a day in their lives outside of the government, and don’t even have finance or accounting backgrounds.

Combining these two things, you can see that it’s very possible that the IRS person you are explaining your finances to has an interesting view on the world: They’ve always made an above average salary, and lack any personal experience running a business or dealing with the reality of private sector employment. This skewed perspective becomes readily apparent in talking to senior IRS personnel if you’re a middle class taxpayer or “mom and pop” small business owner.

Now, with that said, let’s talk about the IRS National Standards. The government uses national and local cost of living data to establish norms for the cost of living across various categories. Some cost of living standards are the same for everybody, while others, such as housing and transportation, are adjusted by region.

These standards are based entirely on the government’s definition of a middle class existence. In other words, for purposes of determining how much of your income the IRS expects you to fork over in monthly payments on a tax debt, they only allow you to claim a middle class lifestyle.

It is not uncommon for me to have a conversation with a client where I’m explaining this, and they get frustrated. When you’re in IRS collections, they don’t like seeing that you’re making $1500 per month car payments on a Hummer and a Corvette, or have two people living in a 4200 square foot home. If you are used to a certain lifestyle, you may not quite understand why these things would piss off the government when you owe back taxes.

The main thing to remember is that the IRS National Standards are calculated from a middle class lifestyle standard. While you may consider yourself middle class, statistically you may in fact be upper-middle or even upper class. Keep in mind that the median household income in the US is about $52,000 per year. This means half of households make more, half of households make less. This number, by definition, represents middle class America, and is what the IRS National Standards are based on.

If you owe the IRS a substantial amount of money, and are living above the IRS National Standards, it is possible to negotiate up to a 12-month “stay of execution” against you with IRS Collections. This time period is designed to allow you to reduce your lifestyle to a middle class existence. This would include downsizing to a smaller home, selling cars, boats, and recreational vehicles, etc.

It wasn’t until March 2012 that the IRS finally allowed taxpayers to claim their minimum credit card and student loan payments as allowable expenses. At the same time, the IRS made a major change in how an Offer in Compromise is calculated, drastically reducing the amount they expect you to fork over in a reduced settlement situation. These changes have made literally hundreds of thousands of tax debtors now eligible for the OIC program that previously were not, so it’s worth looking into.

When it comes to discussing your standard of living and associated expenses with an IRS field agent, understand that you are both going to be frustrated, and for very different reasons. If you live a higher than middle class lifestyle, I would definitely suggest having a representative work on your behalf with the IRS, not only to avoid you frustration with these types of conversations, but also because a representative is going to be more knowledgeable regarding what expenses can be negotiated for inclusion with the IRS.

Most people tend to panic when they receive a notice from the IRS. Many, many people think that by stuffing that notice under the mattress, the problem will go away. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that. The best way to address a notice from the IRS is to deal with it immediately and head on. Here are some tips for what to do when you receive an IRS notice.

1. Don’t panic, and don’t shred it. Most IRS notices can be dealt with pretty simply. Not quickly, but simply.

2. Be sure you understand WHAT the notice is for. The IRS sends all sorts of notices — bills for overdue taxes, requests for you to file a missing tax return, to request additional information about something, notify you of pending deadline, etc. The notice will ALWAYS thoroughly explain why you are receiving it. READ IT.

3. Every notice from the IRS will explain what you need to do with it. If they want extra information from you, it will explain what information they need. If it’s a bill, well, then they just want your money.

4. If you receive a notice about a correction to your tax return, you should review the correspondence and compare it with the information on your return.

5. If you agree with the correction to your account, usually no reply is necessary unless a payment is due.

6. If you do not agree with the correction the IRS made, it is important that you respond as requested, within the time limit. Respond to the IRS in writing to explain why you disagree. Include any documents and information you wish the IRS to consider, along with the bottom tear-off portion of the notice. Mail the information to the IRS address shown in the lower left corner of the notice. Allow at least 30 days for a response from the IRS.

7. Most correspondence can be handled without calling or visiting an IRS office. However, if you have questions, call the telephone number in the upper right corner of the notice. When you call, have a copy of your tax return and the correspondence available.

8. Keep copies of any correspondence with your tax records. Also keep record of who you talk to, including their IRS employee ID number (they’re required to give it to you), and detailed notes of your conversation.

If you receive a notice that you don’t understand or don’t agree with, then obviously consider speaking to a professional.

Within the tax resolution industry, there are a variety of fee models that you should be aware of. Different fee models have different potentials for abuse by the firm offering the services, and it is important to do your due diligence and fully understand what you are paying for, how much, and when, before ever paying a single dime to a tax resolution firm.

One of the most common fee models is a retainer model, which is a carryover from the world of legal and CPA firms from which many tax practitioners come. Under this model, you pay an up front amount, which the firm holds on to and then bills against on an hourly basis. Close to the time when the retainer is all used up, you will  get a bill showing what was done, how long it took, and the hourly rate it was billed at. This bill will usually also include a request for additional retainer. The key thing to remember here is that if you don’t keep paying, they don’t keep working.

If you’ve been researching particular companies online, you may already have come across BBB, forum, Attorney General, and other complaints against some firms that aggressively bill down retainers, and are constantly asking their clients for more money, without making much significant progress on a client’s actual tax case. It is important that you thoroughly vet a company before giving them money, in order to avoid becoming another victim of a devious company.

Another common fee model is a flat fee-for-service model. This fee model has a large number of variations, from a flat fee for a specific package of quoted services, to a “menu of services” model where each service you can order off the menu has a specific fee. This latter method is very akin to the most common pricing model used in tax return preparation, where each specific tax form has a particular fee for preparing it. You’ll see this fee model used at many CPA firms and most retail tax preparation outlets.

When you are speaking with any tax firm regarding a package of services, it is very, very important that you understand exactly what services you are being quoted for, and what the company’s policy is regarding fees for additional services. When it comes to tax matters, it is not uncommon for additional services to be required, which will require additional fees if they are not covered in the quotation you are already working under. Ideally, the sales person you speak with will have conducted a thorough analysis of your situation and will have included everything in the proposal sent to you.

When comparing proposals between multiple companies, keep in mind that you probably aren’t comparing apples and apples, but rather apples and oranges. Here are things to consider when comparing proposals between firms that are competing for your business:

• Is any tax return preparation included in the quote?
• Does the fee include all appeals necessary for handling your case?
• For business owners, is Trust Fund Recovery Penalty representation included?
• How many quarters or years of tax issues are covered by the fee quote?
• Is a penalty abatement application included, or is that extra?
• What specific resolution option does the fee cover, and what happens if the resolution strategy changes?

This last question is particularly important. There are some tax resolution firms that will try to sell everybody an Offer in Compromise, because they charge a higher fee for this service. However, it is critical for anybody and everybody to understand that most individuals and small businesses DO NOT QUALIFY for an Offer in Compromise. In fact, the IRS accepts less than 40% of all Offers that are ever submitted, and the only reason this number is so low is because of the high number of ineligible offers that get submitted in the first place. On top of that, less than one third of one percent of all tax debt cases are resolved through an Offer in Compromise. It is also important to understand that the average processing time for an Offer in Compromise exceeds 10 months.

What does this mean for your fee? Well, a reputable firm will conduct a thorough financial analysis, and tell you whether or not you are an Offer candidate. If you are not, then they will negotiate another resolution option for you within the same fee. If a firm tells you they will charge an additional fee for negotiating an Installment Agreement (monthly payment plan) after you’ve already paid a higher fee for an Offer in Compromise, then you should seriously question this.

You should also beware the firm that tells you that, yes, you are an Offer candidate, even when you own assets in excess of your tax liability. Simply put, if you have assets that exceed your tax debt, then the IRS will never accept your Offer. There is an incredibly rare exception to this rule, but it’s so rare that it only happens a few times per year.

Another big thing to consider when discussing fees is the issue of what’s an appropriate fee, and what is too much. The cost of a service obviously varies based on geographical location, but in general fees for tax resolution services across the country do fall into a line of what’s appropriate and what’s not. Here are some examples of what would be considered standard fee ranges for certain services:

• Negotiating an IRS Installment Agreement, penalty abatement, and all appeals on a $40,000 personal income tax debt: $2500
• Same as above, but on a $200,000 business employment tax debt: $5,000 to $7,000
• Trust Fund Recovery Penalty representation: from $1,000 to $2,500, depending on the nature of the case
• Preparing a basic personal income tax return, married filing jointly, a home, two jobs, couple kids: $300-$500
• Preparing a small corporate income tax return with less than $250,000 per year in revenue and no significant assets: $500-$800
• Preparing a more advanced corporate tax return with multiple shareholders, assets, high revenues, etc: $1,200-$2,500
• Negotiating an Offer in Compromise on a $150,000 personal tax debt: $3500 to $5000
• Negotiating the release of a wage garnishment, and nothing else: $400 to $1,000

These are just examples of the types of fees you may see when it comes to working out tax problems. There are numerous factors that go into properly quoting a tax resolution fee, but when comparing proposals, these numbers can give you a good idea of what is considered reasonable across the country.

To obtain a fee quote for tax debt representation services, contact a local firm from our directory of tax professionals.

A friend of a friend was recently referred to me for some help with a tax problem. This individual isn’t rich, works a regular job for a paycheck, and simply got behind on personal income taxes. The situation is compounded by the possibility of some errors on the originally filed tax returns, which I have yet to examine to make that determination one way or the other.

This is NOT an uncommon situation these days. Regular, working class folks that owe a few thousand this year that they can’t pay, and the same thing the next year, etc. Do this for 3 or 4 years, and suddenly you owe the IRS $10k, $15k, $20k…with penalties and interest growing it daily. So, what to do?

First and foremost, remember this: Don’t get ripped off by a tax resolution firm promising you the world when you can easily fix the problem yourself.

Yes, the IRS carries a big stick. But they’re not going to hit you upside the head with it if you take care of the situation.

First of all, if you believe you’ve made mistakes on your tax returns that caused the liability, then you should have the tax returns amended. You have three years from the date a return was filed in order to correct it, so if you’re in that time window and you think you would owe less if they were fixed, start there.

Second, if your tax liability is under $50,000 and it’s personal income tax, then there is a special program available called a Streamline Installment Agreement that you should look at. Under this program, the IRS will let you enter up to a 6 year payment plan (or less, if you can shoulder the monthly payment), in order to pay this off. Warning: Penalties and interest still accrue while you’re on a payment plan!

If the tax debt is getting old, say older than 6 years, then another option might be to get you into a non-collectible status and just ride it out until the statute of limitations expires (which is 10 years). For this, you have to be able to demonstrate that, in a nutshell, you are flat broke and scrape by paycheck-to-paycheck. If you suddenly win the lottery, the IRS will see that and come knocking on your door again, of course.

The final option to consider, if you are broke and really just want the monkey off your back, is an Offer in Compromise. Despite the commercials you may see on TV, the Offer program is not a straight up “pennies on the dollar” deal, but you must rather demonstrate financial necessity. If you’re single with no kids, have a car payment, and don’t own anything of value (art, a house, coins, gold, guns, stocks, bonds, retirement accounts, classic cars, an island, etc.), and you make less than about $3000 to $4000 per month (it depends on what part of the country you live in), then you might be a candidate for making an Offer in Compromise of some nominal amount (it has to be at least $1). This route requires extensive personal financial disclosure and takes about 6-12 months from start to finish, most of which is simply waiting on the IRS to process the application. If you have kids or a spouse, the amount you can make and still qualify goes up. If you don’t have a car payment, the amount you can make and still qualify goes down.

Elsewhere on this blog, I cover the OIC program and Streamline Installment Agreements in further detail. Also look for the Guaranteed Installment Agreement post if you owe less than $10,000 — those are easy as pie and can be done over the phone using an automated voice response system.

If you qualify for a Guaranteed or Streamline Installment Agreement, you can easily do it yourself over the phone. Getting into Status 53 (Currently Not Collectible) is almost as easy, and takes less than an hour on the phone with the IRS. An Offer in Compromise is obviously a bit more complicated. While plenty of people do these themselves, many also choose to hire representation to help them out on this. You can find professional assistance with a local tax firm by searching our directory.