The IRS is Not Your Enemy

I have seen an explosion of commercials over the last few years advertising services to assist people who owe back taxes to the I.R.S. or who have not filed taxes for one or more years.  It is unreal the number of commercials you see promising the tax payer they can help them settle what they owe for pennies on the dollar.

Each of these ads play on an already present fear most people have of the I.R.S..  You don’t have to have done anything wrong to lose your breath or swallow hard if you receive anything in the mail with the I.R.S. logo on it.  Afterall, I am not a speeder or criminal of any kind, therefore I have no reason to fear the police when I see them at the side of the road.  It is a healthy respect for the law that causes you to jerk the ol’ knee and check your speed as your heart flutters a bit.  Once you realize you are good on speed, you feel a little silly and continue on down the road.  It’s this same healthy fear we all should have regarding the I.R.S. and our taxes.

However, there are companies who would like to take this healthy fear and turn it into unhealthy and traumatic fear.  They will tell you that if you haven’t filed your taxes or you owe back taxes, the I.R.S. can garnish your wages, put liens on your bank accounts and property, or even put you in jail. 

Is any of that a lie?  NO, not at all.  They soon follow-up this kind of basically true statement with something like, “never deal with the I.R.S. yourself, they can ruin your life, you may lose your house, your job or worse, go to prison.”  See what I mean.

Then comes the big, we have ex-I.R.S. agents who will fight your case for you.  Their experience will keep all these terrible things from ruining your life forever.  They lead you on to believe without their help you will never get out of debt with the I.R.S.. Do you feel the plastic bag slipping over your head yet?

My friends, the truth is this: The I.R.S. is not the enemy.  Everybody in the United States of America grows up from a very young age knowing when they get older like mommy and daddy they will have to pay taxes too!

So, What’s my point?  Let’s go back to the police officer.  Maybe you were going a little faster than you should have, whether by intention, someone in the car riding with you did something to distract you or you just weren’t paying attention.  Either way, the law is the law.  If you were speeding and the officer catches you, you pay a penalty.  Now, from the moment you get pulled over, things can only go from not so good to horrible or pleasantly surprised. 

What do I mean?  Well, depending on your attitude with the officer, the discretionary authority the officer has can go not so good, horrible or pleasantly surprised.  How you handle your wrongdoing is the difference between getting the ticket, getting the ticket at a reduced speeding infraction, a written warning or a verbal warning. 

My point is simple.  Like the police officer, the I.R.S. is an enforcement agency.  The I.R.S., like police officer’s have the responsibility to enforce the existing laws.  With that responsibility comes a great deal of authority.  The ultimate goal of either enforcement agency is to solve all violations of law in a manner that best serves the public interest.  Their is a lot of discretion that can be exercised by these enforcement agencies in the course of performing their duties.  Is denying you have committed the crime going to make it go away? No.  Is being rude and obnoxious with the officer going to make it go better? Not likely, and maybe worse.  Is telling them your friend failed to mail your ticket and fine to the court like they said they would going to keep them from serving the resulting warrant for your arrest? No.

It is no different with the I.R.S..  If you haven’t filed, or owe back taxes you haven’t paid, will it go away if you ignore it? No.  Will it go away if you remain petrified to contact the I.R.S.? No.  Will the constant stress of wondering if today is the day go away just because you wish it would? No.  Of course not, but some of these companies want to totally freak you out, play on your fears and use that fear as a bountiful funnel of cash.

These companies and your fear are your enemy?  They want to strip you of $1,000’s to do for you what you may be able to do for yourself with hundreds or less.  Being an ex-IRS agent does not change the law.  It is what it is.  The IRS is not afraid of them: ex-IRS agent or not.  The IRS has plenty of other taxpayer money to fend them off.  The code is the code.  All these companies can do for you is comply with all the requirements of the code, follow procedure, wait for an answer, accept the answer, appeal if they don’t get the answer they think is right, etc..

This is the same thing you can do for yourself.  These agencies will boast about all these special forms they have access to making it appear as though they are your only hope.  You can find all the same tools and resources they will use on the Official I.R.S. website.  Their is an abundance of helpful information available if you don’t mind doing the studying.  Even if you don’t want to do the work yourself, get a little educated before you hire someone else to do it for you.  You will lose a lot less by having some understanding of the process.

Now, having said all that: I would educate myself about these issues and would let a professional help me, but not one of these agencies that want to traumatize you with fear.  Independently search for local tax lawyers, a C.P.A. or even an enrolled agent to assist you in the process.

However you decide to do it, just do it!  The I.R.S. does not have it at the top of their priority list to put you in jail, garnish your wages or anything else to ruin your life.  They can, but they would rather act in the best interest of the taxpayers and have you come to them to reintegrate you back into the tax system.  They do tend to get annoyed if they have to chase you. If you get to the I.R.S. first, no matter how long its been since you filed or how much you owe, it is not likely you are going to jail.

If you cooperate with them and do the right things, they will work with you as far as the code will allow, but they have guidelines too.  Start by educating yourself about taxpayer advocates and their role in helping you as a mediator. 

These agencies who play on your fears want you to feel heavy desperation, like you can never get out of debt with the IRS because of penalties and interest.  The truth is, you’re likely to pay these agencies more than you ever would the IRS.   You may pay thousands for them to fill out forms you have access to yourself.  They like to tell you all about the pennies on the dollar they can save you on your tax bill  to the IRS, but they never mention in their commercials how much they are going to bleed you for to do you this great favor.  That’s laughable.

Do yourself a favor.  If you do respond to one of these tax relief companies, make them tell you on the phone what they are going to do for you and how much it is going to cost.  Is it a flate rate?  Do they charge for each form, and how much?  If you are hiding from the IRS, it is likely not because you don’t want to pay, but you fear you don’t have anything to pay. So, where are you going to get the cash to pay these people?  Think about it.

I hope you get my point.  There are ways to petition the IRS to reduce your tax debt, but you will have to prove it out according to tax code procedure.  There is no miracle way: there is only the IRS way.  You have rights and you need to study and exercise those rights.  Go to www.irs.gov and see the wealth of information available to you there.  If you haven’t filed or if you owe back taxes, even if you owe $10,000 or more their is information for you.  Want to submit an offer-in-compromise? The information and forms are there. If you don’t know what that is, then go there and find out.   Do you want to make payment arrangements (install agreement) with the IRS? The information is there. If you haven’t filed for years and you don’t have all your income information to do your taxes. Guess what? Yes, their site will tell you how to get all that information straight from the IRS yourself or a person authorized by you.  Are you getting it?

If you want to get it over with, just call the IRS and tell them you refuse to pay taxes, and then your likely to discover jail may not be far away, but it will be over with. The other option is to educate yourself, call the IRS, a tax lawyer, C.P.A. or an enrolled agent and get started on the process.  If you don’t, your agony continues and the IRS is not the enemy.  The first enemy is the one within who refuses to deal with it and the second is the tax relief agency who wants to get you in that office meeting where they can really make you feel the heavy desperation of your situation and empty your pockets at the same time.

You are in charge, and you can fix it without feeding the sharks. 

I am not a tax lawyer, nor do I propose to be a tax professional of any kind.  The information offered is soley my heartfelt opinion based on my own personal research and experience.  As I stated previously, I would advise anyone to educate themselves about their rights on tax issues and consult a tax professional, such as a tax lawyer, C.P.A. or enrolled agent. I believe the best recommendations for hiring a tax professional come from others in our community whom we know.