IRS Collections and Your Rights to Appeal

We help clients in Winchester, VA that have tax debt. If you owe back taxes, you will be receiving letters from the IRS Collection division. The IRS Collection Division is responsible for collecting past due taxes and also for “collecting” un-filed tax returns.

If you owe back taxes and have been notified by the IRS of the tax owed and have failed to respond, you may eventually receive a Notice of Intent to Levy. With this “final” notice you will also receive a Form 12153 “Request for a Collection Due Process or Equivalent Hearing,” also referred to as a “CDP.” This final notice is a critical notice because 30 days following the date of this notice, levy action may commence. The way you stop the levy action is by requesting the hearing with the Form 12153.

By filing the Collection Due Process (CDP) request a number of things will happen in the case.

● The IRS stops all collection action against the taxpayer for the tax periods listed on the Final Notice

● The taxpayer’s case is forwarded to Appeals

● The taxpayer has the right to go to Tax Court if the taxpayer cannot work out an arrangement with Appeals; and

● The taxpayer has additional time to prepare any missing returns and sort out the proposal for resolving the outstanding tax debt.

Unfortunately, most taxpayer’s do not realize the seriousness of the need to file the appeal. In fact, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate, less than 3% of taxpayers ever take advantage of their appeal rights.

What happens if the taxpayer misses the 30-day deadline to request the CDP hearing? If the taxpayer misses the 30-day deadline, there is still an opportunity for up to one year, to request an “equivalent hearing.” By requesting the equivalent hearing (having missed the 30-day CDP request deadline) the taxpayer has lost some significant rights:

● Collection action does NOT stop, so the taxpayer or their representative still have to continue to deal with the collection division while they await their appeal; and

● There is no right to go to the United States Tax Court. Anything the appeals officer decides at the equivalent hearing is final.

At Tax Debt Resolution Services of Winchester VA, our mission is to help you eliminate your IRS issues and the stress the IRS has created in your life and help you get back to doing what you do best! We help our clients in Winchester VA, Strasburg VA, Martinsburg WV and Charles Town WV to resolve their tax debts!. If you need assistance please feel free to contact me at 540-662-44328 or brianbarto@libertytax.com.

Brian Barto

24 Weems Lane, Winchester, VA 22601.

540-662-4432

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