The IRS has recently made updates to its Innocent Spouse rules. Now more taxpayers will be considered to receive Innocent Spouse Relief from their joint tax returns. When a married couple files a joint tax return they are both responsible for all taxes. In some instances one of the partners misrepresents their tax situation. This misrepresentation causes a tax debt for both parties. The debt could have occurred due to not reporting income, misrepresentation of key facts, under reporting, or under paying. Often time’s finances and marriage are difficult. For whatever reason one spouse neglects to inform the other about tax debt, and now the innocent party is on the hook. Well that’s not always the case. There is help out there. If there was a misrepresentation on your joint tax return that you were unaware of, you may be eligible for relief through an Innocent Spouse Program. Read more

Transcripts are like your secret file with the IRS. They show us what the IRS knows about you. There are three basic steps to IRS Resolution. The first is Power of Attorney & Investigation. The second is preparing all necessary returns. The third step is Resolution. Transcripts play a very important part in the first step, investigating a taxpayer’s case. Below is some information about IRS transcripts.  

What do they include? Read more

In our office we have become accustomed to the long hold times at the IRS. It is no surprise when a taxpayer walks in and wants to know, why they have to wait two hours on the phone. We are not shocked when refunds and processing are late. Why? Because it has become the norm with the Internal Revenue. We ourselves as tax professionals still have to wait on hold, sometimes for hours. Only to be hung up on while waiting in the cue. Read more

An offer in compromise is an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS. The agreement settles the taxpayer’s liabilities for less than the full amount owed.  An OIC is generally not accepted if the IRS believes the debt can be paid in full or in instalments. The IRS will look at your income and assets and decide your “reasonable collection potential.” To come up with this figure the IRS takes your assets and also ability to pay in the future. The combined figure creates what they call “Reasonable Collection Potential”(RCP).

There have been a lot of changes in the last few years. Now under the new Fresh Start Program when the IRS calculates RCP, they must follow new guidelines. Read more