Can’t Pay Your Taxes?
What Should You Do?
It happens all the time to individuals. Things can become tight financially for a number of reasons. You may delay filing your tax return because you can’t pay. Or you file but can’t send in any money to pay the tax liability. Nothing happens right away, so you exhale and go back to your routine.
The Dreaded IRS Letter
A few years later, it catches up with you. You start to get letters from the IRS. Now you’re stressed out about your tax problems, you can’t pay your tax bill, which now includes penalties and interest. Your financial life is a wreck, and you have no idea what to do about your IRS debt.
The Road to Resolution
The good news is there is a process to get relief from your tax problems that we can help you navigate. The IRS wants their money, but they also are quite happy to work with you to get unstuck and to start on the road to tax debt resolution.
Step One: Get into Compliance
The first step to resolving your IRS problems is to get into compliance, and that means filing certain prior years’ tax returns that were not previously filed. It also means you need to start making your current tax payments even if you still can’t pay the old debt.
The tax returns need to be complete and accurate, so you may need to catch upon bookkeeping or find old receipts. We can help you sort through what you need to do to catch up.
Step Two: Understand Your Options
After you’re back in filing compliance, we can take a look at a number of alternatives and determine what the best course of action is for your unpaid back taxes. You may have heard of an offer in compromise, or an installment agreement. In both cases, you and the IRS agree on a payment plan and an amount that you can afford to pay, and you start making payments to the IRS.
There are many other remedies as well as types of offers and installment plans. It’s a good idea to speak with a tax professional like us that is licensed to represent you before the IRS. Only three types of people can help you: a tax attorney, a CPA, and an Enrolled Agent.
Step Three: Contact Us
It’s best to contact us before you do anything, including getting back into compliance. Sometimes your own action can trigger more debt and make your problem worse.
We can help you determine the exact tasks you need to do for your situation so you can get this problem behind you in the easiest way possible.
We encourage you to act sooner than later because the penalties and interest will continue to add up. But we know you need to be ready yourself as well.
When you are ready to end your IRS nightmare, we can help. And If you know anyone who is struggling with IRS problems, please have them contact us.