IRS Should Not Collect if Tax Due is in Dispute – Policy Statement, Former IRS Agent
The Internal Revenue Service has different policy statements for many their procedures.
Many times taxpayers have legitimate disputes with Internal Revenue Service.
Sometimes the fact of the matter is that the tax is not owed and many times IRS persist in their collection action.
Here is the IRS official policy statement regarding this issue it should be used when IRS gets aggressive brought to the attention of the agent, or their manager
Policy Statement 5-16
Forbearance when reasonable doubt exists that assessment is correct
Whenever a taxpayer raises a question or presents information creating reasonable doubt as to the correctness or validity of an assessment, reasonable forbearance will be exercised with respect to collection provided:
- adjustment of the taxpayer’s claim is within control of the Service; and
- the interests of the Government will not be jeopardized.
- Enforced collection measures to be withheld when disaster impairs ability to pay
- Reasonable forbearance should be exercised with respect to the enforced collection of taxes from taxpayers whose businesses are located in areas affected by major disasters such as floods, hurricanes, droughts, fire, etc., and whose ability to pay is impaired by such disasters.
- Forbearance when refund suit is pending on a divisible assessment
When a refund suit is pending on a divisible assessment, the Service will exercise forbearance with respect to collection provided that the interests of the government are adequately protected and the revenue is not in jeopardy.
However, any refunds due the taxpayer may be credited to the unpaid portion of the liability pending the outcome of the suit.
Divisible tax cases are those in which the tax assessment may be divided into separate portions or transactions. For example, a quarterly withholding employment tax liability may be sub-divided into individual liabilities covering each employee.
