by Fresh Start Tax | Oct 10, 2018 | Tax Help
Being a former IRS agent and teaching instructor of the offer in compromise there are so many myths about the program it’s hard to keep up with.
MYTH
The majority of calls that I get or from taxpayers that believe that IRS is going to settle their tax debt because of the ads they see on TV the Internet and various marketing techniques.
While the offer in compromise is a true program offered by the Internal Revenue Service, approximately 32,000 Americans get their offers in compromise approved by Internal Revenue Service because they are true qualified candidates for the program. The majority do not get accepted.
The average settlement is $6500 per case in approximately 32% of all offers in compromise are accepted by the Internal Revenue Service.
Unfortunately there are many IRS debt settlement companies that take cases, make promises and their clients offer have no chance of going through the IRS system to settle their tax debt.
Many of these companies charge thousands of dollars and I hear all the stories as people call me after other companies have failed to perform. I warn any taxpayer who wants to hire a company to speak to the person who will be working their case before giving their money to any IRS debt settlement company. You should find out how many offers they have worked and get a gut feeling about what you think their level of expertise is. I would also suggest that you speak to somebody who’s worked for the Internal Revenue Service and knows the program inside and out.
Everybody should know that the Internal Revenue Service has an offer and compromise pre-qualifier tool and if they do not call a professional company they should walk through the pre-qualifier tool on IRS.gov.
So how does the offer in compromise get process through the Internal Revenue Service.
First of all, a reviewer looks at the offer to make sure the offer can be referred to a revenue officer. The offer in compromise must from a technical standpoint be filled out completely have all signatures and all key elements of the 656 in place.
The reviewer then pulls up a transcript to make sure all the tax returns have been filed. If the offer in compromise is not filled out correctly all tax returns not filed, the reviewer sends it back to the taxpayer.
Once it passes the test of the reviewer, the offer is then passed on to a revenue officer specialist who has been trained by the Internal Revenue Service what to look for and what can be accepted by the Department of treasury.
KEEP IN MIND
The offer in compromise is a binding contract or covenant between the Department of treasury and the taxpayer and is a true legal settlement and document.
Once the revenue officer who is the offer in compromise specialist looks at the financial statement that person will get a general sense of how they feel about the offer in compromise.
A good tax tip
Put a letter or an accompaniment document letting the reviewer know from the beginning why your client or taxpayer needs to have this offer accepted and any extenuating circumstances that may exist.
BIG TIP
It puts a idea in the mind of the revenue officer of the desperate situation that the taxpayer is going through. The reason this is important is that the revenue officer is only looking at a piece of paper is removed from the reality of the taxpayer.
The job of a true practitioner is to help your client.
So you must make the situation real to the Internal Revenue Service as to understand the effects of the burden of the tax liability.
As a former IRS agent revenue officer I would look at the offer, glanced through, it look at the numbers, look at the written statement and kinda have a feeling about the offer in compromise. It is very important for that initial review to ge well, the IRS offer specialist feel good about working the offer in compromise, it sets the tone.
Please keep in mind it is much easier for a revenue officer offer in compromise specialist to reject the offer in compromise because there is a lot of process work and due diligence that a person must do to accept the offer in compromise.
Not only do you as a revenue officer have to approve the offer but so does your manager, the regional manager and so does the district council of Internal Revenue Service for legal purposes.
Many people ask why this process is so extensive and why so much time is spent.
The answer is quite simple, all offers in compromise that are accepted by the Internal Revenue Service are open to public review for one year at certain regional tax offices so the public can review offers in compromise and see which cases IRS accepts and which cases they do not.
So you can expect the Internal Revenue Service to be very cautious and more importantly use the same standard to accept every single offer in compromise. Appearance is very important to the Internal Revenue Service
Once the revenue officer starts looking at the financial statement they pay a lot of time to three main things:
1. the assets,
2. the income, and,
3. the expenses claimed by the taxpayer.
ASSETS.
The revenue officer wants to make sure that they’re getting their full liquidated value as part of the basis for settlement to Internal Revenue Service.
IRS will discount your residence approximately 20% but IRS generally will never settle for less than full liquidation value of the assets of any taxpayer and/or business.
Also keep in mind assets includes IRAs, pensions, stocks, and values of businesses that the taxpayer may own.
Next the revenue officer will move on to the expenses claimed against income.
The revenue officer will compare the national, regional, and geographical standards of the cost-of-living are in every region of the United States and compare that to the income.
The IRS’s job is to make sure that the taxpayer is living well within their means before they will accept an offer in compromise.
The goal of the Internal Revenue Service is to make sure the taxpayer has to borrow money from third-party to pay the offer in compromise and to settle their tax debt. Any money in possession of the taxpayer in any savings account or checking account generally must be included in the offer in compromise.
( please keep in mind that exceptions exist in certain cases.)
Once the revenue officer is pretty certain that this is a doable or acceptable offer, it puts the offer through a series of financial tests to make sure the documentation on the financial statement is correct.
The IRS agent will spend approximately 20 to 40 hours to work an offer in compromise.
The Agent will do Google searches to check businesses and an individual’s name to find out if there are assets, it will use the accurate search engine to look for back assets, it will pull DMV records, pull courthouse records, and will use other search engines to make sure that this offer can be acceptable by the Internal Revenue Service.’s
One of the great sources that IRS can use is a credit report.
There is a plethora of information on a credit report and on large cases the revenue officer can and will pull a credit report up.
After the revenue officer is convinced this is a doable offer they will package up the case and send it to the manager for review and acceptance .
What to Do if the Offer is not accepted.
In almost all cases we send an appeal and to get it to a third party who is not connected with the collection division.
We love the sender cases to and appellate officer who was a better and more balanced person to accept the offer in compromise.
If you have any question about your case or like us to review your offer in compromise or process it call us today for a free initial tax consultation.
You will hear the truth about the offer in compromise.
While there is so much more that I could write and can be included in this short blog these are the basic overviews of the IRS offer in compromise.
Please keep in mind I was a former IRS revenue officer teacher and instructor of the offer in compromise.
by Fresh Start Tax | Oct 9, 2018 | Tax Help
Speak to Michael D. Sullivan, Former IRS and Hear the Truth about Offer in Compromise. 1-866-700-1040
Mr. Sullivan is the founder and originator of Fresh Start Tax LLC.
Mr. Sullivan has worked thousands of cases since 1982 and is a true tax expert on the offer in compromise.
As a former IRS agent he both work accepted and taught to new IRS agents the offer in compromise program, otherwise known as the tax relief debt settlement program.
Upon your initial consultation with Mr. Sullivan you will know whether your qualified candidate to settle your tax debt for pennies on a dollar.
Offers in compromise or IRS tax relief debt settlements are not for everyone you must be a qualified candidate upon your initial consultation. There’s a pre-qualifier tool for offers in compromise.
Mr. Sullivan will walk you through the program and let you know all the fact about the offer in compromise.
Mr. Sullivan has also contributed to Bloomberg news and the Wall Street Journal.
Michael D. Sullivan had a distinguished career with the Internal Revenue Service for 10 years. As a veteran IRS Revenue Officer / Agent, he served as an Offer in Compromise Tax Specialist and Large Dollar Case Specialist.
He also collaborated with the U.S. Attorney’s office on undercover operations. Michael received several awards for his work and dedication as a IRS Agent.
During his tenure with the IRS, he was a Certified Tax Instructor who taught out of the Atlanta Regional IRS Training Offices. He also taught out of the local and district offices of the IRS. Mr. Sullivan trained many of the new IRS Agents.
Michael has been in private practice for the last 35 years in the field of Taxpayer Consultation for IRS Audit and Collection tax resolution issues. He often consults with corporations and individuals, which involves a wide range of tax issues.
Michael has worked many large complex cases for high net worth individuals and large corporations.
Mr. Sullivan is also registered with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and has an approved class for IRS Collection Matters for Certified Public Accountants and Attorneys. Course # 0012279 expires 11/04/2019.
Mr. Sullivan also have course approval from the Florida Bar P1708462N to the members attorney and law firms who have need CPE credit for “IRS Tax Resolution”.
Mr. Sullivan has been a featured speaker in the credit card industry, student loan and the debt settlement vertical as well.
He also was one of the featured speakers at the Latino Tax Fest which also featured Nina Olsen, Nation Taxpayer Advocate.
Mr. Sullivan has also appeared on FOX BUSINESS NEWS
http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/4147654259001/tips-for-getting-through-to-the-irs/?#sp=show-clips
Former IRS Agent, Revenue Officer, Offer in Compromise Specialist, I Know the System
by Fresh Start Tax | Jun 18, 2014 | Tax Help
IRS has the right to take and apply your refund to other debts that you may be occurring.
As a general rule, Tax Refund Offsets may apply for:
- and Unemployment Compensation Debts
The Department of Treasury’s Bureau of Fiscal Service which issues IRS tax refunds, has been authorized by Congress to conduct the Treasury Offset Program .
Through this program, your refund or overpayment may be reduced by BFS and offset to pay:
1. Past-due child support;
2. Federal agency non-tax debts;
3. State income tax obligations; or
4. Certain unemployment compensation debts owed to a state.
Generally, these are debts for:
(1) compensation that was paid due to fraud, or
(2) for contributions owing to a state fund that were not paid due to fraud).
You should contact the agency with which you have a debt to determine if your debt was submitted for a tax refund offset.
You may call BFS’ TOP call center at the number below for an agency address and phone number.
If your debt was submitted for offset, BFS will take as much of your refund as is needed to pay off the debt and send it to the agency you owe.
Any portion of your refund remaining after offset will be issued in a check to you or direct deposited for you.
BFS will send you a notice if an offset occurs.
The notice will reflect the original refund amount, your offset amount, the agency receiving the payment, and the address and telephone number of the agency.
BFS will notify the IRS of the amount taken from your refund. Contact the agency shown on the notice if you believe you do not owe the debt, or if you are disputing the amount taken from your refund.
If a notice is not received, contact BFS’ TOP call center at 800-304-3107 or TDD 866-297-0517.
The available hours are Monday through Friday 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST. Contact the IRS only if your original refund amount shown on the BFS offset notice differs from the refund amount shown on your tax return.
If you filed a joint return and you are not responsible for the debt, but you are entitled to a portion of the refund, you may request your portion of the refund by filing Form 8379 (PDF), Injured Spouse Allocation.
You may file Form 8379 with your original joint tax return ( Form 1040 (PDF), Form 1040A (PDF), or Form 1040EZ (PDF)), with your amended joint tax return ( Form 1040X (PDF)), or by itself after you are notified of an offset.
If you file a Form 8379 with your joint return, write “INJURED SPOUSE” in the top left corner of the first page of the joint return. The IRS will process your Form 8379 before an offset occurs.
If you file Form 8379 with your original or amended joint tax return, it may take 11 weeks for electronically filed returns or 14 weeks if you file a paper return, to process your return.
If you file Form 8379 by itself, it must show both spouses’ social security numbers in the same order as they appeared on your joint income tax return. You, the “injured” spouse, must sign the form.
Follow the instructions on Form 8379 carefully and be sure to attach the required forms to avoid delays. Do not attach the previously filed joint tax return to the Form 8379. Send Form 8379 to the Service Center where you filed your original return and allow at least 8 weeks for the IRS to process your Form 8379.
The IRS will compute the injured spouse’s share of the joint return, and if you lived in a community property state during the tax year, the IRS will divide the joint refund based upon state law.
Not all debts are subject to a tax refund offset. To determine if a debt is owed (other than federal tax), and whether an offset will occur, contact BFS’ TOP call center at 800-304-3107 (for TTY/TDD help, call 866-297-0517).
by Fresh Start Tax | Oct 3, 2013 | Tax Help
File your back tax returns all at the Same Time and stop worrying.
We are a Florida-based professional tax firm that has been resolving tax issues, tax problems and all federal and state tax matter since 1982.
We are A+ rated by the Better Business Bureau.
When a client walks into our office and they have not filed back tax returns for multiple years one of the first questions they ask me is should we send the men at the same time
Taxpayers have an innate fear that if the Internal Revenue Service sees multiple returns that that send up a red flag and the IRS will come looking for them, start an investigation or become very suspicious.
That simply is not true.
As a matter of fact the Internal Revenue Service is just happy you’re filing your back tax returns and that you are going back into the system.
This happens so much that it is commonplace with the Internal Revenue Service.
The Internal Revenue Service does not have enough people and manpower to go ahead and keep up with everybody who has not filed their back,late, past due tax returns.
File all your back tax returns and get back in the system and stop worrying.
Not only can you file all your back tax returns you can also reach a tax settlement with the IRS, yes, all at the same time.
We’ve been filing back tax returns for taxpayers since 1982 and to date by the grace of God we have not had one taxpayer audited as a result of multiple back filings.
If in fact a person did go through the audit process because of back tax return filing it was simply because their tax return fell out of the national standards or norms.
When FST files back tax returns we do everything we can audit proof your tax return so this never becomes an issue between you and the Internal Revenue Service
Other Information – Full compliance check
There is absolutely no reason not to file these tax returns at the same time in the same envelope.
The reason is simple.
Anytime the Internal Revenue Services processes your case and the case goes to the ACS unit or the collection field unit the Internal Revenue Service and the IRS must conduct a full compliance check.
A full compliance check is a complete review by the agent working your case of your tax history.
It lets IRS know how much you owe and what your tax returns have not been filed.
As a former agent when I see taxpayers that file tax returns year-by-year in separate envelopes I became very suspicious.
It was not that they were doing anything wrong but I felt as though they were trying to sneak back in the system. If they are trying to sneak back in the system I would ask myself ,what else are they trying to sneak about.
If you will owe back taxes as a result of your back tax return filings call us today and we can work out some sort of tax strategy tax settlement that you will be able to financially live with.
Being former IRS agents, managers, and teaching instructors we know all the protocols, systems and all the exit strategy so you can live in peace without worry.
How IRS will resolve your tax bill if you owe money to the IRS
If you are going to owe money to the Internal Revenue Service as a result of your late, past due or back tax return filings, the Internal Revenue Service in all likelihood will require a current financial statement.
Based on that financial statement, the Internal Revenue Service will either place your case into an economic tax hardship, insist on a payment or installment agreement or let you know that you are an eligible candidate for an offer in compromise.
Contact us today and find out which of these programs works best for you.
Back Tax Returns to File ? File Tax Returns at the Same Time, Former IRS
by steve | Sep 10, 2009 | Tax Help, Uncategorized
As a former agent, there are a couple of acid tests to see if the client or the taxpayer is lying.
Here are just three that I would use today.
First, the IRS pulls up an Accurint report.
It is an online search engine that anyone can use that gives them 10 years worth of information on anybody. In the age of technology, assets are so easy to find.
The IRS will find any information they have to. They are a giant.
The second thing I would do is to make sure financial statements, bank statements and 1040’s all have a common cord through them, this is to say, they make sense when put together.
Does the income on the 1040 match up with the bank statements and the current financial statements?
Lastly, I would check credit cards to see if the purchases match up with everything else.
Here is a bonus way to tell you maybe lying.
IRS will check your credit history and find out if you have given a financial statement to anybody within the last three years, that is any creditor or anyone you are up tempting to borrow money from.
The IRS will compare that financial statement with the financial statement you’ve given other lendors.
Have any questions. call former IRS agents and managers to learn more about the system in the process. Always tell the truth!
There are many techniques used, there are just a few.
