Help Clients through the IRS Collection Process and Create Successful Offers under Latest Rules and Conditions
As the federal government faces extreme financial pressures while the IRS has seen 18% of its budget cut, the IRS is using every tool it has available to collect taxes owed and to close the "tax gap." As of December 31, 2014 there were more than 12.4 million taxpayer accounts in the IRS Collection Division's inventory, an increase of nearly 6 million accounts since 2005, a 91% increase! IRS lien filings are up a staggering 1,600 percent over the past 10 years, and levies served on third parties have increased 475 percent during the same period. When the IRS places liens on property and accounts or levies strip money from taxpayers' paychecks, the reality of tax problems become unavoidable. And those enforcement activities send taxpayers scrambling for professional help in resolving their IRS problems.
On Dec. 4, 2015 President Obama signed the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which now requires the IRS to use private debt collectors and to suspend taxpayer's passports for unpaid taxes! The coming year will see new enforcement action being taken and clients will be scrambling for help. The Impact of the IRS Appeals Judicial Approach and Culture (AJAC) will change the way we find Collections handling our cases and our collection appeals. Finally, the IRS has begun sending Collection cases to the Department of Justice Tax Division for suit to bring tax liens down to a judgment for 20-years of DOJ collection action!
Based upon the numbers and changes we see happening, Collection is almost certainly the hottest growth area in tax right now, and 2016 will usher in some good (and not so good) changes to the IRS Collection process. Tax preparation has started to be viewed by clients as a commodity service that can be purchased anywhere and clients are increasingly price sensitive. Representing clients through the Collection process, however, is a specialized area that increases your practice's visibility and commands premium billing rates, as well as creating long-term client relationships as you help these clients solve their immediate problems and avoid future difficulties with the IRS.
Speaker: Eric L. Green
Course Content:
- Inside the IRS Collection Division
- IRS Collection Procedures and the New FAST Act
- The Collection Statute of Limitations
- Collections Appeals and the Impact of AJAC
- The Federal Tax Lien Mechanics
- Withdrawal, Discharge and Subordination of the Federal Tax Lien
- Department of Justice Action to Seek Converting the IRS Lien into a Judgment and its Impact on Clients
- Federal Tax Levy Mechanics
- Avoiding a Federal Tax Levy
- Getting Levies Released
- Installment Agreements
- Offers-in-Compromise
- Having Clients Deemed Uncollectable
- Utilizing Bankruptcy to Resolve Tax Issues
- Payroll Tax Issues
- Client Case Studies