IRS Tactics in Claiming Back Taxes

By Alan Gavel | Published on August 16, 2011 | 0 Comments

Many Americans fail to pay their taxes or misrepresent themselves on the taxes they do file, thinking the IRS has more important things to do than go after a single individual. However, this would be a mistake to assume since the IRS has become notorious for its relentless methods of recovering money owed to them by taxpayers. As such, if one owes money they may find a number of areas of their life being interrupted by the hand of the IRS which employs various tactics to recover money from contacting one’s bank to wage garnishment. This makes it all the more important for an individual trapped in a morass with the IRS to contact an experienced Tampa tax filing attorney who can assist.

Alan Gavel is one such tax filing attorney in Tampa with the law firm Gavel & Leone PLLC, and he says that there are three main ways that the IRS will try to recover money, though there are also a number of secondary methods to note. “One of the tactics that the IRS will try is to put a tax lien on a property you own so that if you try to sell the property in the county where you file then you’ll run into difficulties.” According to Gavel, this means that one would be unable to change owners of the property until the lien has been paid. This also precludes the ability to refinance one’s home as well. In such a scenario, the lien is usually paid off using the money made from the sale of the property.

Gavel says that the second tactic used by the IRS is a much more aggressive one, and one that needs to be taken seriously. “One of the most intrusive tactics is when they do a wage levy, aka wage garnishment, where they send a notice a to your employer and inform them to pay 35% of your income to the IRS.” This tactic can be even more devastating in that it carries immediate consequences on one’s income, as well as informing an employer of their employee’s delinquent financial situation, which can be an enormous embarrassment.

The third IRS tactic involves a levy on one’s assets. Technically, a levy is a legal seizure of property and can include a hold on federal payments, refunds and even on bank accounts. “They can do a bank levy where they can tell the bank to hold any money that they receive to then pay the IRS.”

Gavel says that though these are three of the most often used tactics, in his experience as a Tampa tax filing attorney he has encountered additional actions as well. “If someone fails to do a tax return, they can go back and do your tax return for you and they won’t take into consideration any of your deductions or costs.” Gavel cites a case he worked on in which a client had failed to file taxes so the IRS filled out his tax return for him, taxing him on $1.4 million dollars his company made in sales, but leaving out the $1.2 million dollars he had accrued in costs. “We had to show the IRS that he did make these sales but also lost money in the process.”

Ultimately, Gavel says that the IRS is very creative in recovering taxes and can cause a lot of problems for those who fail to pay up. So if you are under fire from the IRS, it is important to right your wrong by hiring an experienced Tampa tax filing attorney who can help bring you back into saving grace with the government.

*Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.

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