Tax problems are always a source of confusion and stress for taxpayers. This is why in most cases the help of a competent accounting professional is needed. If you are not sure what a tax notice means or if you are facing a tax audit, you should seriously consider hiring a professional tax service. If tax problems are not resolved quickly and appropriately, they can lead to penalties that are unpleasant and, in some cases, have a long-term negative impact on businesses.
In order to solve tax problems, the problem is first carefully analyzed and all possible solution alternatives are identified.
As authorized tax representatives, we handle our clients' tax issues with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), state or local tax authorities in a manner that is most convenient and expeditious for our clients.
After the resolution of the tax problem, we advise our clients to avoid tax problems in the future.
Tax Debt
If you have not filed a tax return or paid your tax debt, this will not only result in penalties and late payment interest. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has many options to collect the tax debt, such as imposing an injunction or lien on your property and financial assets.
When dealing with tax problems, it is important to be aware that penalties and interest on tax debt can be negotiated and possibly reduced. If you cannot afford to pay your tax debt in full, you can have your tax debt deferred and make an agreement to pay your tax debt in installments. However, in order to negotiate with the authorities to resolve the tax problem, the taxpayer must first become tax compliant by filing overdue tax returns.
If our clients have overdue tax debts, tax penalties and interest debts, we first thoroughly examine and understand the situation, identify solution alternatives and propose a solution plan.
As a first step in solving tax problems, we help our clients prepare and file overdue tax returns to become tax compliant.
Negotiations with the tax authorities on behalf of our clients for the solution of tax problems are carried out by our company, so our clients do not need to meet directly with the official authorities.
We work and negotiate with the relevant tax authorities on behalf of our clients to reach acceptable solutions to their tax problems. Our goal here is to obtain the best deal for our client by obtaining an expungement or reduction of tax penalties.
We negotiate directly with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and other tax authorities to ensure that problems are resolved quickly so that our clients are not subject to additional penalties or actions such as injunctions or liens. If there are already existing injunctions or liens, we make every effort to have them lifted.
Tax Notifications
Tax notices can be sent for different reasons and usually require a response by a certain date. While some notices are nothing to worry about, most of the time these notices need to be taken seriously.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) may send a tax notice requesting additional information to ensure that the tax return is complete and that the tax liability declared is correct. In this tax notice, the IRS may ask questions about the tax return or request additional information. If the IRS believes that there is a discrepancy between its records and the tax return, it will send a tax notice with suggestions for changes to the tax return.
To assist clients with tax notices, our firm first explains the purpose of the tax notice and possible responses. Then, we review the records related to the tax notice and help our clients to choose the most appropriate response.
Tax Audits
A tax audit is the most important and stressful tax problem a taxpayer can face. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and/or Local/State Tax Authorities may select certain tax returns to audit for accuracy. If the IRS and/or Local/State Tax Authorities believe that there are questionable items in a tax return, that tax return is selected for audit. Also, any taxpayer can be selected for audit by computerized selection based on a statistical formula or completely randomly, even if there is nothing suspicious in the tax return. A tax return may also be selected for audit because it contains matters and transactions related to taxpayers who have filed other tax returns that have been selected for audit.
When a tax return is selected for audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the taxpayer is notified by mail. The IRS can conduct the audit by mail correspondence (correspondence audit) and by conducting face-to-face interviews. Face-to-face interviews can be conducted at an IRS office (office audit) or at the taxpayer's home, place of business, or accountant's office (field audit).
A Correspondence Audit is the most common type of audit. During a Correspondence Audit, the IRS requests additional information and documentation about certain items on the tax return, such as income, expenses, deductions, etc. After the requested documents and related explanations are mailed to the IRS, an IRS official reviews the documents and notifies the taxpayer by mail whether any changes have been made to the tax return.
An Office Audit is conducted when problems with the tax return cannot be resolved by a Correspondence Audit, which only verifies the records, and additional review is necessary. In an Office Audit, a representative of the IRS meets face-to-face with the taxpayer, asks questions about the issues under review, and personally examines the taxpayer's records. Office audits are more detailed and cover more issues than correspondence audits, but are not as detailed as a field audit.
A Field Audit is a comprehensive and detailed audit conducted at the taxpayer's home, place of business or accountant's office to examine financial records and other aspects to check the accuracy of the tax return.
If all items examined during the audit can prove to be correct, the audit does not require any changes to the tax return. However, at the end of the audit, the IRS usually makes some changes to the tax return. If the taxpayer accepts these amendments and is required to pay additional tax as a result, there are several options for payment. If the taxpayer does not agree with the proposed changes, he or she can request a meeting with an IRS administrator. If there are still unresolved issues afterward, the taxpayer can apply for mediation or appeal the decision.