Received a tax assessment letter from the Internal Revenue Service?

The tax assessment from the IRS is the Internal Revenue Service's take on what you owe them. The letter may be sent in a few circumstances and many indicate the following: The IRS has begun a more aggressive tax collection effort, or they are working through the process of a tax settlement with you and they have determined the amount of tax that will be considered the tax liability to be discussed in the settlement negotiations.

The tax assessment will include the federal tax owed, accumulated interest and penalties. If you do not respond to the tax assessment letter it's important to note your interest will continue to compound and your total amount owed will continue to grow.

It is highly recommended once you have received an assessment by the IRS to retain the services of a tax attorney who specializes in IRS tax problems.

The reason for hiring a tax attorney is simple - it only gets worse after the tax assessment. Once the IRS decides to move forward in collecting your tax debts they have many tools at their disposal to get the money owed, and none of them are pleasant.

Initially they may turn up the heat by having a IRS tax lien placed on your property - effectively you will not be able to sell your home until the lien is satisfied - meaning until you pay the complete amount owed to the IRS. However because a lien does not really effect day-to-day living many people who cannot afford to pay the amount owed continue to ignore the problem. This is a big mistake as the tax lien is only the beginning.

If a lien does not result in a response by the taxpayer then the next step for the IRS may be either a bank levy or worse wage garnishment. In the case of a levy the IRS will send Notice of Intent to Levy to the taxpayer. From that moment on the clock is ticking and the taxpayer has just thirty days to respond effectively or they can look forward to the IRS taking all of their money out of their bank account! It is crucial before this happens to get help from a Tax Attorney, many times a simple phone call and beginning negotiations can stop the levy from taking place.

If the bank levy does not satisfy the tax debt the next thing the IRS will push for is one of the most draconian tools available to them - wage garnishment. Garnishment is NOT a piece of parsley next to your entre in this case. It IS when the IRS forces your employer to take your hard earned money directly out of your paycheck before you ever get it. And it gets worse they can take most of the money leaving very little to live on even if you have a family to support!

Many people feel trapped thinking "if I had the money to hire a tax lawyer I would not have fallen behind in my taxes!" but while attorney's fees will be an expense, many tax law firms have flexible payment plans including credit cards or monthly payments to mak e things easier. Any attorney's fees will be offset 10 fold by the amount of trouble and possibly money they can save taxpayers under harsh collection practices by the IRS.

About the Author

Utah Tax Lawyer Jim Gilland of Gilland Law Firm P.C. received his Juris Doctorate degree Drake Law School in 1995. He earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree from Brigham Young University in 1977 and 1978 respectively. He has been practicing law since 1996 specializing in Taxation and helping taxpayers in the Utah and Salt Lake City areas get legal help to solve IRS tax problems.

Author (getmejustice). Submitted on Tue, 30 Aug 2011 Time: 3:00 PM

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