IRS Tax Relief For Last Minute Filers as April 15th Approaches

There are only two days left until the April 15th tax filing deadline.

For taxpayers who are not yet ready with their tax returns, it’s time to buckle down. Whether you haven’t filed your taxes because you’ve been busy or because you don’t have enough money to pay your taxes in full, it’s time to get serious about your tax return in order to avoid IRS tax problems.

I recently appeared on the Big Biz Show to share some last minute filing tips to taxpayers who want to avoid IRS tax problems. Read on for tax help advice on how you can save yourself from severe IRS penalties this tax season.

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How Innocent Spouse Defense Can Save You

Question: What is Innocent Spouse defense and how can this relieve someone of their joint tax liabilities?

Answer: First and foremost, you can only qualify for Innocent Spouse defense if you’re divorced and signed a joint return for the year in question. Normally, if the husband has a side business with its separate banking account and gets caught for evading his taxes, the IRS can come after both the husband and the wife for the amount owed. If the wife can prove that she 1) did not know about the business and the tax evasion and 2) she did not benefit from the tax evasion of the business (i.e. living a more lavish lifestyle), then she can qualify for Innocent Spouse as long as she is divorced from her husband.

It’s a tricky situation and you definitely want to make sure that you’re going to be mired in IRS trouble for someone else’s mistakes.

What to Do If You’re in IRS Debt

Question: What is your advice for people who are in so much IRS tax debt that they don’t know what to do or where to start?

Answer: There’s a solution to every problem. I have met people who owe the IRS almost $1 million and they’re able to settle an Offer in Compromise agreement with the IRS so that they can pay off their debt in installments. It’s not often that taxpayers end up owing the IRS that much money, but even if you do–you can get tax help to resolve your IRS problems.

It is also important to remember that the IRS is willing to work with you. If you can only afford to pay “X” instead of “Y” per month to resolve your back taxes, they are flexible enough to extend your payment period to accommodate for that. This is called a “partial pay installment agreement.” Speak to a tax attorney or Certified Tax Resolution Specialist about how you can qualify for this if you are in IRS debt but can’t afford to pay.

Tax Filing Procrastinators–What to Do Now?

Question: So what if I still haven’t filed my taxes and it’s April 15th in a day? What should I be doing right now?

Answer: If you’re filing an extension, you need to be paying in about 100% of what last year’s tax liability is or you’re going to owe money. What you need to do is sit down with your documents right now, categorize them or divide them by category, not by month, and start doing your tax return.

Remember to review your social security numbers, carefully check them, make sure you didn’t transpose them. Double-check your figures if you’re doing this thing by hand, make sure your arithmetic is correct. Because if it’s not, it will generate a red flag and an IRS audit. Remember to sign and date your return, I cannot believe how many people send in their tax return and don’t sign it. That doesn’t count as a filed return.

Even if you’re filing for an extension, you still need to give the IRS an estimate. So either way, you need to sit down and crunch your numbers. You may as well get the tax return done while you’re at it.

Do I Need to Pay the Alternative Minimum Tax?

Question: What is the alternative minimum tax?

Answer: The short version of alternative minimum tax is if a taxpayer claims too many deductions and ends up having no tax liability, the government will intervene and say “no, you have to pay at least this amount ‘x’”. So you definitely want to be careful with your deductions and make sure that you’re claiming legitimate ones you can prove.

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Remember, it’s not the end of the world if you’re mired in IRS tax trouble. There will be a IRS tax relief solution that can get you through–just don’t hesitate to ask for tax help.

Tax Resolution Services is a team of expert tax attorneys, CPAs, and Certified Tax Resolution Specialists who are here to help you with your tax problems. You can call our office at 1-866-IRS-PROBLEMS or visit www.taxresolution.com for a free tax resolution consultation.

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