Owe Back Taxes? You’re Not Alone: IRS Goes After 60 Health Care Providers
While President Obama is optimistic about the passage of the Health Care Bill which is set to provide some 30 million Americans currently without health insurance affordable coverage without raising the federal deficit, the IRS is under scrutiny for its tax collection efforts from 60 health care providers who owe large sums of unpaid back taxes.
The latest news involves the Senate Finance Committee holding the IRS accountable for deficient tax collection from health care providers. This shows just how no one is safe from IRS’ grasp. The current tax climate of the country emphasizes the overarching IRS attitude that “if you have delinquent IRS taxes, the IRS will find you–whether you’re a regular individual or a large health care provider.”
CCH (http://intelliconnect.cch.com) reports:
Grassley Challenges IRS to Collect Unpaid Taxes from Health Care Providers
Ranking Senate Finance Committee member Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, has asked IRS Commissioner Douglas H. Shulman to describe the IRS’s collection activities involving 90 health care providers identified by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as having high tax debts. In a December 14 letter to the IRS, Grassley expressed his concern over GAO reports indicating that thousands of health care providers receive Medicare and Medicaid payments at the same time that they owe taxes that total over $1 billion.
Grassley cited a series of GAO reports from 2007 and 2008 about Medicare providers with unpaid taxes. The GAO audited and investigated 90 providers with high tax debts. Many of these providers were established businesses, including corporations. The GAO reported that many individuals had accumulated substantial wealth and assets, while failing to pay their taxes, including payroll taxes used to fund the Medicare program.
According to Grassley, the GAO referred all 90 cases to the IRS for collection and criminal investigation. He asked Shulman to provide a detailed description of all collection activities and other actions taken by the IRS subsequent to the GAO referrals.
Grassley was also distressed about a recent GAO report that federal workers owe more than $3 billion in income taxes from 2008. “It’s not right for a few to shirk their obligations, and it’s especially offensive that these tax delinquencies come from federal employees and contractors,” Grassley said in a statement.
By Brant Goldwyn, CCH News Staff
A key thing to note from the current expansion of IRS tax collection aggression is that even if you owe the government substantial amounts of back taxes, you can still get professional tax help from a tax attorney or CPA to reach an IRS tax settlement.
Many taxpayers make the mistake of believing that a notification from the IRS is the “end-all” of their financial well-being. This does not have to be true–there are innumerable cases of taxpayers who found IRS tax relief when they were faced with overwhelming IRS tax penalties for their back taxes. Check out true IRS tax resolution stories at the TRS Files.
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