I owe the IRS for 2018..

[A J]

First of all, do you know for sure that you owe them or is it something there just saying? Because my late husband and I used to get tax bills that actually said that we owed them $17,000 and it was just escalating. And we knew that it was impossible but we didn't know how to get out of it. The IRS put a Levy on our bank account and we were freaking out.

So we just so happen to find an accountant that went to the same church as we did and told him the situation and he asked us to sign a paper to give him full control. He made one phone call in front of us and the Levy was off instantly. Then he asked my husband if he could show a few receipts from prior years and yes he had them and I know you will not believe the outcome... the IRS ended up having to write us 4 checks, we owed them nothing! You do need a good accountant.

Let me know if you want his name and number.

Drummer_D

I like this advice. Moral of the story: have a good accountant or tax lawyer.

 

[Drumdame]

I like this advice. Moral of the story: have a good accountant or tax lawyer.

And to boot for all the work that he did he only charged us I believe it was $65. He got us out of a big mess and I was laughing all the way to the bank!

 

[Dr_Watso]

There are a lot of legal firms that focus entirely on tax issues and the IRS notices. It wouldn't hurt to give them a call and see if they think you have any options. I'm not sure how pricing works, but they know all the tricks.

 

[dcrigger]

Should I call them and set up payment plan. Like ten bucks a month?

Nobody here is going to be able to give any kind of reasonable advice, because none of us knows anything about the situation at all. Expect the IRS says you owe $6000. Which really goes no where towards explaining why they are claiming that? For what reason? And that you've been fighting them for two years - but even that... by yourself? With the aid of an accountant to tax preparer??

The only advice I could give is get professional advice on this. And if you have, then follow their advice.

 

[dcrigger]

Yeah as long as you call them and set something up for a minimal amount until you can sort it out. Ignore them and you’ll really get fucked
I owed 2000 for city tax because my idiot job didn’t take out enough for 10 years and Lo and behold they finally caught up. I didn’t even realize I was delinquent mfers them all. I’m paying with Fukien interest mind you for the next 10 years
Love how the government hired 80000 new IRS agents too. 🖕🏻

If you're employer was supposed to withhold the city tax and didn't - they should've been liable for the screw-up, not you. Or at least that's a good possibility.

And sorry but City taxes and the incompetence of your employer has absolutely nothing to do with the IRS. As for the hiring of 8000 agents by the iRS, I say bravo. The vast majority of audits and corrections aimed at us little folks are almost entirely automated now.... but the rich fat cats get away with murder, because their finances are too complicated for the computer algorithms to handle with human involvement. Thus 8000 new agents to focus on recovering the humongous amounts of wealthy citizens' tax money left on the table. Taxes that we peons regularly pay - and the uber-wealthy have been avoiding.... simply because the IRS hasn't had the man power to collect it.

IMO the existence of taxes is not bad (I like roads, schools, the military, etc.) - what's bad is when they are collected unfairly.... un-equitably.

Again IMO

 

[C. Dave Run]

Should I call them and set up payment plan. Like ten bucks a month?

My wife does our taxes, and made a giant mistake one year. We got audited, and subsequently owed like $3500. We made an arrangement to pay the balance each year with our tax return. So instead of getting a refund, they apply it to what we owe.

They will probably stretch it out forever with interest and penalties. We dont care. Its money we never had, have never seen, and will never have or see. It's just shuffling of numbers at this point.

To get to the agreement we had to fill out paperwork, and formally write a letter detailing exactly how we wished to pay back the amount. We get a letter each year with remaining balance/interest/blah blah blah.

Essentially nothing has changed, life goes on, we acknowledged the mistake and they are happy. It isnt really costing us anything out of pocket.

 

[A J]

If you're employer was supposed to withhold the city tax and didn't - they should've been liable for the screw-up, not you. Or at least that's a good possibility.

And sorry but City taxes and the incompetence of your employer has absolutely nothing to do with the IRS. As for the hiring of 8000 agents by the iRS, I say bravo. The vast majority of audits and corrections aimed at us little folks are almost entirely automated now.... but the rich fat cats get away with murder, because their finances are too complicated for the computer algorithms to handle with human involvement. Thus 8000 new agents to focus on recovering the humongous amounts of wealthy citizens' tax money left on the table. Taxes that we peons regularly pay - and the uber-wealthy have been avoiding.... simply because the IRS hasn't had the man power to collect it.

IMO the existence of taxes is not bad (I like roads, schools, the military, etc.) - what's bad is when they are collected unfairly.... un-equitably.

Again IMO

Yep. I'm another guy who doesn't like paying taxes either! 😉

I've actually had decent luck with the IRS. Twice I was audited and they owed ME money. Another time I made a mistake in my favor. They contacted me, advised me of the error and told me how to fix it before I get audited.

 

[Uncle Albert]

First of all, do you know for sure that you owe them or is it something there just saying? Because my late husband and I used to get tax bills that actually said that we owed them $17,000 and it was just escalating. And we knew that it was impossible but we didn't know how to get out of it. The IRS put a Levy on our bank account and we were freaking out.

So we just so happen to find an accountant that went to the same church as we did and told him the situation and he asked us to sign a paper to give him full control. He made one phone call in front of us and the Levy was off instantly. Then he asked my husband if he could show a few receipts from prior years and yes he had them and I know you will not believe the outcome... the IRS ended up having to write us 4 checks, we owed them nothing! You do need a good accountant.

Let me know if you want his name and number.

Drummer_D

Sounds like that guy would get a lot of business from around here. Loved the happy ending.

 

[Drumdame]

Sounds like that guy would get a lot of business from around here. Loved the happy ending.

I have since sent a few people to him that are now yearly regulars.

The accountant looked everything over in detail and asked my husband if he could produce a few receipts going back a few years and luckily my husband came up with those receipts.

In reality we only recieved three out of the four checks because the IRS told us that it was past the statue of limitation for them to send us the last check. Trust me, we didn't believe them because it wasn't past the statue of limitation for them to collect 17 grand from us.

The moral of the story is we owed them nothing but at least we were able to cash three of the checks that they sent us... we never believed that it was past the statue of limitation to recieve and cash the fourth check but we certainly wasn't gonna fight the IRS. I still use that accountant till this day!

 

[GetAgrippa]

Dang dude 6 grand. 2018 right after the tax code reform bill had passed. Seems like my eldest daughter didn't withhold enough the same year (I think she changed jobs and didn't set it up right in new job) and similarly had to pay about some amount in taxes. Which she ended up paying-because it was actually her screw up. So when you amended they didn't accept any of your changes to address their "grievances?. That don't sound good. I'd get some assistance-pronto. Ask them about offer in compromise or any other option that might reduce what you owe and some payment plan over time if stuck with it.

 

[bearblastbeats]

Dang dude 6 grand. 2018 right after the tax code reform bill had passed. Seems like my eldest daughter didn't withhold enough the same year (I think she changed jobs and didn't set it up right in new job) and similarly had to pay about some amount in taxes. Which she ended up paying-because it was actually her screw up. So when you amended they didn't accept any of your changes to address their "grievances?. That don't sound good. I'd get some assistance-pronto. Ask them about offer in compromise or any other option that might reduce what you owe and some payment plan over time if stuck with it.

Yea. That year I changed my job 3 times, had a PT job as well and took out my 401k twice.

It was a mess.

Sp when I sent in the 1040X, I sent all my returns, a letter explaining everything I did and a spreadsheet showing where all the dollars are. My calculations showed that if I did owe, it was close to $500 since I was in a new tax bracket due to the 401k withdrawal.

The guy I spoke wrote back to me and saying he couldn't make heads or tails of what I'm trying to do. So I appealed and when to tax court, spoke to a lady on the phone and she said the best she could do was take off like $500 of interest but her calculations showed I owed.

I appreciate everyone's help here. But I'll probably just call them and set up payment plans or see if they just hold my future returns.

 

[Uncle Albert]

I have since sent a few people to him that are now yearly regulars.

The accountant looked everything over in detail and asked my husband if he could produce a few receipts going back a few years and luckily my husband came up with those receipts.

In reality we only recieved three out of the four checks because the IRS told us that it was past the statue of limitation for them to send us the last check. Trust me, we didn't believe them because it wasn't past the statue of limitation for them to collect 17 grand from us.

The moral of the story is we owed them nothing but at least we were able to cash three of the checks that they sent us... we never believed that it was past the statue of limitation to recieve and cash the fourth check but we certainly wasn't gonna fight the IRS. I still use that accountant till this day!

Good outcome for you much better than most. Hard to beat the the guy that makes the rules that nobody understands. How convenient. Gives us a flat tax and put this frightening archaic hyper complicated and hugely expensive process to bed once and for all.

 

[Vintage Old School]

See if your accountant will go to bat for you. That could possibly remove any penalties and lower the amount you owe.

 

[Chris Whitten]

IMO the existence of taxes is not bad (I like roads, schools, the military, etc.) - what's bad is when they are collected unfairly.... un-equitably.

Couldn't agree more.
The UK is hell bent on lowering taxes. We are seeing rising crime, decrepit public services and a two week wait to see your doctor.
Many European countries have higher taxes, which having visited recently equals free or cheap healthcare, tidy and modern city centres.

As for accountants, they charge fees too. You have to know when it's cheaper to pay a $6000 bill over paying an accountant hours of work to fight it.

 

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Couldn't agree more.
The UK is hell bent on lowering taxes. We are seeing rising crime, decrepit public services and a two week wait to see your doctor.
Many European countries have higher taxes, which having visited recently equals free or cheap healthcare, tidy and modern city centres.

As for accountants, they charge fees too. You have to know when it's cheaper to pay a $6000 bill over paying an accountant hours of work to fight it.

I still think it’s absolutely nuts that the US doesn’t have a PAYE system for employees…

I completely agree with you about taxation. It’s a force for good and lowering taxes generally only benefits the wealthy, who often wouldn’t even notice the difference if the taxes were a bit higher.

 

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Good outcome for you much better than most. Hard to beat the the guy that makes the rules that nobody understands. How convenient. Gives us a flat tax and put this frightening archaic hyper complicated and hugely expensive process to bed once and for all.

A flat tax hugely penalises the poorest and most vulnerable in society. It’s a ridiculous notion that even the most right-wing political pressure groups in the UK have dropped because, frankly, it is an evil notion.

 

[Chris Whitten]

It's all too complex though, with multiple loopholes that disadvantage ordinary working people.

 

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

Perhaps but I certainly don’t think a flat tax is the answer. Progressive taxation based on income is much more fair.

 

[Chris Whitten]

Yeah, I'm not disputing that.

 

[Dutch]

A guaranteed base income for all people would allow simplification of rules around taxation, benefits etc. There have been some promising case studies but I think it'll be a while before the notion will take hold.