any accountants here?

[matt]

hi guys i was wondering. I have a friend who has had a series of bad luck since July. He got a letter from the IRS stating he owes $3,000.00 in back taxes. He is currently on short term disabiltity, his wife cannot work due to a health problems herself. Is there something that this family can do? I wish i could help them out myself but dont have that kind of money. But they are struggling and i am concerned because it not getting any easier for them. It hurts me seeing the situation. Their own families are not helping them.

[MISSINDI]

hi guys i was wondering. I have a friend who has had a series of bad luck since July. He got a letter from the IRS stating he owes $3,000.00 in back taxes. He is currently on short term disabiltity, his wife cannot work due to a health problems herself. Is there something that this family can do? I wish i could help them out myself but dont have that kind of money. But they are struggling and i am concerned because it not getting any easier for them. It hurts me seeing the situation. Their own families are not helping them.

Not an accountant, but there should be a telephone number with the notice that he can call. Depending on how behind he is, most of the time, they'll set up installment payments. Hope this helps.

[Jazzmatazz49]

Some CPAs will give a brief consult free, I know my husband will do that. It might even save him money in the long run to drop a couple of hundred bucks for professional advice and help. When a CPA talks to the IRS for you, you can often get a break.

I know I sound like a CPA commercial, sorry.

[leebee]

Years ago, I had a friend who had some tax issues w/ her father's estate. She dealt w/ the IRS and I remember her saying how nice & helpful they were. Fast forward to last year when my mother discovered her accountant had done something--over the course of a couple of years and they owed almost $8K. She was in a panic--I told her to call the IRS, her friends kept telling her not to, that they'd just say "AHA!" and tell her she had to pay right away, told her to get a lawyer, see another accountant, etc. Finally, I convinced her to call. She's talked to about a dozen different people trying to get this resolved, and they've all been extremely helpful, nice and reasonable. She managed to cut the bill almost in half, because they did reduce some of the penalties once they looked into the situation, and got her on a payment plan. They want to get it resolved and will do what they can to work it out.

[Cinnamon Crazy]

There is a Taxpayer Advocate Service that is used a lot in these situations.

The Taxpayer Advocate Service is an IRS program that provides an independent system to assure that tax problems, which have not been resolved through normal channels, are promptly and fairly handled. The National Taxpayer Advocate, Nina Olson, heads the program. Each state and campus has at least one local Taxpayer Advocate, who is independent of the local IRS office and reports directly to the National Taxpayer Advocate. The goals of the Taxpayer Advocate Service are to protect individual and business taxpayer rights and to reduce taxpayer burden. The Taxpayer Advocate independently represents your interests and concerns within the IRS.

The following link will tell you a little more and also how to locate a local advocate.

Taxpayer Advocate Service

I hope this helps.

-Anna

[RobinC]

Hey Anna, I was wondering if you would post on this one.

The important thing is don't ignore the notice. The IRS really doesn't like it when people ignore their notices.

[jmarie]

I posted about a problem similar to this recently...The IRS can get pretty mad if you keep throwing their notices in the trash because you don't have the money to pay....

I am sure that they will work with him.
Joyce