Hi, I’m Jeff Fouts, a tax attorney located in metro Atlanta, with a nationwide law practice helping clients who have serious IRS problems. I’d like to share with you another client case study from the 1,000’s of tax clients we’ve represented.

Case Synopsis

A man in his early 30’s from Dalton, Georgia contacted us because the IRS has filed a tax lien against him and he is afraid the IRS will seize some of his father’s property because of his own tax debt.

Our first step was to obtain signed IRS Forms 2848 and 8821 from the client. These documents allow the Internal Revenue Service to talk with us about the client’s case, and to release information to us.

Our client’s IRS Account Transcripts shows that he owed the IRS approximately $40,000 for several tax years. The IRS had filed a tax lien against him for this debt but they didn’t have the legal right to levy or garnish yet because they hadn’t sent him the final collection notice in the mail.

After talking some more with our client, he identified that the reason for his concern was a piece of family property that he owns jointly with his father. Apparently his family used to own hundreds of acres, and over the years most of it had been slowly sold off to pay bills and to buy other needed things. Our client is desperate to keep the IRS from seizing this last remaining piece of family land. It is obvious that it was quite an emotional issue to him. It was also an embaressment to him because he knew that he had endangered the family property.

Generally the IRS will not seize an asset that a taxpayer jointly owns with a non-liable person. It’s difficult to assign a dollar value to a 50% ownership in a piece of property if the other party is unwilling to sell. Even if the IRS did seize the property in its entirety, they would have to reimburse the other owner his 50% share of any proceeds from the sale.

Property seizures are handled by IRS Revenue Officers. Our client does not yet have a Revenue Officer assigned to his case so the good news is that IRS is not in a position to currently be looking for assets to seize in his tax case. Not yet anyway.

We have requested our client supply us with his detailed financial information so we can determine what all of his collection options are. We’ll of course be looking at ways to get the IRS tax lien removed. The IRS will release a tax lien under several different scenarios:

– if the entire tax debt is paid in full either in cash, or

– when an accepted Offer in Compromise is paid in full, or

– if a taxpayer pays their tax debt down below $25,000, and they are in a monthly installment agreement that allows the IRS to direct debit their bank account for the monthly payments.

Once we have received all his detailed financial information and analyzed it, we will be able to advise our client of the collection resolutions available to him and know which one is the best for him.

What is the lesson to be learned from this story? If you are afraid the IRS may seize an asset that you own – either individually or with a non-liable person – you need to quickly take action to deal with the tax problem and so you can know what all your options may be.

Conclusion

I hope this important client case study has helped you understand the IRS a little better and how tax problems are solved. Chances are you have questions or concerns about your own particular tax problem. I encourage you to pick up the phone and call me. I can answer your questions. Over the past 20 years I’ve represented clients in all 50 states and 29 foreign countries, and I welcome your call. You can reach me at 1-888-995-6785 or by email at jfouts@taxhelpattorney.com. I’m Jeff Fouts and thanks so much for watching. Have a wonderful day.

TaxHelpAttorney.com Tax Law video No. 142431