HOW UNFILED TAX RETURNS HINDER YOUR CHANCES OF SETTLEMENT WITH THE IRS

Do you think you're doing yourself justice by living underground and not filing your past year's tax returns? Think again! You may be doing yourself more harm than good. This article explains why you're better off staying current and in compliance with tax tiling requirements and the consequences one faces if one doesn't timely file their income tax returns.

LATE FILING PENALTY
Let's say you want to file but know you owe the IRS and for various reasons cannot pay the tax due with your returns. By not filing timely, you automatically subject yourself to the late filing penalty, IRC 6651(a)(1), unless you have reasonable cause for filing late. The late filing penalty is 5 percent of the amount of the tax required to be shown on the return for each month or fraction thereof, that the failure continues, not to exceed 25 percent. By filing late, you've just added to the taxes you know you already owe.

INTEREST ON PENALTIES
In general. interest on penalties will only be imposed if the penalty or addition to tax is not paid within 10 days after notice and demand, and then only for the period from the date of notice and demand to the date of payment. Most people who procrastinate and file late usually can't pay their taxes and penalties within 10 days of notice and demand to do so. Now in addition to the taxes owed and late filing penalty, you are assessed interest on penalties. This is in addition to regular interest on the balance of taxes due. Fortunately, the IRS doesn't charge excessive rates of interest.

PAYMENT OPTIONS
What are one's payment options when they can't pay their taxes after filing them? Requesting and obtaining an installment plan is one. An Offer In Compromise is another. Another is discharging the taxes through bankruptcy.

INSTALLMENT PLAN
In order to obtain an installment plan all of one's tax returns must be filed. So if you receive a wage levy at work and want to obtain an installment plan in lieu of the IRS grabbing up to 25 percent of your take home pay. You must have all of your past year's taxes filed. If not, the IRS won't deal with you because you lack -Good Faith" and are not in "compliance."

OFFER IN COMPROMISE
An Offer In Compromise (01C) is an Offer to pay the IRS in settlement of tax liabilities less than 100% on the dollar but as much as they otherwise would expect to collect.

The recent IRS Restructuring And Reform Act of 1998 includes provisions making the IRS more receptive to and even encouraging Offers In Compromise (OIC) in settlement of tax liabilities. However, all tax years must be filed or the IRS won't consider an OIC. By not filing past year's tax returns. you may be missing a great opportunity to settle with the IRS, depending on your current financial position, for substantially less than the total taxes, interest, and penalties you owe them. People think the best time to make an Offer is when they're financially sound. Actually, the best time to make an Offer is when they're financially distressed because the IRS usually accepts OIC's when they otherwise could not expect to collect the full amount owed. One other caveat, if the IRS accepts your OIC, you must remain current for five years by filing on time and paying timely otherwise the IRS can revoke your OIC.

DISCHARGING TAXES THROUGH BANKRUPTCY
In general, you can discharge personal income taxes through bankruptcy if all of the following rules are met:

1. The Three Year Rule — The tax return due date, including extensions, must be more than three years old before the bankruptcy petition date.

2. The Two Year Rule — no discharge will be allowed if a tax return, including extensions, was not filed or a delinquent tax return was filed within two years of the date of the bankruptcy petition.

3. The 240 Day Rule — Any tax must be assessed more than 240 days before the bankruptcy petition date to be dischargeable.

If a Chapter 7 is filed and the three rules above are met for each tax year, one can discharge individual income taxes completely. The rules vary for a Chapter 13. In certain circumstances a taxpayer may completely discharge his/her taxes for a given tax year even though no return was filed for that year.
For the most part, in order to completely discharge individual income taxes through bankruptcy, tax returns need to be filed.

DON'T MAKE THIS MISTAKE
I had a client engage me to prepare seven years back tax returns. Four of the seven years he was due refunds totaling S 10,000. Ile lost those refunds because he filed them too late. Yes, there is a statute of limitations on collecting tax refunds. Generally, if no return was filed, the claim for refund must be filed within two years from the time the tax was paid.

CRIMINAL IMPLICATIONS
Criminal penalties may be incurred when a taxpayer: willfully fails to file a tax return, fails to keep records, fails to supply required information, or fails to pay any tax or estimated tax. You don't want to risk the IRS construing your not filing as being willful. The cost of hiring a criminal tax attorney is expensive and the mental anguish of undergoing a criminal investigation can be devastating.

THE BOTTOM LINE
The bottom line is, if you have unfiled tax returns, stop procrastinating. You may be hurting yourself and ruining your chances of getting an installment agreement, obtaining a refund, getting an Offer In Compromise or having your taxes discharged through bankruptcy. Why live in hiding? It's not pleasant to live without a bank account. If you can't locate income records, you can hire a tax professional, give them a Power of Attorney, and they can request your income records from the IRS under The Freedom of Information Act. There's no better time to get your unfiled tax returns filed and get current. Once you start the process. you'll feel better. Once your returns are filed, your chances of settling your tax liabilities will be enhanced.

SEPTEMBER 2010 TAX BRIEFING

Reporting Receipt of Cash:
The issue in this program manager technical advice is whether a person who receives a check exceeding $10,000 in the course of a trade or business and cashes rather than deposits the check must file Form 8300 (Report of Cash Payments Over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business). In concluding that the transaction is not reportable under IRC Sec. 6050I , the IRS notes that a personal check is not cash under Reg. 1.6050I-1(c)(1) . Therefore, the person receiving the personal check is not a recipient of cash for Section 6050I reporting purposes. The subsequent cashing of the check was not a receipt of cash for the underlying event (the relevant transaction), nor did it relate to the underlying transaction between the payer and recipient. The cashing of the check was a separate act by the recipient at a check casher. PMTA 2010-012.

Requesting Tax Payment Extension due to Undue Hardship:
An IRS memo addresses the rules for processing Form 1127 (Applications for Extension of Time for Payment of Tax Due to Undue Hardship), which was recently revised. Form 1127 cannot be used to request an extension of time to file a return, and if filed on that basis will be returned as nonprocessible. If the taxpayer is requesting an extension of time to pay a tax due on an upcoming return, Form 1127, with supporting documents, must be filed on or before the due date of that return, excluding extensions. If the taxpayer is requesting an extension of time to pay a deficiency, Form 1127, with supporting documents, must be filed on or before the due date for payment indicated in the tax bill. IRS Memo SB/SE-05-0710-029.

Copyright © 2010 Thomson Reuters/PPC. All rights reserved.

TIPS FOR RECENTLY MARRIED AND DIVORCED TAXPAYERS

Newlyweds and the recently divorced should ensure the name on their tax return matches the name registered with the Social Security Administration. A mismatch could unexpectedly increase a tax bill or reduce the size of any refund.

• For recently married taxpayers, the tax scenario begins when the bride says, "I do." If she takes her husband's last name, but does not tell the SSA about the name change, a complication may result. If the couple files a joint tax return with her new name, the IRS computers will not be able to match the new name with the Social Security number.
• After a divorce, a woman who had taken her husband's name and made that change known to the SSA should contact the SSA if she goes back to her previous name.

It is easy to inform the SSA of a name change by filing Form SS-5 at a local SSA office. It usually takes two weeks to have the change verified. The form is available on the agency's website, www.ssa.gov, by calling 1-800-772-1213, and at local offices. The SSA Web site provides the addresses of local offices.

If you have any questions related to your requirements to the IRS after getting married or divorced, or you would like help changing your name with the SSA, give us a call at (562) 912-4334. We are happy to help.

USE OF CELL PHONES FOR BUSINESS

The following is a summary of important tax developments concerning the use of cell phones for business use. Please call us for more information at (562) 912-4334.

Regardless if the phone is owned by you or your company, business uses is deductable. However because cell phones are indentified as “listed property”, there are strict substantiation requirements. Listed property is any property that lends itself to both business and personal use like computers, cars and cell phones. A Cell Phone Log should be used to substantiate the business use. The use of this log is required to take a business deduction. Therefore, providing you used this log, the company can reimburse you for the business use. It is important to note that if the company owns the phone, then any personal usage of an employer-provided cell phone is a taxable fringe benefit.

To get around the substantiation requirements, you should have two phones, one deducted to business and the other dedicated for personal.

As of the date of this e-mail, the IRS Commissioner and the Treasury Secretary have called on Congress to simplify the rules for cell phone substantiation and asked that no tax consequences will occur to employers or employees for personal use of cell phones provided by employers. Additionally, legislation has been introduced to eliminate cell phones from the listed property definition. Practitioners should monitor this issue for further developments.

Please call us at (562) 912-433 if you have any questions..

8 TIPS FOR TAXPAYERS WHO OWE MONEY

The vast majority of Americans get a tax refund each spring. However, what if you are not one of them? What if you owe money to the IRS or your state?

Here are nine tips for individuals who need to pay taxes. The tips are similar for corporations, but more involved.

1. If you get a bill for late taxes, you are expected to promptly pay the tax owed including any additional penalties and interest. If you are unable to pay the amount due, it is often in your best interest to get a loan to pay the bill in full rather than to make installment payments.

2. You can also pay the bill with your credit card. To pay by credit card contact either Official Payments Corporation at 800-2PAYTAX (also www.officialpayments.com) or Link2Gov at 888-PAY-1040 (also www.pay1040.com).

3. The interest rate on a credit card or bank loan may be lower than the combination of interest and penalties imposed by the IRS or your state.

4. You can pay the balance owed by electronic funds transfer, check, money order, cashier's check, or cash. To pay using electronic funds transfer you can take advantage of the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System by calling 800-555-4477 or 800-945-8400 or online at www.eftps.gov.

5. You may request an installment agreement if you cannot pay the liability in full. This is an agreement between you and the Taxing Authority for the collection of the amount due in monthly installment payments. To be eligible for an installment agreement, you must first file all returns that are required and be current with estimated tax payments.

6. For the IRS, if you owe $25,000 or less in combined tax, penalties, and interest, you can request an installment agreement using the web-based application called Online Payment Agreement found at IRS.gov.

7. If you owe your state, you might b required to submit a financial statement and documents proving your inability to pay in full.

8. You can also complete and mail an Installment Agreement Request [for the IRS Form 9465]. The Taxing Authorities will inform you usually within 30 days whether your request is approved or denied or if additional information is needed. If the amount you owe is $25,000 or less, provide the monthly amount you wish to pay with your request. For the IRS, at a minimum, the monthly amount you will be allowed to pay without completing a Collection Information Statement, Form 433, is an amount that will fully pay the total balance owed within 60 months.

You may still qualify for an installment agreement if you owe more than $25,000, but a Form 433F, Collection Information Statement, is required to be completed before an installment agreement can be considered. If your balance is over $25,000, consider your financial situation and propose the highest amount possible, as that is how the IRS will arrive at your payment amount based on your financial information.

9. If an installment agreement is approved, a one-time user fee will be charged. For the IRS the user fee for a new agreement is $105 or $52 for agreements where payments are deducted directly from your bank account. For eligible individuals with incomes at or below certain levels, a reduced fee of $43 will be charged. This is automatically figured and is based on your income.

For more information about installment agreements and other payment options, give our office a call at 562-912-4334.