Monday 24 August 2009

What You Need To Know About Tax Levies

By Dan Knight Shelly Henderson Barbara Bridgestone

A tax levy is a legal seizure of your property in order to satisfy a tax debt. While liens are claims used as security for a tax debt, levies involve the actual physical seizure of assets and properties. Failure to pay taxes or arrangements to settle a debt that you owe can result in the seizure of your car, boat, house, bank accounts, rental income, and related assets.

If you receive a final notice of intent to levy, you should act quickly to protect your legal rights and your property. Contacting a professional tax service should be your first step. Waiting and pretending this is not a problem is no longer an option.

You may be eligible to qualify for what the IRS calls an offer in compromise. Essentially, this is an agreement between you and the IRS. Certain circumstances have to be established before the IRS will accept this offer, however. These include: actual presence of tax liability, inability of taxpayer to pay off debt in full, and evidence of extreme economic hardship.

An OIC can help taxpayers avoid bankruptcy, and can result in the release of liens and levies. Taxpayers are required to make a full financial disclosure to the government and waive the rights to certain tax benefits as well as remain current on all tax obligations for five years.

The first step towards solving your tax problems is to be aware of all of your options. Contacting a tax professional is the best way to do this. Start taking action now to get your problem resolved.

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