The Internal Revenue Service is mandated by law to actively pursue people with tax liabilities. To have the “teeth” to collect taxes owed, it imposes harsh penalties on errant taxpayers. These penalties can quickly add up and seriously affect the financial freedom of people who owe back taxes. At Timothy S. Hart Law Group, P.C., our experienced tax attorney may be able to help you reduce the penalties you owe the IRS.
Even though the IRS has tough methods of collecting taxes, including by instituting expensive penalties, tax authorities recognize that there are various reasons why people fail to file their taxes or to pay the full amount due. With this recognition comes room for compassion, why is why the agency created the IRS Penalty Abatement petition. Under this arrangement, the penalties on your tax liabilities can be reduced or even erased.
To learn whether you may qualify for this program, reach out to our IRS tax attorney today for a free consultation. Call our Albany office at (518) 213-3445 or our New York City office at (917) 382-5142. Even though our offices are located in New York, Timothy S. Hart is licensed to handle IRS issues in every state in the country so may be able to have your IRS penalties reduced no matter where you live.
Penalties are put in place by the IRS to send a message to taxpayers that compliance with tax laws should be strictly observed. However, if a taxpayer has enough “reasonable cause” to justify their failure to comply, the IRS may consider the taxpayer’s situation and possibly give consideration.
For this reason, taxpayers who believe they have reasonable cause should never be afraid to challenge, question and appeal when a penalty is enforced on them for back taxes. A knowledgeable IRS tax attorney can assist you in this effort and potentially help you in getting penalties reduced.
Reasonable cause is determined subjectively. If the failure of compliance is caused by difficult circumstances, the IRS may, as a good faith step, conduct an investigation of the reasons behind the tax difficulty and may work with taxpayers who have compelling reasonable cause.
The Internal Revenue Manual provides the context of reasonable cause. While it may be a subjective concept, it has clear guidelines as shown here:
Every taxpayer’s situation is unique. Reasonable cause as described by the IRS is “based on all the facts and circumstances” of a taxpayer’s situation. Taxpayers who try to meet their tax obligations but just do not have the financial wherewithal to do so may qualify to have penalties reduced. However, as the IRS notes on its website:
A lack of funds, in and of itself, is not reasonable cause for failure to file or pay on time. However, the reasons for the lack of funds may meet reasonable cause criteria for the failure-to-pay penalty.
Our tax attorney Timothy S. Hart can help you determine if your situation amounts to reasonable cause for getting relief from the tax penalty. You can arrange a free consultation with him by calling our Albany office at (518) 213-3445 or our NYC office at (917) 382-5142.
There are five typical reasons that federal tax penalties are imposed. They include the following:
It is wise not to go it alone if you have had tax penalties imposed. Our tax attorney in New York can review your situation and advise you about possibly having your penalties reduced.
There are various strategies and steps for reducing tax penalties. What is the right strategy for you to reduce your tax penalties depends on your individual situation. Here are some possible ways to reduce penalties:
If the IRS denies your initial request for penalty abatement, you may wish to try again by sending another letter asking for abatement. If your abatement request letter is written in such a way that it effectively communicates your difficult position as a tax debtor and conveys the reasons behind your financial difficulties, your request may be accepted.
The IRS is not an agency made up of stone-cold people. They are just doing the jobs they are tasked with to improve tax collection in the country. If the reasonable cause of your case is compelling enough, the IRS may well provide means to help you overcome and manage your tax debts.
If you are denied abatement and the penalty has become very large, you can also request that the Appeals department of the IRS become involved in your case. This is another potential avenue to having IRS penalties reduced.
Having your IRS tax penalties reduced can be the relief you require to alleviate burdensome financial stress and move on with your life. Whether you need help drafting your initial penalty abatement letter to the IRS or wish to file an appeal if your penalty abatement request was denied, it can be to your great benefit to have the help of an attorney with in-depth understanding of federal tax laws and how the IRS operates. Attorney Timothy S. Hart is a skilled IRS tax attorney with years of experience assisting taxpayers who owe the IRS penalties and are facing other complex tax problems. He is also a Certified Public Accountant, which allows him a complete and comprehensive understanding of tax issues.
Timothy S. Hart will carefully review your overall tax situation and counsel you about the potential for having tax penalties reduced or eliminated. He represents taxpayers nationwide in federal tax cases. Do not wait to get effective tax penalty advice. Depending on your circumstances and situation, it can make the difference in how much you owe in tax penalties or even whether you will owe anything at all.
Call us today at our Albany office: (518) 213-3445 or New York City office: (917) 382-5142 to arrange a free consultation.