Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Using IRS Levy

By Anne Durrell

The IRS Levy is not the same thing as a federal tax lien, which is the IRS's authorization to seize property. The IRS Levy is the act of the seizure or property, assets or income.

The federal government is empowered to enforce the IRS Levy if you were too slow to try to work with the IRS to reach agreement. This means they can begin to garnish your wages without your consent in an attempt to recover the money you owe them.

IRS Levy usually comes into effect when a person does not take into account the office's requests for payment of taxes you owe. It can also be applied if you call the IRS and try to make payment arrangements on a large tax debt that is simply too small to pay the amount you owe.

If this occurs and they begin to garnish more money from your income than you expect, this could seriously leave you with not enough money to support yourself or your family. You could lose control of all your income, your assets or your property.

The IRS Levy could also mean garnishing the income you receive from social security or disability payments or even refunded taxes.

Another reason for the IRS Levy may come into force if you have already made a payment agreement to try to repay your tax debt and that you miss payments or do not adhere to the agreed payment plan for you.

Aside from garnishing wages and other income, the IRS Levy can also seize bank accounts or even sell off your assets.

Perhaps the easiest way to avoid an IRS Levy is to contact the ministry to which you owe money and work through a payment plan that you can hold comfortably while continuing to repay the debt. Once you have entered into this agreement, be sure to monitor your payments on time, every time.

If you're not confident to deal with the prospect of an IRS Levy on your own, then consider hiring a tax lawyer to act as an intermediary. You might find that a professional who has a deeper understanding of some of the more complicated tax issues might be able to direct you to things you might not have considered.

These issues could include forms of tax relief you could be entitled to or even legal help to negotiate for an offer of compromise with the IRS. - 16890

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