Past owed taxes

[mgmkitty]

What is the name of your state? California

My husband has not paid his taxes for a few years due to being homeless when he moved here from Florida. He filed his taxes for last year, and received his "bill", and we are currently working on paying it off. He just yesterday received 2 registered letters in the mail stating that the IRS will seize our assets (I believe that was the wording) if we didn't pay immediately. 1 letter was for last year, 1 was for a few years ago. My husband and I don't own anything. We are making payments on a car, and a timeshare, but we don't own anything. Can they garnish wages, and/or take money out of our bank account? I've never dealt with this before, I don't know what to do, I'm freaking out! HELP!!

[abezon]

They can garnish wages & sieze money in bank accounts. You should talk to a tax attorney about making an offer in compromise that will settle the bill. You should also double check that the tax returns were prepared correctly in the first place. He may not owe as much as the IRS is claiming he owed.

[kat1963]

The IRS can pretty much do whatever they want to including wage garnishment & taking all the money out of your bank account. You can file for innocent spouse relief. You'll also want to look into an *Offer In Compromise*, there are 2 different situations, perhaps your husband qualifies for one. The details & forms are available on the IRS website but do check out a few books on the subject before filing them. If you don't do them correctly they will send them back with only a few days to make it right. Do this ASAP. Cert. letters huh? Whew, it sounds like it's close to garnishment time...hurry!
Good Luck!
KAT

[mgmkitty]

Does this sound right?

My husband called the IRS yesterday, and the man he spoke to said he was going to freeze his case for 30 days, and then set up a monthly payment that we can afford. He seemed nice, said as long as we're making an effort to pay it back, they don't care how long it takes.

[abezon]

You might make an OIC before sending any payments.

I also strongly suggest he have the taxes for those years double checked by a tax preparer. If he amends, his taxes & interest & penalties all go down. The bill gets paid off much more quickly. Talk to the tax pro about an OIC also.

[withonel]

Originally posted by mgmkitty
Does this sound right?

My husband called the IRS yesterday, and the man he spoke to said he was going to freeze his case for 30 days, and then set up a monthly payment that we can afford. He seemed nice, said as long as we're making an effort to pay it back, they don't care how long it takes.

Yes, that sounds right. I've been dealing w/taxes owed for 96 & 97 (joint return filed with my now ex). As long as they are getting something, and you stay in communication, they won't garnish. They will charge you $40 to set up a payment plan, but if you just start sending payments (with ss # and tax years on the checks), they will not proceed with collection. You should still look into the Offer in Compromise to see about reducing the debt, but it didn't work for me. Every few months my ex stops making payments, they'll send certified letters threatening garnishment, if I call or send a check they stop the collection process. I've found that most tax attorneys don't want to help unless you owe $20,000 or more. Just pay as fast as you can because the interest adds up very fast. I'd even consider a loan if you can swing it to keep them off your back and to stop the interest.

[kat1963]

FYI, even if you get garnished you can still do OIC. I also again ditto looking into it. It's not that hard if you do it by the suggestions of a few good books. AND also checking the returns (as abezon suggested), even if he didn't file & they did it for him!!!! Long story but Mr. KAT recieved a refund of $6,000, after the entire 6 year TOTAL MESS was over AND he redid his taxes for 90-91 just last year.
Good Luck to you!
KAT

[mgmkitty]

Thank you all so much! My hubby doesn't owe too much. It was $1100 for last year, the man at the IRS said he was ok for 95 and 96 (I guess he was getting a refund that year, so it cancelled some money owed out), the year before last he owed about $700. I figured at the most, he'd owe not much more than $5000. It'll take a while, but the IRS guy said to file his past taxes seperately, which we're about to do, i have all the old forms, and they'd speak to us about the sum owed. Maybe then we'll talk about an OIC. He said even if we can only afford $25 a month it's ok. I can afford more than that, but it's nice to know they're not the big bad wolf after all..not yet.

Thanks again for all your help. It really is appreciated.