Tag: IRS Tax Debt

Debt Relief

How Consumers Can Resolve Their Debts with the IRS

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Tax season is not always a happy time for everyone. While many consumers look forward to filing their tax returns to obtain their tax refunds, others are left with balances they owe to the IRS in the form of tax debt.  The good news is relief options are available when dealing with the IRS.

Tax debt relief is available to individuals who owe the IRS money but are not able to pay on their debts. If a taxpayer anticipates having to pay any amount in taxes, it is important that he or she first determines how much that amount will be. It is best to first file your taxes to determine what the amount owed will be.

Bankruptcy Law, Debt Relief

What are the Rules for Eliminating Tax Debts in Bankruptcy?

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A bankruptcy case can eliminate most debts, and many times, these eliminated liabilities include tax debts. However, not all tax debts can be discharged in a bankruptcy case. Ultimately it depends on the age of the debt, how it was incurred, and the type of bankruptcy being filed.

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcies

In a Chapter 7 case, the bankruptcy trustee takes the assets the filer has that are not protected by Florida bankruptcy exemptions, liquidates them, and uses the proceeds to pay off as much debt as possible. If the person’s assets are not enough to cover all their debts, which often is the case, the remainder of the balances owed are discharged.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy case allows the filer to work with the bankruptcy trustee on a three to five-year long repayment plan to pay off his or her debts. The goal is to pay most in full, but any unpaid balances are discharged at the end. However, which debts get repaid first depends on their priority level.

Tax debts are normally considered “priority” debts in both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, which means they are paid first when assets are liquidated in a Chapter 7 case and are included and paid in full for the most part in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy repayment plan. Since tax debt is considered priority debt, it is not dischargeable in a Chapter 13 case.

Bankruptcy Law, Debt Relief, Timothy Kingcade Posts

OJ Simpson Defense Attorney F. Lee Bailey Files Again for Bankruptcy

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F. Lee Bailey, OJ Simpson’s former defense attorney has filed for bankruptcy once again; this time to create a payment plan to resolve a federal tax debt owed.

Bailey recently filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which allows a person who has a steady income to create a payment plan with creditors.  His latest bankruptcy filing will allow Bailey to discharge certain debts he could not eliminate in his Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy filing last year.

Bailey resolved his personal IRS debt through the earlier bankruptcy filing, but the federal government retained liens on some of his property that could not be discharged in the prior case.

His attorney said he estimates the IRS liens on Bailey’s property are worth about $100,000, but the government could dispute that as federal officials previously estimated their secured claims against Bailey at around $600,000.

Bailey owed the IRS approximately $5 million, in total.  Bailey’s filing in the Chapter 13 case states that he has assets worth between $100,000 and $500,000 and debts between $1 million and $10 million.

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If you are in financial crisis and considering filing for bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Debt Relief, Timothy Kingcade Posts

The IRS is Using Private Debt Collectors- Here’s what Consumers Need to Know

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The IRS has entered into contracts with four private debt collection agencies- Conserve, Pioneer, Performant and CBE Group.  These agencies will only take over accounts if several criteria are met:

  1. The tax debt has been removed from the IRS’s active inventory due to a lack of resources or an inability to find the taxpayer;
  2. More than one-third of the applicable limitation period has passed and no IRS employee has been assigned to collect the debt;
  3. The debt has been assigned for collection, but more than 365 days have passed without interaction with the taxpayer for purposes of furthering collection of the debt.

These collection agencies are required to abide by the consumer protection provisions of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.  This means they cannot call you before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.; they cannot contact you at work if you have told them not to; they cannot falsely claim you have committed a crime; they cannot misrepresent the amount you owe or threaten you with harm or arrest for lack of payment.

Consumers need to be aware of tax scammers looking to capitalize on this new IRS protocol.  Tax scammers oftentimes ask their victims pay their alleged debts by purchasing prepaid cards and then call back with the cards’ codes. Another common scam involves having large amounts of money sent via wire transfer.

This will never be the case with the listed contracted debt collectors, according to the IRS.  In fact, taxpayers will not be asked to pay the private debt collectors anything. Instead, these collectors will provide information about electronic payment options for taxpayers on IRS.gov/Pay.  Even written checks will need to be made payable to the U.S. Treasury and sent directly to the IRS, not the private collection companies.

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If you have any questions on this topic or are in financial crisis and considering filing for bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.