Imagine you live in a community property state, like Texas, and jointly own a home with your spouse. You owe back taxes to the IRS and want to protect your share of the home if the IRS tries to seize your assets. You divorce your spouse and transfer your interest in your home to your…
Category: IRS Liens & Levies
IRS Liens & Levies
The IRS’s legal right to seize a taxpayer’s property or place a lien on their property to satisfy unpaid tax debts. Give us a call to see how we can help, (713) 909-4906.
Court Rejects IRS Claim to Taxpayer’s Property
If a bank loans money to a business to buy equipment when the business owes back taxes, can the bank foreclose on and repossess the equipment? Does the bank or the IRS have a superior interest in the equipment? This gets into questions of state and federal law. Generally, state law defines property rights and…
Start a New Business to Avoid Old Taxes
Payroll taxes kill businesses. It is very easy to get behind, whether the business owner uses the funds to pay other expenses or due to a mistake. Once there is a payroll tax balance, it can be very difficult to catch up. The penalties and interest compound the problem. If you’re a business owner and…
The “Process” of the IRS Appeals Collection Hearing
The government establishes processes to carry out its essential functions. These processes handle a myriad of different types of cases and cases with nuanced fact patterns. These processes allow the government to process a high volume of cases. They often do so in bulk. The process is a like well-trodden path. The path may take…
Married Filing Separate Spouse Liable for Tax
Marriage presents a number of difficult tax questions. One question is whether both spouses can be held liable when they file separately and one spouse fails to pay their taxes. This is a common marriage tax question that we are asked. One might think that the married filing separate status fully protects the other spouse.…
When Withdrawing IRS Tax Lien Facilitates Collection
The IRS’s collection efforts can impact different taxpayers differently. While the IRS has broad collection powers, there are some taxpayers who are largely immune from the IRS’s collection efforts. This varied impact is partly due to the range of collection tools Congress has provided to the IRS. The IRS lien notice provides an example. Many…
IRS Lien on Trust Assets
As long as the government tries to collect taxes, there will be taxpayers who try to find ways to not pay the taxes. These tax payment avoidance options often involve co-ownership of property or, in many cases, trusts. The recent United States v. Simones, No. 1:20-cv-00795-PJK-SCY (D.N.M. 2021) case shows how the IRS is able…
The Contract for Deed Can Avoid IRS Liens
The contract for deed can provide a way to transfer ownership of property to someone who owes back taxes to the IRS, while preserving the right to avoid the IRS lien and IRS foreclosure. Real estate investors and those doing real estate deals may prefer these sales as they can often be made at higher…
Property Rights & IRS Levies: Louisiana’s Usufruct
To determine whether the IRS can levy or take property, one has to consider what property the taxpayer owns. State law dictates what property the taxpayer owns. The property laws in most states are similar, which makes applying Federal tax collection law relatively easy. But then there is Louisiana law. Louisiana law differs in many…
Fix to Duplicate IRS Address Problem
The IRS sends taxpayers letters and notices from quite a few different IRS offices. As a result, taxpayers are often confused as to what IRS office to respond to. This is particularly true if the IRS letter or notice includes more than one IRS address. The IRS has maintained a harsh stance on taxpayers who…