Got a certified letter today, from the IRS, how fun!!

[optimistic1]

So I owe back taxes from last year. After sending us about 3 notices in the mail about the amount owed, they now have sent another one, but this one is via certified mail.

I freaked at first thinking it was a creditor, but it's just the IRS.

The reason I say it's just the IRS, is that they were the most polite out of everyone that I owe money too when I told them I was filing a BK soon.

They gave me atleast 15 weeks to file and immediately ceased all collection activity, and even told me to call them back if I had not filed it within the 15 weeks, otherwise they would attach a lein to my house.

So it is helpful to keep in touch with the IRS if you owe them money and plan on filing a BK, they were very helpful.

[StartingOver08]

Yes, they are very cooperative. I found the IRS easy to work out payment arrangements (an installment agreement without getting an automatic lien). The only thing with the IRS is you want to make the arrangements as soon as possible rather than letting the interest build up. They can stretch the payments out for as long as five years if necessary.

[albacore44]

did you owe due to an Audit ??

[optimistic1]

no audit, I would never come under their radar for audit anyway, their are certain things that trigger audits, I had a rather lackluster return. It was a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, had no tax taken from my checks so that I could either pay my CC's or buy food and gas, a clear signal that I was in trouble, which is why I am filing soon.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I owe them 27K. We worked out 550 a month. Some will come from the bk asset. However, I attempted to pay last month online and the software said, above allotted amount. It never did that before so I lowered it to 400. It took it. This month my monthly notice says I owe my next payment at 550. I shall pay 400 until they complaint. 'Hub

BTW albacore: I am only human. Take that picture off, you know what it does to my libido. I'm a married man and I just can't keep another woman in my mind like this.

[optimistic1]

oh yes, she is the hottest of hot, the epitome of beauty, do u have any more pics of her albacore?

[AngelinaCatHub]

oh yes, she is the hottest of hot, the epitome of beauty, do u have any more pics of her albacore?

Hey, stay away from my 'dream girl'. Don't tell Mrs. but I have that picture on my bathroom wall. LOLOL 'Hub

Edit: Are we stepping aside of the original thread? A bit of levity never hurts.

[optimistic1]

We are deviating from the topic, but hey, people need a smile on their face, especially here.

Here, I will stay on topic with this post edit,

Hub,

How did you end up owing the feds so much mula?

[AngelinaCatHub]

We are deviating from the topic, but hey, people need a smile on their face, especially here.

Here, I will stay on topic with this post edit,

Hub,

How did you end up owing the feds so much mula?

Due to the fact that Mrs. is the last of her family line, we own a cemetery. Yes, everyone needs one. But the laws being what they are, after about ten years of a zero tax liability on mortuary grounds here in FL, and that the land was a 'keystone' locking four other acres up, it would have been taken over by eminent domain. So, to preserve our family, we decided to move all remains to our property that will be a park, NEVER TO BE "IMPROVED", by Deed, we have given to the State, we moved the remains and markers. We sold the property. OhOh. Capital Gains 100%. Also, part of the money we held in a mortgage Deed we sold. Another stoopid. We paid our god-daughter back for her helping us. Part of our "insider payment" that we then had to pay back to the Trustee to keep them from suing her.

Oh, I could tell a bunch of jokes about this one, but none would be not true stories. We eefffttt big time in our bk. NO ONE could have done worse as we just did not know. If I had lurked here for six months, I would have felt good about pro se. But, bk was never on our minds. We had money, but we had an enemy and then the enemy felled three jobs, then the big C, after C.O.B.R.A. ran out. So, the accumulation of errors added up to bankruptcy, when on paper, we were worth well over ten million dollars.

We still have rights on our 1860 in the family farm. 200 acres now a park the other on the river, we have life estate and is free and clear. So we are fortunate in that we have not lost anything. After all, property we only "rent" from God anyway. When we go, someone else will own it.

That is the "SHORT" story. Don't ask me for the long of it. 'Hub

[treehugger1]

Hub, I'm making payments to the IRS also. $150 dollars per month for 3 years. I had a glitch when I transferred monies from a 403(b) to a 457. The 403(b) company (probably wanting to be a-holes) sent me a 1099 a couple of years ago. I ignored it because this was a direct roll-over. When the IRS first called me on the 1099, I freaked, but then I realized at the time I could use the money to help my very ailing and broke parents. I withdrew the money from the 457, sent some forms to the IRS, and we are squared up for three years. The IRS was incredibly gracious to work with.

Since you got a certified letter, were you beyond the 90 days allowed for answering their questions? Did you get it form the "tax court?" I ask this because generally you won't get a certified letter from the IRS in your case until you ignore the first letter for 90 days. Even then, it is easy to set up payments. I believe that after it goes to the tax courts, you are in your last 90 days to respond. If you ignore the 90 days given by the tax court, and don't work out some payment arrangement, things get much tougher and the collectors get tougher. Just wondering how/why you got the certified letter.

The other side of this is that in my BK district, it appears that previous payment agreements with the IRS are subtracted in the disposable income calculation. Maybe I should just stop paying taxes for a few years and let the IRS get all of my disposable income, just to screw around with creditors, CA's, etc. In my case, I now tell new CA's, JDB's that I am under IRS payments, and the IRS comes first. I don't tell them the amount. Maybe that is why they never call anymore. LOL

[albacore44]

sorry boys i'll try to get a better pic. damn its hot here today 105 dg. gotta go jump in the pool, its 89 dg.

ohh sorry to get off topic. carry on

[optimistic1]

lol, its 119 where I live, you got it made!

[AngelinaCatHub]

sorry boys i'll try to get a better pic. damn its hot here today 105 dg. gotta go jump in the pool, its 89 dg.

ohh sorry to get off topic. carry on

Albacore: Don't change the picture. With "my girl" I can understand the temperature you have at your place. I too am hot on her. Mrs. found my bathroom wall picture and tore it up (after my whop in the head) and I so much miss it. 'Hub (with a real problem)

[StartingOver08]

BB2U, you are right. They are the only creditor that has the power to make your life truly a mess. The IRS is easy to work with today, but don't think that they still don't wield that power!

The only reason I suggest to make payment arrangements with them is two fold: 1) if your payment is large enough it will keep the IRS from putting an automatic lien on you (your accounts etc) and 2) you have to pay monthly, but you can always pay a larger amount to get rid of the debt earlier. When paying the IRS there is no flexibility on payment, it is due by the due date and it better be there.

Once you have payment arrangements set up, it gives you breathing room, otherwise they will come in an sieze your accounts and generally make your life difficult. I'm sorry that it resulted in your being put out of business. The IRS was a lot more aggressive in those days. They have the power now, but only use it (it seems) if you avoid the back taxes. Once you make payments they really seem to back off now.

[OhioFiler]

Man, back in the late 80's when I owed the IRS "only" about $8K since my repo business was booming and at that time I didn't know about taxes and the IRS (expensive lesson). Even though I was "working" with the IRS, they seized my bank accounts. leaned on everything I owned, did a complete three year audit, put me on a "budget" made me sell two cars and a POS little boat and still threatened me with all sorts of stuff. They were my demise in the repo business. My hands were tied so badly and all my bank accounts were frozen plus all the credit unions and banks that I did work for got demand notices to send all money to the IRS. You can only imagine how well that went over...wonder why I was losing clients right and left.

I finally got smart (and should have done this the firs time) and get an attorney that deals with IRS tax problems. Once I retained him he was furious at what the IRS had done to me. In so many words he told me they treat tax evaders better than how I got treated and there was no reason for this to go on this long.

I didn't know better, they ran my business into the ground and less than a year later I had to fold up shop after 10 years. It was just sad. I finally settled with an officer in compromise two years later (this was the saddest part) the IRS kept taking all my money then and kept me from being able to pay my current taxes so what was one year of taxes became four, they kept me falling behind every year and paying all these fee's and penalties...I owed almost $20K in the end. So then they got about ten cents on the dollar when we settled.

Had I hired an attorney early on I would have been able to put a stop to all that and not get screwed by them. To this day, I have no trust with the IRS and will NEVER owe them for back taxes again.

I read your guy's stories and think, you have no idea how badly they can ruin your life. At first they seemed so nice and I was all cooperative...what a mistake that was (but I didn't know). I hope it all works out well for you guys, for me,it was one of the biggest screw jobs I ever got, only because I "trusted" them and was scared to death also. They put the fear of prison in me.

Ya, this was back in the mid-late 80's before the IRS reform. This was when they lied cheated and stole.... I was a victim. Never again.

Incongruent statements unless you were a victim of yourself.