Intent To Levy Notice

[dscurlock]

I rec'd a letter from the IRS last week, and it pretty much says, we intend to start the levy process in 30 days....
we have been trying to contact you for 3 years, which is not true, i have have been living in the same location
for the last 3 years; so for 3 years they were to lazy to do some leg work, now they refuse to remove any late
fees and penalties...bla, bla....they are also fairly incompetent as i called the IRS last week to talk to them
about this matter, sure, we will have someone to call you to talk to you about your IRS matter, and to see
if we can get the late fees removed, no one called, so i called them back, and they said at that time someone
did not know what they were talking about, and we will not be removing any late fees, as stupid as we are.....

So i immediately put a $100 in the mail (what I could afford at the time)

now that it shows I sent them $100 or trying to pay....
what now? can they still take my property or throw
me into the streets? that would seem kind of harsh for someone
trying to pay once they found out they owed something, even though the
IRS takes no responsibility; I wasnt hiding, they were just lazy....

Would appreciate some advice of what to expect now....
My question would be since my tax account shows that they
have recently gotten money, will the IRS continue to take
drastic actions as they have claimed in their "intent to levy notice"?

PS. I do not even own any real property yet...I still owe $5,000k to the bank
for my mobile home. $5k does not seem like a lot of money, but to a poor person
it can be a fortune; and if I had 5k, then my home would already be paid off....

Thanks

[justbroke]

The IRS is one "creditor" that you do not want to get on their bad side. A levy action is serious and they can go after bank accounts, real and personal property, and even your paycheck. What you could have done is get on a payment plan for now while you attempt to address penalties (although penalties and fines are always your "fault").

They may not do anything other than just lien your mobile home (put a priority tax lien). There is no telling what the IRS would do in your case; only the IRS knows what they think the status as to collectability of the debt. The IRS wants you to either be on a payment plan, or they will start to lien and levy. They want to know that they are going to be paid. There are other options, which includes the installment plan, and then there is the offer in compromise.

You did not list how much you owe. Please remember, that the IRS is also subject to statute of limitations and there comes a time that they would not be able to use process to recover the amounts past due. I'm guessing that the debt is well aged and the IRS is worried about collecting so they need to go to this next level.

How did they find your address? Have you been filing taxes AND using the address where you have lived for the last 3 years (or using some other address on the returns)? Regardless of whether they could contact you, it appears that you know or should have known that you owe back taxes. I hope that they are nice and remove some of the penalties, but I have never heard of such a thing. Again, the onus is always on the taxpayer.

So, you need to decide what you want to do. Payment Agreement: which can be done online and is called the Online Payment Agreement (OPA), or Offer In Compromise: a little more rigid and difficult, or get into "uncollectible" status: meaning that you don't earn enough -- or have enough assets -- to make it worth their time.

(I do not know what you mean by you don't own any real property. If you have a home loan on a mobile home from a bank, that's considered real property. You may have equity in that property, or may eventually have equity in that property. That is an asset and that is something that a levy action could seek to encumber with an additional lien.)

[AngelinaCat]

We have a payment agreement with the IRS. I will say, that we also got a notice like you did, and that prompted 'Hub to get on the telephone and set up a payment schedule. We did this going into our BK. The schedule was suspended while we were in BK, then once discharged, we were notified to start it up again.

We have had to call and adjust our payments downward as our finances dictated. So far every person that we have talked with has been courteous, kind, and professional. We understand that we are probably talking to a Call Center, but we have had no problems at all.

[dscurlock]

1: Was never trying to get on their bad side; The moment I found out by certified letter that I owed
them taxes; right away, i put $100 in the mail (at least for me that is good faith) I did not even know
what the tax debt was for, as it did not say, it gave me the amount $1,000+, and without question
while still at the post office, i sent them $100 money order; even though the "why" does not matter
now, but when I called them, apparently I did not file one 1099 form in 2010....

I should have known? seems like you are just stabbing in the dark now...The irs should have known
to properly research, and send their claim to the right address; yes, a 1099 got left out of filing, I was not
running, hiding, avoiding, not willing to pay, or any thing like that or what you are suggesting....

I am not sure how the IRS found me...If they sent anything to my physical property, then it would
automatically be returned, regardless who sent the item, as I do not have a property address for USPS.
the letter did come certified to my PO, it also stated, we also sent this letter to your spouse; unless,
she is lying, she is claiming that no one from the IRS has ever contacted her either....My only guess at
this point is that the IRS does not really know what I have at this point, and they were just doing as little
work as possible to find someone that owed the taxes, after all, if they knew exactly what I had or did not
have, then I would think it would not have taken 3 years for the IRS levy to find its way to my PO BOX.....

this was never meant to turn into an argument or discussion; my only question now regardless of anything else
is what do they do now since I have at least started the effort by sending the IRS money? now that after
3 years, they get $100 toward my taxes, now they are confused...what does the IRS do now?

and to be honest, until last week, I did not think I owed the IRS anything; we filed our taxes late, just last month,
and when I first rec'd the certified letter; I thought it was concerning our recent tax filing last month....

[justbroke]

No, not argument here, and I'm not suggesting or implying anything at all! I was giving you the point of view from the IRS; in almost all cases, they would say that you should have known. (I had a missing 1099 from 2005 that I did not know about. The IRS adjusted my taxes. I told the IRS I never received a 1099 and should never have been issued one. THEY DID NOT CARE. I fought the 1099 with the issuer for 2 years, since it was a bad 1099. So, for me, it was a 1099 I never knew about or "should" have known about. My issue was finally corrected in 2009.)

As I wrote above, you have 3 or 4 options. 1. Payment Agreement, 2. Offer In Compromise, 3. Pay the amount due, 4. get into a non-collectable status.

Trust me, IRS is not confused. They will levy. They will lien. They will attempt to collect. As for whether your $100 will stop any levy action, it probably will not. Again, as I wrote above, to stop any levy or lien actions, you must do one of those 3 items I mentioned earlier, or pay in full. I suppose there is a 5th option which is to fight with them.

(Not to cause a discussion, since you do not want one, let me point out my "mysterious" 1099 issue. When the IRS sent a bill, I did not pay it. I called the IRS and asked what it was and they told me it was a 1099 that was not included in my 2005 filing. The IRS provided me with the issuer's name and address. I then worked for 2 years trying to get the 1099 issue addressed. I never paid the IRS on that 1099 issue. That's the distinction I was trying to make. Otherwise, I would tell you to fight, just as I did.)

[dscurlock]

ok, so now what is the remaining process of their threat....

1: They sent a letter of intent to levy in 30 days....

Exactly what should I expect in 30 days?

No, not argument here, and I'm not suggesting or implying anything at all! I was giving you the point of view from the IRS; in almost all cases, they would say that you should have known. (I had a missing 1099 from 2005 that I did not know about. The IRS adjusted my taxes. I told the IRS I never received a 1099 and should never have been issued one. THEY DID NOT CARE. I fought the 1099 with the issuer for 2 years, since it was a bad 1099. So, for me, it was a 1099 I never knew about or "should" have known about. My issue was finally corrected in 2009.)

As I wrote above, you have 3 or 4 options. 1. Payment Agreement, 2. Offer In Compromise, 3. Pay the amount due, 4. get into a non-collectable status.

Trust me, IRS is not confused. They will levy. They will lien. They will attempt to collect. As for whether your $100 will stop any levy action, it probably will not. Again, as I wrote above, to stop any levy or lien actions, you must do one of those 3 items I mentioned earlier, or pay in full. I suppose there is a 5th option which is to fight with them.

(Not to cause a discussion, since you do not want one, let me point out my "mysterious" 1099 issue. When the IRS sent a bill, I did not pay it. I called the IRS and asked what it was and they told me it was a 1099 that was not included in my 2005 filing. The IRS provided me with the issuer's name and address. I then worked for 2 years trying to get the 1099 issue addressed. I never paid the IRS on that 1099 issue. That's the distinction I was trying to make. Otherwise, I would tell you to fight, just as I did.)

[BarkingCat]

Unless you get in touch with them, you should expect them to grab liquid assets first: Bank account balances, wages, paid or soon-to-be-paid invoices, etc. JustBroke is right: Sending the $100 will likely do nothing to stop what is a mostly automated collection process. You really do need to get in touch with them.

[justbroke]

ok, so now what is the remaining process of their threat....

1: They sent a letter of intent to levy in 30 days....

Exactly what should I expect in 30 days?

They will likely file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien with your local tax collector or recorder of deeds. However, I think there is a threshold as to when they would file an FTL.

Rather than guess at what the IRS would do, this is from their Website... http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc201.html

[Pjmax]

My experience dealing with the IRS was the same as AngelinaCat's. I basically ignored them for a few years, since I had no money and was unemployed, but I received letters from them every few months, and I was well under the lien threshhold (I think it's $10,000 before they file a lien, usually.) As soon as I filed for social security, I received notice that they would be taking their cut, and they did for 10 months until I filed BK. When I was discharged, I called them to set up a payment, and talked to the sweetest, most helpful person ever.

If you can, I would call them, and try to set up payment arrangements. This will keep them from cleaning out your bank account, or garnishing your wages, while you work on resolving your 1099 issue. If it eventually works in your favor, you would get your overpayment back. I would get the assistance of a good CPA or tax attorney.

[AngelinaCat]

dscurlock, without going through everything that you have posted and you have had responses to, I am going to tell you that I see a little bit of 'attitude' coming from you, whether you mean it or not.

I specifically wrote 'Hub's and my experience with the IRS for you to get an idea of the route you need to take.

Call them, and arrange a payment plan. If you want to be argumentive or hard-nosed, expect no mercy.

That choice is on you.