IRS Appeals

IRS Appeals, Penalties, and Removals

I've had a lot of success over the years correcting wrongful assessments, misapplied payments, and other over charges made to taxpayers. You don't have to be a victim of what an IRS employee tells you concerning your rights. It's kind of like asking your spouse's divorce attorney what they think a fair property settlement should be!

Requesting Records For An IRS Appeal

We will request your record of account and any other necessary transcripts. With a signed power of attorney, we can pull your records in three days. Maybe right away, when the IRS accepts our power of attorney.

Should We Pull Your Individual Master File (IMF) Or Business Master File (BMF), To Do IRS Appeals?

Unless you are going to court to prove certain documentation was timely (which I really don't recommend), I would not bother pulling any of these. If it is necessary to look something up, it usually is part of a revenue officer conversation. They are happy to fax their copy. What we pull is the "record of account" transcripts. These will give you information as to when certain transactions have taken place. The date a return was received from the taxpayer or made up by the IRS, dates of payments, credits, interest charges, penalty charges, statute write offs, offer in compromise filings, bankruptcy filings, etc. This is usually comprehensive enough to solve your IRS problems. We pull these records any time you are resolving what you owe for any year. This includes IRS appeals.

Many use the IRS letters as reference to what they owe. The problem with this is that they only tell part of the story, and are often incomplete or out of date. I call the IRS "record of account" the "Bible" of the IRS. It is equivalent to "the word of God". If it is not on the ROA it doesn't exist for practical purposes. You must verify this with a revenue officer. I once pulled a record of account that was actually up to date transaction wise, but someone failed to apply the actual balance with interest and penalties. Both the revenue officer and I knew it was incorrect. She said she would have it corrected and send me a copy. Sure enough it was corrected and I had a copy! So we make sure the record of account reflects what actually exists. If not, you will overpay, or you will mistakenly think that you don't owe, do nothing about it, and then wind up with a wage levy! We take the responsibility to see that the record of account is correct.

Now we are ready to consider IRS appeals of any penalties or other items we think may be incorrect.

Penalty Removal Appeals

If you don't want to pay the penalties pertaining to a particular year or period, we can file an 843 claim for refund, if applicable. Usually you can get the penalties off for the first period involved, after paying it in full, just by asking. But I would show that it was due to reasonable cause and not willful negligence. There is specific wording that the IRS looks for in appeals of penalties.

Appealing Failure To File Penalty Code 6551

1. We will consider the reasons to address removal of this penalty. Some of the most common ones are:

You mailed returns and payments in a timely manner. You used the wrong address. You relied on information from the IRS. You had an illness or death in the family, were a victim of a fire or flood. You couldn't get the information to file on time. You were given wrong advice by an attorney, etc. Prepare as you would, a regular affidavit.

This is a big penalty. 5% per month for up to 5 months from the date the return was due. It is 5% of the tax liability at the due date. So let's say you owe $1,500,000 as of the due date. Then two months later you pay the whole thing, but do not file the return until 8 months later. You may think that the penalty is only for two months because the liability was paid off. How can they charge a penalty based on a liability that doesn't exist anymore? Well the IRS says they can. I encountered just this very case. I even did an IRS appeal based on the fact that I told taxpayers that they could file the return late. I said that since it was paid, they didn't have to worry. Since this is not something that the taxpayer should or would have known, and is complicated enough to seek professional advice, they should have had the penalties removed. This is a great example of how the IRS will force issues to tax court. This is why you must try to head off IRS problems by first filing and paying in a timely manner, making sure the IRS has your correct address. You should also contest IRS letters and notices at the time you receive them.

Appealing Negligence and Substantial Understatement Penalties

IRS Code 6662 and 6664

The IRS will charge this penalty in addition to late filing and late paying penalties. They charge it for negligence or intentional disregard of the rules or regulations, and for substantially understating the tax liability. You can't be reckless when preparing your return. Which is why you should chose your tax preparer wisely. You could pay penalties far greater than any savings in preparation fees. These are easier to beat than the other penalties.

We will...

1. Consult the IRS penalty handbook.

2. Demonstrate in affidavit form that the above situation does not exist.

Using Affidavits For Appeals

Signed affidavits switch the burden of proof back to the IRS. Sometimes that doesn't matter, but many times it does. When in doubt about its effectiveness, I would use one anyway. Here is a general outline...

Affidavits for appeals need to be exact as to facts and conclusions so we make sure you include the following.

1. Reference to the letter from the IRS that you received with the title and name of the letter. Include the date on the top of the letter.

2. State specifically what the letter is doing that you take objection too. Then state your objection. For example, if the letter imposes a tax, don't state the reasons why you can't pay the tax. State the reasons why you object to the tax being applied to you. For example, you filed your return. You paid the tax already. The code doesn't allow the penalty to be applied because of a certain reason, etc. Short, sweet, and to the point.

3. State all facts. Leave out emotions. Include what was happening that led up to the actions you took. State why you took them, and how your actions were the only prudent choice. Show that there was reasonable cause not willful neglect. Show your actions were in good faith, any failure to pay was a result of prudence when providing for payment, and that you still were unable to pay without suffering a hardship, etc.

4. In many cases there is a set of reasons you have to prove in order to use an affidavit. Google "IRS penalty handbook" and look up "relief from penalties". You will find the definitions needed to get out of penalties. I have included some other cases in this manual. Once read, you will have a feel for what it takes.

5. When asking that penalties be removed, make sure that you ask separately for any interest to be removed. Sometimes the IRS removes penalties and forgets to remove the interest that has accrued on those penalties.

6. Put your declaration at the bottom of the letter. Use words such as "I swear under penalties of perjury that to the best of my knowledge, the above facts contained in this letter are true and complete". Sign and date the letter.