| Before you prepare a request for Appeals, refer to the Appeals homepage to decide if Appeals is the place for you. Select the appropriate appeal procedure for specific instructions on preparing your request for Appeals. If you decide you want to present your dispute to Appeals, you will need to prepare a request for Appeals and mail it to the office that sent you the decision letter. The first thing you must do is note the date of the appeal deadline. Don’t miss the deadline. More is lost due to time than any other reason. If you do not have the time, hire someone who won’t miss the deadline.
Collection Appeals Program (CAP) (How do I appeal a bank levy, tax lien, or tax seizure after it has already happened?)
Collection Appeals Program (CAP) is generally quick and available for a broad range of collection actions. However, you can’t go to court if you disagree with the Appeals decision. aka IRS Form 9423. This is used if you have a levied bank account, property or other assets have already been seized, a tax lien has been filed, or you’ve received a denial or termination of an IRS installment agreement.
Collection Due Process (CDP) How do I appeal a bank levy, tax seizure, or jeopardy levy before it happens? How do I appeal a tax lien filing?
Collection Due Process (CDP) is available if you receive one of the following notices:
Notice of Federal Tax Lien Filing (IRS Form 668) and Your Right to a Hearing Under IRC 6320 (Lien Notice), a Final Notice – Notice of Intent to Levy (IRS Letter 1058) and Notice of Your Right to A Hearing, a Notice of Jeopardy Levy and Right of Appeal, a Notice of Levy on Your State Tax Refund – Notice of Your Right to a Hearing (Levy Notices), and a Notice of Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing. If you disagree with the Appeals decision, you may be able to take your case to court. If you are in a Jeopardy Levy or Jeopardy Assessment situation, that’s about as serious as it gets and we strongly recommend you seek representation.
Offer in Compromise (OIC) (How do I appeal a rejected Offer in Compromise?)
An Offer in Compromise (OIC) is an agreement between the taxpayer and the government that settles a tax liability for payment of less than the full amount owed. Use IRS Form 13711 if you want to appeal the rejection of an Offer in Compromise. A lot of OICs are submitted when they shouldn’t be. Attorneys and accountants that are great at their normal day to day work often advocate this for their clients when there are better alternatives. To put it in perspective, if you’re doing an OIC and you are dealing with personal income tax (1040s) the IRS rejected 76% of them last year. If you are submitting an OIC to address overdue business taxes, less than 1% of them were accepted last year. As an advocate we don’t want to advise our clients to pursue this solution unless it’s letter perfect. Gamble in Vegas, not with the IRS.
Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) (How do I appeal a trust fund penalty assessment?)
If you are a person responsible for collecting/withholding, accounting for, and depositing or paying specified taxes including non-resident alien (NRA) withholding, employment or excises taxes, and willfully fail to do so, you can be held personally liable for a penalty equal to the full amount of the tax that was not paid, plus interest. A responsible person for this purpose can be an owner or officer of a corporation, a partner, a sole proprietor, or an employee of any form of business. A trustee or agent with authority over the funds of the business can also be held responsible for the penalty. The assessment of the trust fund recovery penalty is applicable to the following tax forms: CT-1, 720, 941, 943, 944, 945, 1042, and 8288. Bookkeepers and office managers are surprised when they find out they are being pursued for Trust Fund. Controllers and CFOs are also often targets. It’s not only the owners that can be held personally responsible for 941 payroll taxes. Appealing a trust fund assessment has strategic value as well. |
Nova Financial Group, Inc. Tax Blog 