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Offer in Compromise - Goes to Court
| Wilcox vs Commissioner, T. C. Memo 2005-257 |
On Nov. 1, the United States Tax Court handed down another defeat for a pro se taxpayer challenging the collection action of the commissioner. In Wilcox vs Commissioner, T. C. Memo 2005-257 the Tax Court held that the taxpayers vague suggestion of an offer in compromise was not enough to find that the denial of relief at a CDP hearing was an abuse of discretion. A taxpayer who timely requests a CDP hearing and submits an offer
in compromise at that hearing is entitled to challenge the denial
of the offer in compromise in Tax Court ( or U. S. District Court
if employment taxes are involved.) Wilcox acting pro se was just
not savvy enough to have submitted a properly filled out form 433A
or Form 656 Offer in Compromise. For the full text of the case click
here To comment on this case in my blog click
here |
| Joseph Dostal vs Commissioner, T. C. Memo 2005- 264 |
| Once again the Tax Court flames a taxpayer who challenges
the rejection of an offer in compromise. The taxpayer made a timely
application for a CDP. At the Collection Due Process hearing the taxpayer
proposed an offer in compromise to settle his tax debt and solve his
tax problems with the IRS. The taxpayers Form 433A and 433B clearly
showed the taxpayer could full pay under the guidelines set out in
the Internal Revenue Manual. The petitioner had $74,000 in IRA accounts
and had income exceeding allowable expenses of $9,428 per month. No
wonder the Tax Court agreed with the Offer Specialist. So what can
we learn form this case? To find out more click
here. To comment on this case in my blog click
here |
| Nov 5, 2005 Commissioner Mark Everson says Enforcement Activities Up |
| On the eve of the mid point of the five-year appointment
the Commissioner issued a statement showing the gains in enforcement
activities:
Enforcement Revenues up 10% to record 47.3 billion, up 4.3 billion.. Individual Returns Audited 1.2 million up form 1 million. Audits of individual with income over $100k were over 221,000. Audits of small business corporations were 17,867 in 2005, up from only 7,294. Audits of large corporations (assets over 10 million) were up 14% to 10,878. Liens and levies now have recovered to pre RR98 levels For the full text of the release click here. When I read between the lines and see the large increase in the enforcement revenue, I can’t help but speculate that the increase can be attributed to the Automated Levy Program and the automated Correspondence Audit Program. Small business audits were up by 10,000, admittedly an impressive amount. Large business audits were up by only 1300. These modest audit increases simply can not account for a 4.3 billion dollar increase in enforcement revenues. So what can it be attributed too? Automated Collection System computer generated levies. In 2000 there were fewer than 220,000 levies. In 2004 there were over 2,000,000. Now that is an increase of almost 1000% in just 5 years. From 2003 to 2004 there was a 21% increase in the number of levies. For taxpayers trying to avoid tax levy, bank levy, IRS wage levy or IRS wage garnishment, things are getting a little more difficult. Now, if Commissioner Everson will only loosen up the offer in compromise program, he can collect even more money, and more taxpayers will be able to settle their IRS tax debt through offer in compromise. Click here for full text of statment, To comment on this statment in my blog click here |
| Getting a reduction in
the PVIA based on advanced Age
One of my readers recently faxed me a copy of the Asset Equity Table and Income Expense Table which showed the a PVIA multiplier of 26 instead of 48. This reduction was based on the age of the taxpayer. If you or one of your Offer in Compromise clients is nearing retirement or retirement age then you may want to learn more about this recent development. Click here to learn more. To comment on this new development in my blog click here. |