Last week, a new article was posted to the Tax Relief Blog, explaining how taxpayers in debt to the IRS can get a federal lien released. Although it can be scary getting a lien notice in the mail, there are plenty of options for taking care of it.
Validate or Appeal
If the IRS has issued a lien against your property, then it is likely due to an IRS back tax liability. Essentially, there is no way to release the lien until the tax debt is resolved. There are a number of ways you can go about doing so, but before you even think about paying the debt, you will want to make absolutely sure that you owe the full amount they are citing you for. If the total amount is incorrect, or the lien was filed improperly, then you can appeal it. To appeal a federal tax lien, you can request a collection due process hearing with the office of appeals. If you lose your appeal, you still have 30 days to have your case reviewed for proper jurisdiction. However, if it turns out that the liability amount is correct, then you are going to need to resolve it to get the lien released.
Pay in Full
If you have the financial ability to pay off your IRS debt, without suffering in other financial aspects of your life, then it can be a great way to quickly and easily release your tax lien. However, determining the exact amount needed to fully pay off your tax debts can often be difficult.
Offer in Compromise
In some cases, the IRS will allow you to settle your debt through a reduced lump sum payment to the IRS. The program is known as an Offer in Compromise (OIC). In order to qualify for an OIC, you will need to prove to the IRS that you truly cannot afford to pay your all of your tax liability. However, unless you are trained on how this process works, you should hire a tax lawyer or a tax professional to negotiate with the IRS on your behalf.
Installment Agreement
If you cannot afford to make a one time payment to the IRS, then you can negotiate an Installment Agreement, which will allow you to pay back all or part of your tax liability to the IRS in monthly payments. Depending on how much you owe the IRS, you might qualify for a Streamlined Installment Agreement, which has an easier approval process. Unfortunately, the federal tax lien will not be released merely by entering into an Installment Agreement. Rather, the lien will remain in place until the tax debt is paid in full.
To read the rest of this article, be sure to head over to the Tax Relief Blog.