Congress has doubled the collection budget of the IRS.
If you have not filed prior years tax returns and/or you owe past taxes, you will have to face this and deal with it. This is the enforced law and the IRS will not go away. With the increasing federal spending and deficits, you can expect a much more aggressive IRS.
How the IRS Collection Process work.
The IRS assesses you liability based on your filed return or their filing of a Substitute For Return (SFR). From that “assessed” date, the IRS has ten (10) years to collect the tax unless the statue is extended or in the case of fraud.
You will first began getting letters from the Automated Collection System (ACS) which is a computerized system that will send a series of letters that will get progressively more threatening. If you do not respond, your file will be sent to a collections officer for enforcement in the form of garnishment of wages, seizure of bank accounts and physical assets, and eventually criminal prosecution.
There is good news.
The IRS does not want to take these actions. With the right understanding of your rights and the tax laws and procedures, the vast majority of our clients find a workable solution and are able to get their financial life back on track.