Tax Appeals Options:

At times, taxpayers and their representatives may meet a stalemate in their negotiations and neither side is willing to concede their point. Sometimes, additional time may be needed to adjust finances, complete tax returns, or generally comply with the requests of the taxing authorities. Other times, your case may be too complicated to be handled by a collection agent alone. In these instances, your case may be best suited for one of the IRS tax appeals or advocacy programs.

Collection Due Process / Equivalent Hearings: Before the IRS can take any collection action, they must provide the taxpayer an opportunity for Collection Due Process. If needed, a Collection Due Process (CDP) Request will prevent levies or garnishments from taking place, and will allow a certain amount of time for taxpayers to present proposals/counter-proposals in an unbiased atmosphere. Although the Appeals Officers are employees of the IRS and are in place to serve the interests of the Federal Government, they typically offer a very balanced viewpoint and will look at both sides equally. Appeals Officers will usually give consideration to unique proposals and are in place to find solutions that may not typically present themselves in the course of normal collections negotiations.

Collection Appeals Request: This type of appeal offers less guaranteed protection than the Collection Due Process Appeal, but can be utilized to counteract the use or threat of levies, wage garnishments, and seizure in a very immediate sense. The timeline for this type of appeal is much shorter than that of the CDP Hearing, but it does not necessarily prevent enforcement action from occurring. It also can be utilized to reach more creative resolutions, and is often used in conjunction with very technical/legal aspects of case resolution. Many lien issues are handled through Collection Appeals Requests, as are issues of reinstating/renegotiating Installment Agreements, and releasing Levies and Wage Garnishments.

Tax Court Appeals: These appeals typically come into play when Collection Due Process Appeals Rights have been exhausted, or other disputes arise that are not necessarily collection related. Oftentimes, the tax returns themselves are the subject of Tax Court Appeals, as opposed to true collection matters, but all tax related issues can be brought before the Tax Courts of the United States to bring about a full-scale resolution. These matters are usually presented as "Bench" Trials, that do not incorporate the use of a jury. The IRS is often willing to settle these matters outside of the court system, so active negotiations sometimes play a key role in these tax matters. Depending on circumstances, enforced collection actions may or may not be stopped during the consideration of a case for trial.

Taxpayer's Advocate Intervention: When all other options have failed, or an expedited resolution is needed, the Taxpayer's Advocate Office is the best remaining option. The Taxpayer's Advocate is an impartial third party that workes as an arbitrator of sorts, presiding over open discussions and advocating for reasonable resolutions on the part of the taxpayer. Their office can interject and reverse overly aggressive actions on the part of the IRS, as well as bring about unique resolutions to tax problems. Although officially a division of the Treasury Department, they work in the best interest of taxpayers who truly need their assistance. These advocates are in place as a safety valve for the tax system to ensure that fair and unprejudiced options are still available, especially in the final stages of negotiations. The Office of the Taxpayer's Advocate releases an annual report to congress with the intent of tailoring more beneficial tax laws and policies, and simplifying the tax codes for American Taxpayers.