|
Resources:
Tax Education: Taxpayer
Advocate
Taxpayer Advocate is a
division of the IRS. Its independence from the collection
division varies over the years. Nevertheless, the office is a
friend of the taxpayer and can provide real assistance in
certain circumstances.
One of the products of
the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights legislation is the ability of the
Taxpayer Advocate to stop IRS collection activity through a
Taxpayer Assistance Order (TAO). Generally the Taxpayer
Advocate office will not issue a TAO unless “significant
hardship” can be shown.
Significant hardship means the IRS will
put at risk your ability to provide the necessities of life for
you or your dependants, such as you no longer have the ability to obtain food,
shelter or clothing for you or your family. Significant
hardship also means that your transportation to work or perhaps
even your job is at risk. Medical emergencies usually
constitute a significant hardship.
Usually, however, the
Taxpayer Advocate office will attempt to fix the problem
without issuing a TAO, especially if the problem is what the IRS
considers to be an ordinary levy on wages or bank accounts. But the Taxpayer
Advocate office can help even if it does not issue a TAO. If an
employee of the IRS is refusing to follow applicable published
administrative guidelines such as the Internal Revenue Manual,
or the taxpayer is incurring significant costs while waiting for
relief owed by the IRS, the Taxpayer Advocate office is supposed
to help.
The Taxpayer Advocate
will not help if you have been labeled as a tax protestor, you
have not followed established IRS administrative procedures, or
your problem is essentially that you disagree with what happened
after following all of the IRS administrative procedures.
We know when and how to
engage the Taxpayer Advocate Office. Call us for help.
For more information contact
us at taxhelp@taxdefendant.com
or
Toll Free 866-216-1930
|
