Open the dang mail!

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At my Middleburg, FL office, I’ve learned that people who know they have tax problems and receive an IRS letter in the mail are often scared of opening it. They just don’t want to know. It seems easier to just shove the letter in a dark corner and hope that it never sees the light of day. Guess what? That just makes things worse. It means they are in the dark corner and don’t know what the IRS wants or what they plan to do to get it. Perhaps they know they owe money and do not have it to pay so why open the envelope?

For starters, you need to open the envelope to see if the amount that the IRS says is owed is correct. If it isn’t, you’re going to need to gather proof and contact the IRS within the appropriate time frame indicated in the letter. If you ignore the letter the IRS will be allowed to assume it is correct.

What if the amount is correct but you don’t have the money? There are still significant benefits to reading the letter and finding out the next steps. You can apply for an installment agreement, you can be deemed Currently Not Collectible, or you could be eligible for an Offer-In-Compromise to settle the debt for less than you owe. All those options are better than ignoring the problem until the IRS levies your bank account because you’ve given them no other options.

The ostrich approach of ‘sticking your head in the sand’ to resolving your tax problems usually means that you inadvertently waive your rights to appeal. You lose the ability to prepare for collection action and, even better, arrange a collection action you can live with, such as an installment agreement, rather than being stuck with what the IRS dictates, such as liens or levies.

If you have a stack of mail sitting in a dark corner bite the bullet and sit down and open them. If you’re still unsure what to do to resolve your IRS collections issue, please contact my Middleburg office at 904-600-3450. 

Angela Yonge
Enrolled Agent
AcornBookkeeping & Tax, LLC
904-600-3450

Location: Middleburg, FL 32068, USA

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