The Collection Division of the IRS composes of Revenue Officers whose job is to collect outstanding IRS liabilities from taxpayers as quick as possible. These Revenue Officers have access to intelligence collected by other divisions of the IRS and they will scope out your financial moves, and garnish your wages and other sources of income, and seize houses, cars and bank accounts.

The most common sort of collection case involves a small business that has fallen behind in payment of withholding taxes. A Revenue Officer’s inventory is brimming with cases like these. Revenue Officers are told to go out and use a firm enforcement image in collecting the outstanding IRS liabilities and also be mindful of statistics compiled by the IRS to measure the Revenue Officer’s effectiveness. The IRS will maintain statistics on seizures of property, levies conducted and case status including the shut-down of a business. So when a business continues to ignore the IRS or the business is not paying its liabilities as quick as the Revenue Officer would like to see, that Revenue Officer will now change his stance from collecting the tax to making the business a statistic by shutting it down.

Feuer Trucking Company Shut Down

If you think I’m exaggerating, listen to this true story of how the Feuer Trucking Company of Yonkers, New York, was closed by IRS agents. Two and a half years ago prior, Feuer’s owner admitted to his employees that the company was hauling more red ink than anything else. Feuer was two million dollars in debt – and half a million of that was owed in back taxes to the IRS. The taxes plus the heavy interest payments marked Feuer for bankruptcy.

To save their jobs, many of the employees got together and offered the owner $25,000 for the company. The owner accepted. Feuer Trucking began repaying its debts both to its creditors and to the IRS, negotiating installment payments of $3,000 a week to pay off back taxes while it continued to pay current taxes. But because of the high interest rates and penalties the IRS was charging on the old taxes – 26% – the IRS debt was growing faster than Feuer could pay it off. It passed $800,000.

Just before Christmas the IRS struck. Revenue Officer Donald Raftery seized the $60,000 in Feuer’s bank account, and notified Feuer’s customers to pay their bills not to Feuer, but directly to the IRS. He also demanded a down payment of $400,000 on back taxes. Feuer didn’t have it. So the next day a squad of IRS officers backed up by a small army of U.S. marshals, swooped down on Feuer. Pay up the $851,000 in back taxes, the officers barked, or we will seize and sell everything. Of course, Feuer still didn’t have the money, so the IRS Revenue Officer tagged everything in the office for seizure – including desks, computers and file cabinets.

Feuer’s office manager confronted Revenue Officer Raftery. “Mr. Raftery, do you recall in July that I told you what we were worth? I spelled it all out to you in black and white on paper?” Raftery agreed that he knew that Feuer, which leases its trucks and building, had less than 10% of the $851,000 in assets.” The office manager then inquired, ‘Why did you take this action?”. But the office manager did not get a response back from the Revenue Officer who just shrugged his shoulders.

The IRS eventually returned Feuer’s computers and desks, but kept the $60,000 it had seized from the bank account. Even more devastating to Feuer, the IRS did not return its Interstate Commerce Commission license to operate. Without a license, the trucks couldn’t legally go anywhere. Feuer was out of business. The IRS had shut down a company that was paying current taxes and paying its employees. Fifty workers were added to the unemployment dole.

No matter how you add it up, you would think that the government is losing by closing the company down.

You would think that this headline report on the blind-siding of Feuer was a shocking expose of an IRS action that turned fifty taxpayers into welfare cases. But the Feuer case is not a story in which an IRS agent has careened out of control or the bureaucracy has mistakenly made a seizure that is not cost-effective for the government. In fact, the IRS never makes calculations of whether closing down a firm will add or subtract from the Treasury’s balance.

The Revenue Officers of the IRS Collection Division are among the most powerful people in government. Ten days after demanding payment the IRS can seize a taxpayer’s house, car, land, or business for subsequent sale at public auction. They can serve a levy on a third party, such as a bank, an employer, or anyone who owes the taxpayer money. If they suspect you might skip town without paying they can seize right away. All of this can be done without a court order. And if they so desire they can file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien at the local courthouse, which freezes a taxpayer’s title to property and puts the IRS at the head of the line of creditors.

It is highly unlikely that Revenue Officer Donald Raftery when he shut down Feuer Trucking Company got in hot water with his bosses. They probably toasted him with champagne. Besides generating all that good publicity for the IRS, Raftery racked up some marvelous statistics. He seized a bank account, tagged property, shut a business down, and closed the case. I guarantee that the Feuer case had been a thorn in the side of the local IRS office. Group managers hate over-age cases like the Feuer case. They have to regularly file reports on why they continue to carry them in their inventory and send those reports up the chain of command. This makes the chain of command very angry because an over-age case is not a nice clean statistic they can file to show what a good job they are doing – and what’s worse is an over-age case implies that the network has gone soft. So the word goes out to close cases and build statistics.

The IRS is a law unto itself.

Everything the IRS did to Feuer is legal and the shutting down of Feuer Trucking Company was completely consistent with IRS policy. This report was not a mortal blow against the IRS by unveiling its tactics against Feuer Trucking. Instead, you should think of the report as free publicity for the IRS, opportunely placed just after the week most folks got their W-2’s in the mail and started to look their 1040’s over. The message is this: The IRS is a law unto itself. Watch out!

Not every taxpayer is treated equally by the IRS. Each group manager is allowed incredible latitude in interpreting the collection manual, a freedom that gives rise to cavalier and arbitrary methods of enforcement. The IRS looks like an unbeatable army, with intelligence divisions scoping out your financial moves, cracking troops of auditors probing your returns for weaknesses, and a corps of revenue officers winning the property battle by seizing houses, cars, and bank accounts. It should be no surprise that some of the best Revenue Officers have spent time in military service.

The IRS Revenue Officer typically shows up to a taxpayer’s home or place of business when the taxpayer is in debt to the IRS. This Revenue Officer will also make a personal visit to a taxpayer’s home or place of business in tax cases where a taxpayer owes the IRS employment taxes. The IRS Agent who comes to a taxpayer’s home or place of business is not making the personal visit to take a taxpayer satisfaction survey. The sole purpose is to collect money for the IRS. Regardless of how civil and pleasant the Revenue Officer initially appears to be – remember they are not there to be your friend – they want your money.

Don’t Take The Chance And Lose Everything You Have Worked For.

Protect yourself. If you have outstanding liabilities with the IRS or any State Tax Agency, stand up to them by getting representation. Tax problems are usually a serious matter and must be handled appropriately so it’s important to that you’ve hired the best lawyer for your particular situation. The tax attorneys at the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and elsewhere in California are highly skilled in handling tax matters and can effectively represent at all levels with the IRS and State Tax Agencies including criminal tax investigations and attempted prosecutions, undisclosed foreign bank accounts and other foreign assets, and unreported foreign income.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems to allow you to have a fresh start.

In the late 90s and early 2000s, Scott Stapp and his band, Creed, topped charts with songs like “Higher” and “With Arms Wide Open.” The band sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, making frontman Stapp a millionaire who at the height of his popularity had an estimated net worth between $10 and $30 million.

What a difference a few years can make.

Recently, Stapp shocked fans by posting a 15-minute video to his Facebook page, claiming that he’s now broke and homeless.

In the odd clip, shot in black and white, Stapp addressed his fans directly; assuring fans that he is drug-free and sober. However, recent papers filed in a divorce proceeding by Stapp’s estranged wife, Jaclyn Stapp, tell a different story: in the divorce petition, Jaclyn Stapp claimed that Stapp had recently been taking a number of drugs, including amphetamines, crystal meth and steroids.

Stapp is no stranger to addiction, having admitted to abuse of alcohol and prescription drugs in the past, but insists that his current problems have nothing to do with drugs or alcohol. Instead, he says in the video, during “an audit of my record and my personal finances… a lot of things were uncovered.” Stapp goes on to claim that “a lot of money was stolen from me” and “all hell broke loose.”

Included in Stapp’s litany of accusations is his claim that Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has frozen his bank accounts on a number of occasions. Stapp says that the accounts were frozen “all of the sudden” – although it’s important to understand that the IRS doesn’t freeze your bank account or take your money without proper notice. The seizure is referred to as a levy and it’s rarely a surprise when it happens.

For the IRS properly levy you, the IRS must first issue an assessment, explaining that tax is owed. Next, the IRS sends a Notice and Demand for Payment. If you don’t respond to that Notice, the IRS then sends a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to A Hearing (“Final Notice”) at least 30 days before the levy. It is the non-response to the Final Notice (which is sent by certified mail) that now gives the IRS the green light to start levy action.

Levies can be placed on tax refunds, wages, bank account or other property. If the levy causes a hardship, you can ask that it be lifted – although any tax obligation would remain in place.

Stapp says, however, that when he called the IRS to find out what happened to the money, he was told, “Oh we had an address mix-up, it was a clerical error, so we’ll return your funds in 9-10 months.” That seems unlikely but Stapp maintains that is what happened. He goes on to say, in the video, “I don’t understand how that’s fair in America, in the country that we live in.”

When a bank levy is issued, the IRS allows up to 21 days before the frozen funds must be released by the bank to the IRS. The purpose of allowing this amount of time is to allow a taxpayer to show to the IRS the hardship such a seizure would cause or raise other defenses such as the levy was somehow wrongful. If the IRS agrees, the funds would be promptly unfrozen – not take 9 to 10 months as Stapp so claims he was told.

Stapp also claims that his banks accounts have been hacked and someone has changed his online passwords and transferred all of the money out of his bank accounts.

A bank levy by IRS attaches to whatever funds are in your account on the date of the levy notice. If you have outstanding checks which have not yet cleared the bank, those checks would now not be honored by the bank as the account is now frozen; however, any funds deposited after the date of the levy notice would not be subject to the freeze. If there was nothing in Stapp’s bank accounts when the levy was issued, there would be nothing for the bank to freeze for the IRS.

Stapp says, “Between IRS attacking me… between the banks basically saying ‘yeah, all of your money has been taken out of your accounts’,” he has no money. He has, he says, been living in the Holiday Inn and has been forced to sleep in his truck. He has no money for food and as a result, ended up in the emergency room.

Stapp says he is looking for an attorney and plans to fight those who are persecuting (his word) him. Remarking on his alleged tax issues, he says that it’s not fair that he has been “targeted by IRS because of a clerical error.” Stapp we are available to help you.

Don’t Take The Chance And Lose Everything You Have Worked For.

Protect yourself. If you are in danger of wage garnishments or bank levies or having a tax lien placed against your property, stand up to the IRS by getting representation. Tax problems are usually a serious matter and must be handled appropriately so it’s important to that you’ve hired the best lawyer for your particular situation. The tax attorneys at the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Diego San Francisco and elsewhere in California are highly skilled in handling tax matters and can effectively represent at all levels with the IRS and State Tax Agencies including criminal tax investigations and attempted prosecutions, undisclosed foreign bank accounts and other foreign assets, and unreported foreign income.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems to allow you to have a fresh start.

A Federal Tax Lien just makes sure the IRS eventually gets paid. A levy means now the IRS gets paid.

A levy is a legal seizure of your property to satisfy a tax debt. Levies are different from liens. A lien is a claim used as security for the tax debt, while a levy actually takes the property to satisfy the tax debt.

If you do not pay your taxes (or make arrangements to settle your debt), the IRS may seize and sell any type of real or personal property that you own or have an interest in.

For instance,

• The IRS could seize and sell property that you hold (such as your car, boat, or house), or
• The IRS could levy property that is yours but is held by someone else (such as your wages, retirement accounts, dividends, bank accounts, licenses, rental income, accounts receivables, the cash loan value of your life insurance, or commissions).

What due process must IRS follow before they can levy?

The IRS will levy only after these three requirements are met:

• The IRS assessed the tax and sent you a Notice and Demand for Payment;
• You neglected or refused to pay the tax; and
• The IRS sent you a Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to A Hearing (levy notice) at least 30 days before the levy. The IRS will give you this notice in person, leave it at your home or your usual place of business, or send it to your last known address by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested.

The Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to A Hearing is your last warning before the IRS starts levy action. You do not want to ignore this notice.

Difference between a bank levy and a wage levy.

If the IRS levies your bank account, your bank must hold funds you have on deposit, up to the amount you owe, for 21 days. This holding period allows time to resolve any issues about account ownership. After 21 days, the bank must send the money plus interest, if it applies, to the IRS.

If the IRS levies your wages, salary, federal payments or state refunds, the levy will end when:

• The levy is released,
• You pay your tax debt, or
• The time expires for legally collecting the tax.

Don’t Take The Chance And Lose Everything You Have Worked For.

Protect yourself. If you are in danger of wage garnishments or bank levies or having a tax lien placed against your property, stand up to the IRS by getting representation. Tax problems are usually a serious matter and must be handled appropriately so it’s important to that you’ve hired the best lawyer for your particular situation. The tax attorneys at the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. located in Los Angeles, San Diego San Francisco and elsewhere in California are highly skilled in handling tax matters and can effectively represent at all levels with the IRS and State Tax Agencies including criminal tax investigations and attempted prosecutions, undisclosed foreign bank accounts and other foreign assets, and unreported foreign income.

Description: Let the tax attorneys of the Law Offices Of Jeffrey B. Kahn, P.C. resolve your IRS tax problems to allow you to have a fresh start.