Tax Debts Explained

Everything You Need to Know About Tax Debts

If you cannot pay your tax debt and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is already putting on the pressure, there is a solution for your problem. You can now pay less than your actual IRS debt by compromising or paying in installments.

Tax Debts and How These Are Formed

In simple terms, a tax debt is an amount you neglected to pay the IRS during a particular tax period. The IRS has ways to determine if you paid your taxes accordingly by comparing it to the annual income report you submitted. If the tax you remitted is in excess of what you earned, then the IRS refunds your payment. But if you remitted less than what you reported, this results to a tax debt. Tax debts, as unintentional as they may be, have to paid, or else the IRS can take your collateral and properties if you refuse to settle your payment.

The IRS religiously monitors any tax debts or discrepancies with tax reports. For examples, employers should routinely deduct payroll tax from each employee's paychecks and forward these deductions to a tax agency. Even those who are self-employed like entrepreneurs have to annually present self-employment taxes, and are also subjected to IRS sanctions and penalties if they cannot make the repayments on time.

Tax debts are determined by your filed income tax report, and the amount of tax you paid. The IRS has a system to determine the amount they received against the amount you said you made. If there are any inconsistencies, then you are responsible for paying the IRS with your outstanding debt. If you haven't addressed your debt by the time of filing annual returns, you may be surprised to see that you owe a greater amount than you expected.

How to Get Relief from Your Tax Debts

There are several tax agencies who can resolve tax debts through numerous tax relief programs, so much so if you do not have the resources to repay the total amount due to interest and penalties. You can negotiate with the IRS for tax settlements such as imposing a tax levy on your wages. Tax agencies can also levy on your bank account to ensure repayment.

If you are one of those who have ignored the IRS for quite some time, then the IRS is in perfect position to seize your properties in order to compensate your IRS debt. However, this only happens if you refuse to pay your IRS debt, especially if you are basically uncooperative in settling the outstanding debt. Find more information about IRS debt relief offers to prevent mounting debts.

When it comes to tax debts, you have to ensure that you're paying the right amount annually to avoid them. If you already have more debts than you can afford to pay, then contact a tax agency such as the IRS or the State to find out how you can levy your payroll or bank account to compensate for the tax you owed.



By: W. R. Mineo
W. R. Mineo is an Army veteran and graduate of Western Kentucky University, consulting for L5DG on small business issues, website and Internet marketing, Internet writing and tax help articles; he previously worked on the re-branding and marketing of GoArmy.com