Up and down, round and round, loop-de-loop, it’s funny how the same action can be so much fun on a roller coaster and so disastrous with the IRS. As a kid, I wanted to ride the roller coaster over and over again, but no one ever wants to ride the IRS collection machine again. Most people don’t realize exactly what kind of trip they’re getting into when they have tax debt problems.
It starts out pretty quiet, but you can quickly end up in the IRS upside-down machine and your pocket is upside down. A tax return filing is lost for any reason; no problem, the IRS politely sends you a letter notifying you that the tax return has not been received. Maybe he applied and owed money that he couldn’t pay at the time. Half a year later, the IRS asks you to pay, again, no big deal. Since tax debt isn’t scaring the IRS away, why should you care? Often letters from the IRS are mailed to your last known address, so you may not have received any correspondence. Like other roller coasters, the first part of the ride is relatively calm.
However, at some point, the roller coaster that goes up must come down. When that first downhill run begins, the anxiety sets in. After a few unsuccessful attempts to collect via a nice letter, his case (yes, now a case) is transferred to the collections department. I heard all those nasty stories about the IRS; those are the “friendly” popular collections. Unless you owe more than $100,000, the IRS will let the computers do the dirty work, this is known as Automated Collection Service or ACS. You may be thinking; How much can a computer hurt me? Answer- Big Time Hurt.
IRS computers work with the post office to deliver the pain. Other debtors must go through the courts before collecting aggressively. They have to file a lawsuit, serve you, take you to trial, prove their case, win the case, get a judgment, enter the judgment, and wait for you to not pay the judgment. After all this, aggressive tactics such as paycheck garnishment or bank seizure can finally be applied. Not so with the IRS. Those inconvenient steps along with the time and effort to take those steps are completely unnecessary. All other creditors must follow these procedures, but the IRS does not.
Don’t get me wrong, the IRS has a procedure to follow, but their computers are up to scratch. They have some notification requirements before a federal tax bond is filed. Then they garnish your paycheck, seize your bank account, or put your house up for auction. It’s easy, the postman and the computers do the work. Even the signature on the tax bond filing is printed on a computer today. Have you ever seen the movie Brazil? It’s about an unlucky guy whose problem started with a glitch in the government computer. Think about that scenario minus the stormtroopers.
The IRS may be slowly moving the roller coaster on the first incline, but like other roller coasters, once you reach that first pinnacle, you get the ride. Once your case is turned over to ACS, the downhill race begins. In most cases, the sooner you contact the IRS to stop your tax debt problem, the better. The tax lien will ruin your credit and a bank lien or seizure will wipe out most people financially. If you have a tax debt problem and do nothing, you are headed for a roller coaster. On my website Do It Yourself Tax Relief.com, a simple and inexpensive solution to tax debt is offered. If you don’t want to deal with the IRS, an accountant or lawyer can also easily help you. Don’t wait to ride the roller coaster, it’s just not fun.