A close friend of mine has had to do backtaxes.. problem was their taxes were NOT done back in 87-89. Few things came up: 1) They only worked from 87-89.. owned a small business. After that she didn't work.. however IRS is claiming she did. How can she 'prove' she didn't work meaning she doesn't have anything to provide that she didn't own the business anymore?? 2) She had her taxes finally done by a tax accountant.. will be turning these in.. now, liens are all over her CR because it's on her house.. also, the IRS (CA tax franchise board) has been taking money from her paycheck as well.. ended up taking 16K.. how can she recover this?? 3) Onec all these thing are squared away, how hard is it to remove the items from her CR? That in itself is going to be a battle I'm assuming.. she will need ti dispute and if htye don't remove, then sue them for inaccurrate info on her report.. should be a no brainer. Anyone know answers to the questions above or have had experience? Her background is basically depending on a husband that didn't file and put her through this whole mess..
Discrepancy: How are they taking money from her paycheck if she isn't working? She needs a tax attorney, fast.
I agree she needs a tax attorney ASAP. As as for disputing and sueing to get them removed, she had better think again, the IRS is VERY VERY tough, most people have virtually no luck with getting liens removed. Right now thinking about how to get these things removed is not what she needs to focus on, she needs an attorney fast.
A consultation with a tax attorney is a good idea. Getting liens removed is difficult if not impossible. What is possible is to negotiate an offer in compromise with the IRS. Your friend may end up paying far less than she owes. IRS will want to know everything about your friend's financial condition before accepting the offer. Once the offer is accepted, the IRS will release the liens but they still will show up on credit reports as released. The Franchise Tax Board does not have a similar program as a far as I know. The best thing to do with them is to make an installment arrrangement. It may be possible to avoid some of the penalties. There are "innocent spouse" provisions in the tax laws that might apply but it depends on how much control your friend had over the business. There are some complicated issues here that need professional attention.
Update on what happened.. she went to the IRS dept and the CA State Franchise Board today.. and they told her she would need to file for 1990 andj ust put ZERO for income.. As for federal, they said that it would take nearly a year to complete the backtaxes.. once taht is done, then the difference will be given back to her. Is this true??? She doesn't owe any of those years but they are assuming and estimating she owes 9k/year.. As for her paycheck, she is currently working now and has been.. and has suffered wage garnishment from 96-00... and that's how the amount came to be so high. So the main question isn't how are these taxes going to be done.. cuz that is now taken care of. The question/challenge now is will she get the money back that she paid that she should not have.. any ideas/thoughts?
You might give Mr. Robert Stempler a try in Palm Springs, Ca., he is a consumer law & tax attorney his email address is consumerlaw@justice.com. I have just used him to get several Ca-FTB liens released that FTB previously refused to release..my next step thru him is to get them removed. So he might be of some assistance.
