While this law was enacted 14 months ago, it may surprise the general public that the IRS has not, as of yet, begun to seize US passports. For for those who are familiar with how the IRS works, this was to be expected. The issue is that the IRS has to create the procedures and software that can implement the procedures.
Which leads us to the focus of this article. Procrastination.
Nearly everyone who contacts us to assist them in tackling an unpaid IRS bill has delayed in some way or another. The IRS is not actually our worst enemy. Our worst enemy is clients who wait until they have no choice but to hire us. Why? Because then, options become limited. Appeals rights are gone, and the time to structure an optimum workout is not present. We must act quickly, and we often have to do double the work. This leads to higher legal fees for those who wait.
It is understandable how one can procrastinate when dealing with the IRS. The IRS moves slowly. The IRS's notices can lull you into a false sense of security. The IRS sends bill after bill, with warning after warning, and we know that many people do not ever open the letters. And if they do open it, the fear paralyzes them. The easiest way out of the situation, they think, is to ignore it. There seems to be too much uncertainty in calling someone for help.
So the letter goes ignored. Until one day, the letter the IRS sends is a Levy notice a bank account or to your wages. Now the IRS has you in a completely vulnerable position. The IRS does not do anything… until they do. The IRS is like an oil tanker. It takes a tremendous amount of time and energy to get it up to speed, but when it is up to speed, its' inertia can be nearly impossible to control.
Here's another key detail. Levies and garnishment happen on Fridays more than any other day. We are not sure why, but most calls we get from people with their bank accounts and wages frozen or garnished happen on Friday. Friday afternoon to be precise. Usually, there is nothing that can be done in time to get a levy release notice to the bank. So it is an entire weekend before any positive action can be taken. An entire weekend where the distressed taxpayer is sweating it out. Wondering how to pay for the basics. Looking around for other sources of funds that the IRS hasn't taken.
This is a stressful time for our clients and a stressful time for us, to be honest. And yet in every case, this upheaval could have been avoided by earlier action.
Applying these observations to the new passport law, we predict that passports will be revoked right at the worst possible time. To combat this likely scenario, we implore you to contact us now before you have no choice but to contact us.
Every situation can be made better. Everyone who contacts us, from the retired school teacher the hedge fund manager, has made some sort of mistake. It is easiest to fix them the sooner we can get to work.
If you have a tax issue that you need assistance with, contact us. We can help. Call us at 888-727-8796 or email info@irsmedic.com.
