If you call IRS, they will nicely ask you for you phone number. As for payment, IRS will demand payment of what is collectible. They will bug you for what you can afford based on IRS national and local expense standards.
If you are trying to settle your tax debt for less than full payment, you have to, in IRS jargon, offer “an amount that represents the reasonable collection potential of the account.” This is a lump sum equal to what you could get from the equity in all your assets if they were sold at a quick sale, generally 80% plus 48 times what you could pay monthly on an installment agreement.
For example, if you had a car worth $10,000 and owed $5,000 on it and nothing else and IRS said you could make payments to IRS of $100 per month you would have to offer 80% of $10,000 minus the $5,000 owed = $3,000 PLUS 48 times $100 = $4,800 for a total lump sum payment of $7,800 on whatever you actually owed.
If you owe less than $25,000 and can pay in full in five years, IRS will demand you do that. If you can pay nothing right, now the account can be put on the back burner as currently not collectible.
on Mar 18th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Call someone else if you don’t want to pay too much (CERTIFIED tax preparer/attorney- check credentials)
If you owe enough, don’t waste time worrying about it. You’re already on their radar.
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on Mar 19th, 2009 at 12:17 am
well they already know who you are so tracing your call would be a waste of time, they can audit you and then garnish your wages…sucker
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on Mar 19th, 2009 at 1:07 am
No they will not trace you call. LOVE the first comment. Gave you a thumbs up
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on Mar 19th, 2009 at 1:57 am
No they will try to settle what you owe. Call an attorney first.
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on Mar 19th, 2009 at 2:38 am
OK > can we assume you really do owe the money?
If so, you need a CPA or tax attorney > there’s one that advertises where I am called Lothamer, but check out your area, as there are probably a ton more of them > have them look over your situation & see if they can negotiate a settlement with the IRS.
If you don’t respond, they will proceed to garnish& seize any amount you have in the bank.
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on Mar 19th, 2009 at 3:01 am
No one that you would talk to would be authorized to settle for less so don’t bother calling.
A settlement with the IRS is called an Offer In Compromise or OIC for short. The are only for people that owe over $10,000. It is a complex process. The form for the OIC is 44 pages long.
If you think that you qualify, contact a CPA or EA in your area and explain the situation.
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on Mar 19th, 2009 at 3:08 am
They won’t trace your call. They might set up a payment plan for you to stretch out your payments of the amount you owe, but if you are trying to settle for less, it isn’t going to happen over the phone and in most cases isn’t going to happen at all. There is a form you can fill out called an offer in compromise, but most of those are not accepted.
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on Mar 19th, 2009 at 3:49 am
The IRS has guidelines they must follow. Before you call, if you plan to do this yourself, you need to know them. Go to http://www.irs.gov and check out the local and national standards.
A tax professional (NOT necessarily a tax lawyer - you will be paying way too much) that works representing taxpayers may be well worth his/her weight in gold.
But to answer your question - they cannot trace your call, that is an illegal action.
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on Mar 19th, 2009 at 3:57 am
They don’t “trace” your call, but in this age of Caller ID, that’s totally unnecessary. When you call an 800 or other toll-free number, the telco ALWAYS delivers your number to the recipient of the call if the recipient subscribed to Calling Number Delivery, aka CND. Even if you can block outbound Caller ID, the CND system overrides the block and delivers your number, along with other information such as name, address, demographics, etc. if subscribed to by the person paying for the call.
I can’t state for certain that the IRS subscribes to CND, or if they do that the information is made available to the person answering the call. However in most cases they’d only use that information for law enforcement purposes, such as dealing with threatening or harassing phone calls, NOT for tax collection issues. For collections, they already know who you are and where you are, so knowing the phone number you’re calling from is really unnecessary.
The reality is that ALL phone calls generate a record at the telco switch and this information is retained permanently. The BS you see on TV and the movies about “tracing” calls is pure Hollywood. The telcos have had the ability to make a record of all phone connections since the early 1950s, however this was not public knowledge until sometime in the 1980s. Prior to that the telcos were so secretive about the process that even the FBI was unaware of the technology! (The calls themselves are not recorded, but every time your phone goes “off hook” the telco knows and makes a permanent record, along with the number called and the duration of the call.)
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My day job in the telecommunications/networking industry.
on Mar 19th, 2009 at 4:02 am
If you call IRS, they will nicely ask you for you phone number. As for payment, IRS will demand payment of what is collectible. They will bug you for what you can afford based on IRS national and local expense standards.
If you are trying to settle your tax debt for less than full payment, you have to, in IRS jargon, offer “an amount that represents the reasonable collection potential of the account.” This is a lump sum equal to what you could get from the equity in all your assets if they were sold at a quick sale, generally 80% plus 48 times what you could pay monthly on an installment agreement.
For example, if you had a car worth $10,000 and owed $5,000 on it and nothing else and IRS said you could make payments to IRS of $100 per month you would have to offer 80% of $10,000 minus the $5,000 owed = $3,000 PLUS 48 times $100 = $4,800 for a total lump sum payment of $7,800 on whatever you actually owed.
If you owe less than $25,000 and can pay in full in five years, IRS will demand you do that. If you can pay nothing right, now the account can be put on the back burner as currently not collectible.
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I am an enrolled agent who specializes in representing taxpayers who owe a lot of back tax or unfiled returns. Your big mess is my ordinary day at the office. If you want additional help you can email through my profile.
on Mar 19th, 2009 at 4:27 am
No, the IRS doesn’t do that, but they will ask for all available phone numbers. However, they generally don’t call you unless you have not made any further attempts to resolve the account.
Don’t be afraid of calling.
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