Fortress Financial Services, Inc.
Tax Resolution Services For Business & Individuals
An Installment agreement is one of your options if you can not pay your taxes in full when they are due. This agreement is a type of payment plan, and allows you to pay your debt over a time you establish with the IRS.
Aside from getting behind with the IRS in the first place, defaulting an IRS installment agreement can be among the most disastrous financial missteps a person can make. Thus, knowing how to avoid a default and what steps to take in the event that you receive a default notice is […]
Benjamin Franklin once said that nothing is certain in this life but death and taxes. I’ll agree that none of us will cheat death. But I may quibble with Mr. Franklin on the issue of whether or not you have to pay all of your taxes. Under the right set […]
To some business owners, the accounting part of their business is the last thing they want to deal with. “Leave that to the accountant or bookkeeper and let me get to work” is the sentiment I get from a lot of small business owners. Accrual Method of Accounting Many business […]
Earlier this year, I received a voice message from a producer for a television show called Moving America Forward, hosted by William Shatner. The message stated that they were interested in speaking with me about possibly appearing on their nationally broadcasted television show. Moving America Forward Interviews Fortress Financial Services […]
On December 4th, 2015 President Barack Obama signed into law the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act” to improve the Nation’s surface transportation infrastructure. Also referred to as the FAST Act, the legislation included a provision which requires the Internal Revenue Service to outsource certain tax debts to private debt collection […]
So, something in life or business didn’t go according to plan, and now you’re faced with an IRS tax liability. While few people relish being a collection target of America’s most formidable creditor, there may be a silver lining. You may have options which could significantly reduce the amount that […]
If you’ve accrued a debt to the taxing authorities, your first inclination may be to handle it yourself. If you make that choice, beware that there are a number of frustrations involved in trying to communicate with the taxing authorities. Unless your case has been assigned to a Revenue Officer […]
In order to be eligible to resolve an outstanding federal tax liability on a voluntary basis (e.g. Installment Agreement, Offer in Compromise), as opposed to having it forcefully resolved through collection action such as levies, garnishments, and the seizure of assets, the IRS has two basic requirements. The first requirement […]
Recently I was engaged in a heated discussion with an IRS Appeals Settlement Officer. The subject was an Offer in Compromise (Tax Settlement) I had filed on a client’s behalf. The IRS did not want to approve our Offer because they noticed that my client had been late with a […]
Perhaps no other action taken by the IRS is more disruptive, surprising, and panic-inducing than an IRS levy on your checking or savings account. With one notice sent to your bank, the IRS can seize every penny you’ve got, and apply it toward your tax bill. To make it worse, […]
OK, so you’ve negotiated an IRS Installment Agreement for your IRS tax liability, and can finally breathe easy because you will not have to deal with your Revenue Officer anymore. Time to celebrate, right? Not so fast. IRS employees frequently tell me that the vast majority of Installment Agreements default […]
You have read the Form 656, IRS Offer in Compromise booklet, the rules under the Fresh Start Initiative, and perhaps even hired an attorney or other representative to help you submit your Offer in Compromise to the IRS. You feel you have sent in a complete Offer, with all documentation attached. […]
A taxpayer who accrues a balance due with the IRS receives a lot of correspondence as the IRS tries to collect on that liability. Some of this correspondence appears threatening, but actually doesn’t have much “bite.” Other correspondence means there could be serious danger up ahead, and may require immediate […]
Answer: Depending upon the specifics of your situation, it may be possible to avoid hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars in penalties simply by “designating” voluntary payments applied toward your tax liability. Keep in mind that payments made in accordance with a formalized installment agreement are not considered voluntary, so […]
Any time a taxpayer incurs a balance due to the IRS, the IRS’s first response is almost invariably to demand that the debt be fully paid, immediately. However, in many situations, the taxpayer does not have the ability to fully and immediately pay the tax debt. This inability to quickly […]
In 2008 the United States, along with much of the rest of the world, witnessed a financial crisis of devastating proportions. In response, the federal government issued bailouts to the major banks after deeming them ‘too big to fail.’ Small businesses, however, were trying to get back on their feet […]
