Taxpayer Bill of Rights: The Right to Be Informed, by Frank Agostino, Esq. and Valerie Vlasenko, Esq.
The Taxpayer Bill of Rights (“TBOR”),2 grants taxpay- ers the right to be informed. To enforce the right, tax- payers and tax professionals must know of and understand the Freedom of Information Act, Privacy Act, and disclosure requirements scattered throughout the Internal Revenue Code (“I.R.C.” or “Code”) and the Internal Revenue Manual (“I.R.M.”). This article will explore the essential provisions for making the right to be informed real. …
TAC Tip, by Desa Lazar, Esq.
Levies on Retirement Assets – Balancing the I.R.S. Need for Efficient Collection of Taxes with the Legitimate Concern of the Taxpayer That Any Collection Be No More Intrusive than Necessary. Many of our clients worry they will not have sufficient assets on which to live after they retire. Although Congress has enacted laws promoting retirement savings, it has also given the Internal Revenue Service (“I.R.S.”) the ability to levy on retirement assets. While all enforced collection actions taken by the I.R.S. affect a taxpayer’s ability to pay his or her living expenses, levies on retirement assets can have a negative impact on a taxpayer’s ability to pay current and future living expenses. Tax professionals representing taxpayers with retirement assets should familiarize themselves with the I.R.S. policies that require the I.R.S. to: (1) limit levies on retirement assets to cases where a taxpayer has acted flagrantly in seeking to evade the collection of the tax; and (2) evaluate whether the levy balances the need for efficient collection of taxes with the legitimate con- cern of the taxpayer that any collection be no more intrusive than necessary. …
