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The North Carolina CPAs at Mildrid Esua with offices in Charlotte and Greensboro have experience helping successful people and businesses get out from under the weight of the back taxes they owe. Tax resolution services can definitely help. Don’t get the wrong idea — you’ll likely have to pay the taxes you owe. With the help of a skilled tax accountant for back taxes, though, you won’t have to come up with all the money right away or even all at once.

In order to recoup the amount of back taxes you owe, the IRS has several actions they can take against the delinquent taxpayer:

The first such action is a federal tax lien: This is essentially the IRS notifying your other creditors through public record that it has a claim against all of your property, including any assets you obtain after the lien begins.

The second is a federal tax levy whereby the IRS seizes your property and assets. The levy can be against your wages, your bank account, retirement account, and/or future tax refunds. The IRS can also seize your house, car, boat, and other assets and sell them to satisfy the tax debt you owe.

Property Seizure: The tax authorities may seize assets such as your car, boat, house or other asset of value that can be sold to cover the unpaid tax liability.

Finally, in some cases, the IRS can launch a criminal investigation for tax evasion which, if successful, can result in jail time as well as asset seizure

The IRS is required to allow you to make payments to settle your debt to the government if you owe back taxes. To qualify for an IRS payment plan, also known as the IRS Fresh Start program, you must meet certain requirements:

You owe $25,000 or less — although the Direct Debt Installment Agreement lets you pay off amounts up to $50,000

You can prove that you cannot pay the amount you owe now

You can pay off the taxes you owe within three years

You file IRS Form 9465, which is an official installment agreement request to the agency. Your tax accountant can do this for you — assuming you qualify and you both decide that the payment plan is the best way to go for you. A CPA acting as your tax representative sets up installment payments with the IRS.

The IRS offers another option if you know you’re going to have trouble paying off your back taxes — especially if you accrued many fines, penalties and interest. It’s called an Offer in Compromise or OIC, and this alternative lets you pay a portion of the money you owe, while wiping the debt off your record. Obviously, it comes with catches.

The IRS will only consider an offer in compromise if it is for one of the following reasons:

There is doubt as to whether the IRS correctly determined the amount you owe.
There is doubt as to whether the debt is fully collectible. This means your assets and income are less than the amount you owe.
The debt is correct, and you are able to pay the debt in full, but doing so would cause undue economic hardship. This is called effective tax administration.