IRS Continues Trend to 2014 in Increased Bank Levy & Wage Garnishment Actions

by Harry Galstian

January 20, 2014

Direct Tax Relief assists clients that have been issued wage and bank garnishments by the IRS that has tripled in the past 10 years and are expected to grow even more for 2014.

The Internal Revenue Service Data Book (Publication 55B issued March 2013) for the Fiscal Year, 2012 noted that for the fiscal year (October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012) the number of notices of IRS bank levy and IRS wage levy served on third parties was almost three million.

A decade earlier the Internal Revenue Service Data Book (Publication 55B issued March 2003) for the Fiscal Year 2002 (October 1, 2001, through September 30, 2002) the number of garnishments served was 674,080.

“What the numbers show,” noted Direct Tax Relief’s senior enrolled agent and former IRS revenue officer Maurice Rosaler, “ is that in only ten years the number of bank levies and wage garnishments, issued by the IRS has more than tripled. The numbers from the IRS Data Books certainly confirm that there has been a trend for the IRS each year to increase the number of levies they issue against taxpayers and their assets.”

“I can’t imagine a few things worse,” said Rosaler who has been doing tax resolution for over 26 years, “than suddenly finding out all your funds in your bank accounts have been frozen by the government or that your wages have been attached.”

The IRS publication listed (Table 16) the total levies served on third parties in the fiscal year 2012 as 2,961,162.

“I know after almost 30 years of doing this,” continued Rosaler, “the kind of panic and distress that kind of enforcement action causes for taxpayers. Suddenly an IRS bank levy is issued and your bank account is wiped out. Or an IRS wage levy hits and up to 80% of your wages are attached, maybe more. Many times both the bank levy and the wage levy are issued at the same time! How do you pay your bills? How do you make your mortgage or pay your rent? How do you feed your family? In a situation like this, you need to get professional help as soon as possible.”

The IRS has two types of levies. The 668(A) is a one-time hit on your bank accounts and the 668(W) is a continuous garnishment on your wages or other income.

“Most people don’t know the difference,” said Direct Tax Relief’s senior enrolled agent, “and don’t know what to do to handle this emergency in their lives. This really is rather complex and the best way to handle it is to get professional help by looking for and retaining a trusted tax relief firm with attorneys and enrolled agents who specialize in this field of levy release and tax resolution. The best way is to look for an authentic tax relief firm like Direct Tax Relief which is listed with the BBB with an A rating and zero complaints.”

Rosaler pointed out that tax professionals who specialize in dealing with the IRS know who to contact at the government to secure the release of levies as well as the documents that will be needed to show the IRS the hardship the garnishments are causing.

“Tax professionals,” Rosaler added, “also know the appeal process to follow if on initial contact the IRS denies the request for levy release. We don’t take no as a final answer and we know how to appeal a negative decision. Most taxpayers don’t know any of that and this is not a good time to learn on the fly when a IRS bank levy or IRS wage levy is issued and your bank is emptied and you are getting only ten or twenty percent of your wages.”

“Tax professionals,” Rosaler observed, “are skilled and educated in this and are going to get the client the best possible results.”

“As the IRS Data Books illustrate,” concluded Rosaler, “the number of levies and garnishments issued has increased per year in just a decade by 2,287,082! That upward trend in the issuance of garnishments on wages and bank attachments shows the Internal Revenue Service’s increased dependence on enforcement action to collect back taxes. When a taxpayer is faced with a calamity like that the best thing to do is to go to a tax professional to help you and give you some peace of mind.”

Direct Tax Relief has extensive experience in tax resolution and has represented numerous clients since 2007 providing professional legal tax advice to resolve tax matters including Offers in Compromise, levy and garnishment release, appeal penalties, and establishing minimal payment plans to the government.

If you have unfiled tax returns or owe the IRS or state over $10,000 in state or federal back taxes, contact Direct Tax Relief now. With a team of enrolled agents and tax attorneys, Direct Tax Relief is an IRS tax debt relief company that can immediately assume communications with the IRS and handle your case to a successful end. Contact us today for a no-cost consultation.

Source: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/12databk.pdf