Receiving a letter from the IRS Automatic Collection System (ACS), is what prompts many who owe IRS back taxes to look into the Offer In Compromise program. According to the name, the ACS is, in fact, automatic insofar as generating increasingly aggressive collection letters. But it is also peopled by a group of IRS employees who are excellent and skilled collectors for the Service. ACS is the key source of wage levies and bank levies, which usually get used by the IRS when you fail to respond to an earlier collection notice.
What is the IRS after when it sends out a collection notice? The most obvious answer is one word: Money. It wants money. The problem is, not everyone is sitting back with a pile of cash to send the IRS just because it is owed. And that’s the stuff collections are made of.
When you receive one of these automated notices it is best to respond truthfully and fully to the IRS, as quickly as possible. The ACS operates as a big collection agency and has powers of levy that go far beyond the powers that ordinary collectors like credit card companies might have. Why? Because the IRS doesn’t have to go before a judge to get authority to grab your wages or property. Ordinary collectors have to ask for judicial permission, but not so the IRS. The IRS can just pounce and before you know it you’re paying 85% of your take-home pay to the IRS wage levy. That’s a huge amount, something you should be willing to work very hard to avoid. One way to avoid a wage levy is to file an Offer In Compromise. The IRS Offer In Compromise is made for people who just don’t have the money to pay. Call our tax lawyers and ask about this program today.