IRS Clarifies One-Per-Year Limit on IRA Rollovers in 2015

December 18, 2014 by

Retirement plan documents and pen

The Internal Revenue Service recently issued guidance clarifying the impact a 2014 individual retirement arrangement (IRA) rollover has on the one-per-year limit imposed by the Internal Revenue Code on tax-free rollovers between IRAs.

The clarification relates to a change in the way the statutory one-per-year limit applies to rollovers between IRAs. The change in the application of the one-per-year limit reflects an interpretation by the U.S. Tax Court in a January 2014 decision applying the limit to preclude an individual from making more than one tax-free rollover in any one-year period, even if the rollovers involve different IRAs.

Before 2015, the one-per-year limit applies only on an IRA-by-IRA basis (that is, only to rollovers involving the same IRAs). Beginning in 2015, the limit will apply by aggregating all an individual’s IRAs, effectively treating them as if they were one IRA for purposes of applying the limit.

To allow transition time, the IRS made it clear that the new interpretation will apply beginning Jan. 1, 2015. A distribution from an IRA received during 2014 and properly rolled over within 60 days to another IRA, will have no impact on any distributions and rollovers during 2015 involving any other IRAs owned by the same individual. In other words, IRA owners will be able to make a fresh start in 2015 when applying the one-per-year rollover limit to multiple IRAs.

Although an eligible IRA distribution received on or after Jan. 1, 2015 and properly rolled over to another IRA will still get tax-free treatment, subsequent distributions from any of the individual’s IRAs (including traditional and Roth IRAs) received within one year after that distribution will not get tax-free rollover treatment. As the guidance makes clear, a rollover between an individual’s Roth IRAs will preclude a separate tax-free rollover within the 1-year period between the individual’s traditional IRAs, and vice versa.

Keep in mind Roth conversions which are rollovers from traditional IRAs to Roth IRAs, rollovers between qualified plans and IRAs, and trustee-to-trustee transfers which are direct transfers of assets from one IRA trustee to another are not subject to the one-per-year limit and are disregarded in applying the limit to other rollovers.

Therefore IRA owners should request trustee to trustee direct transfers or request a check made payable to the receiving IRA trustee and deliver it to the receiving trustee themselves within 60 days of the check date.

If you have any questions, please contact Gregory J. Spadea of Spadea & Associates, LLC at 610-521-0604.

Filed Under: Tax Law Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Qualifying for the Family-Owned Business Exemption from Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax

November 10, 2014 by

Beginning July 1, 2013, the transfer at death of certain family owned business interests are exempt from the Pennsylvania inheritance tax. Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax is currently 4.5% for linear descendants, 12% for siblings and 15% for everyone else. To qualify for the family-owned business exemption, a family-owned business interest must:

  1. Have been in existence for five years prior to the decedent’s death;
  2. Have less than 50 full time equivalent employees and a net book value of assets totaling less than $5,000,000 at the date of the decedent’s death;
  3. Be engaged in a trade or business, the principal purpose of which is not the management of investments or income producing assets;
  4. Be transferred to one or more qualified transferees – the decedent’s husband or wife, grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, or children, siblings or their children. Children include natural children, adopted children; and stepchildren;
  5. Owned by a qualified transferee for a minimum of seven years after the decedent’s death;
  6. Reported on a timely filed Pennsylvania inheritance tax return and filed within 9 months of the decedents date of death, or within 15 months of the decedent’s date of death if the estate or person required to file the return was granted the six month statutory extension.

The transferee must file an annual certification and notify the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue within thirty days of any transaction or occurrence causing the qualified family-owned business to fail to qualify for the exemption. Failure to comply with the certification or notification requirements results in a total loss of the exemption.

If you feel you qualify for the family-owned business exemption please contact Gregory J. Spadea online or at 610-521-0604 of Spadea & Associates, LLC in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Filed Under: Business Law, Family Law, Qualifying for the Family-Owned Business Exemption from Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

What To Do If You Receive An IRS Summons

October 23, 2014 by

Notepad with sign Owe Taxes

A summons requires you to provide the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with information that is relevant to your tax. The IRS will summon information after it has already informally requested the information using form 4564 – Information Document Request. The IRS uses a summons to determine whether a tax return is correct, to prepare a substitute for return when none was filed or to collect tax. To obtain this information, the IRS may serve a summons directly on the subject of the investigation or any third party who may possess relevant information. In doing so, the IRS may examine books and records including documents such as invoices or bank statements. The IRS may also summon the testimony of the person possessing the records.

In many cases, the IRS is required to notify the taxpayer about other persons or entities receiving the third-party summons. Two significant exceptions to this notice rule are: (1) the summons was issued in connection with a criminal investigation to a person who is not a third party record keeper such as a bank, an accountant, broker, enrolled agent or investment company, (2) the summons was issued in aid of collection of an assessment made or judgment rendered against the person with respect to whose tax liability the summons is issued. In other words, there has already been a judgment or tax assessment made against the taxpayer and the summons is an effort to collect monies from the taxpayer.

You should not ignore a summons because a federal court may find and hold you in contempt or, worse, you may be subject to criminal prosecution for a failure to obey a summons. If you fail to comply with a summons the IRS may petition the Federal District Court to enforce the summons. The IRS must establish that (1) the investigation will be conducted pursuant to a legitimate purpose; (2) the inquiry may be relevant to that purpose; (3) the information sought is not already in the IRS’ possession; and (4) the administrative steps required under the Internal Revenue Code have been followed. If the IRS does so you will have to contest the summons. You can contest a summons on substantive grounds, technical or procedural grounds, or on Constitutional or other privilege grounds. Substantive defenses typically include arguments over whether a particular matter is part of a legitimate investigation, or whether the persons or documents summoned are relevant to an IRS investigation. Technical or procedural defenses usually are not worth litigating because the IRS can simply issue another summons to correct the procedural errors. You can also assert privileges under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the US Constitution to prevent the summons from being enforced. These rights and privileges are asserted where the information sought is incriminating and protected from disclosure under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, or where the summons itself is so broad that it constitutes an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.

If you receive a IRS summons you should contact Gregory J. Spadea at 610-521-0604 of Spadea & Associates, LLC in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania. Mr. Spadea worked for the IRS for over 13 years and has extensive experience responding to the IRS and will determine when, and on what basis, you might refuse to answer the questions. Mr. Spadea will also help you evaluate which documents are relevant and, more importantly, which documents should be produced.

Filed Under: Tax Law Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

9 Exceptions to the 10% Premature Distribution Penalty on Individual Retirement Accounts

October 16, 2014 by

2 elderly people on the couch

Whenever you take a premature distribution from your Individual Retirement Account (IRA) you have to pay a 10% penalty on the taxable amount of the distribution in addition to federal income tax. However there are 9 exceptions that you can use to avoid paying that 10% penalty which are as follows:

  1. Withdrawals That Count as Substantially Equal Periodic Payments (SEPPs). This exception is the same as the one for qualified retirement plan withdrawals, except separation from service is not required. The rules for SEPPs require you to receive a series of annual payouts. This is similar to an annuity which pays you an equal stream of payments for a set period. If you have several IRAs, you do not need to withdraw from them all. You only need to annuitize one or more of the IRAs to generate annual SEPPs that are big enough to meet your cash needs. However, the entire balance in all your IRAs must be considered and annuitizing only a portion of an IRA does not qualify for this exception. Unfortunately, the SEPP exception has two important requirements that you need to be aware of:
    • (1) Once begun, the SEPP must continue for at least five years or, if later, until the owner reaches age 59 1/2. If the SEPPs are stopped too soon, all the previous age 59 1/2 withdrawals that were thought to have been taken under the SEPP exception are subject to the 10% penalty tax. The same thing can happen if the annuitized account is modified during the period when SEPPs are required, for example by making annual contributions to that account or by rolling over all or part of that account into another account.
    • (2) Annual SEPP amounts must be calculated correctly. If the correct annual amounts are not withdrawn, it is deemed to be a prohibited modification of the SEPP, which results in all the previous age 59 1/2 withdrawals that were thought to have been taken under the SEPP exception being hit with the 10% penalty tax.
  2. Withdrawals for Medical Expenses in Excess of 10% (or 7.5% if you or your spouse are over 65) of Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). This exception is the same as the one for qualified plan withdrawals.
  3. Withdrawals by Military Reservists Called to Active Duty. This exception is the same as the one for qualified plan withdrawals.
  4. Withdrawals for IRS Levies. This exception is the same as the one for qualified plan withdrawals. Note that this exception is unavailable when the IRS levies against the IRA owner (as opposed to the IRA itself), and the owner then withdraws IRA funds to pay the levy.
  5. Withdrawals after Death. This exception is the same as the one for qualified plan withdrawals. Note that this exception is not available for funds rolled over into a surviving spouse’s IRA or if the surviving spouse elects to treat the inherited IRA as her own account. Therefore, the surviving spouse should leave amounts that will be needed before age 59 1/2 in the inherited IRA. This way, the 10% penalty tax can be avoided on those amounts.
  6. Withdrawals after Disability. This exception is the same as the one for qualified plan withdrawals.
  7. Withdrawals for First-time Home Purchases. This exception applies only to IRAs. It allows penalty-free withdrawals (up to $10,000 per lifetime) to the extent the account owner uses the funds within 120 days to pay for qualified acquisition costs for a first-time principal residence. The principal residence can be acquired by: (1) the account owner or the account owner’s spouse; (2) the account owner’s child, grandchild, or grandparent; or (3) the spouse’s child, grandchild, or grandparent. The buyer of the principal residence (and the spouse if the buyer is married) must not have owned a present interest in a principal residence within the two-year period that ends on the acquisition date. Qualified acquisition costs are defined as costs to acquire, construct, or reconstruct a principal residence-including closing costs.
  8. Withdrawals for Qualified Higher Education Expenses. This exception only applies to IRAs. Early IRA withdrawals are penalty-free to the extent of qualified higher education expenses paid during that same year. Qualified higher education expenses include amounts paid for tuition, books, fees and other related expenses for an eligible student. This amount will be reflected on a form 1098-T that the school will send to the student. However, the qualified expenses must be for the education of: (1) the account owner or the account owner’s spouse or (2) a child, stepchild, or adopted child of the account owner or the account owner’s spouse.
  9. Withdrawals for Health Insurance Premiums during Unemployment. This exception only applies to IRAs, and is available if you received unemployment compensation payments for 12 consecutive weeks under any federal or state unemployment compensation law during the year in question or the preceding year. If this condition is satisfied, your early withdrawals during the year in question are penalty-free up to the amount paid during that year for health insurance premiums to cover the account owner, spouse, and dependents. However, early withdrawals after you regain employment for at least 60 days don’t qualify for this exception.

If you took a distribution from your IRA and received a form 1099-R with a distribution code of 1, and feel you meet one of exceptions listed above, please contact Gregory J. Spadea at 610-521-0604 of Spadea & Associates, LLC located in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Filed Under: Tax Law Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Preparing for the IRS Trust Fund Recovery Penalty Interview

September 16, 2014 by

Stop, pay your taxes!

If you fail to pay over the federal employment tax you withhold from your employees’ salaries the IRS will eventually come knocking on your door. This problem generally occurs when a business runs short of cash to pay both operating expenses and payroll. There may be enough cash to pay vendors and pay net payroll, but not enough to pay the federal government the employer and employee withholding taxes. Employer withholding taxes are 7.65% of gross payroll which consists of 6.2% social security tax and 1.45% medicare tax. The employee withholding consists of federal income tax and state income withheld in addition to the 6.2% social security tax and 1.45% medicare tax.

When the quarterly 941 federal employment tax return is filed with the IRS, the Government gives the employee credit for the tax withheld listed on the quarterly 941 returns whether the employer pays over the employer and employee withholdings or not. That is why the tax withholdings are called trust fund taxes because the employer is holding the money in trust for the federal government. The funds do not belong to the employer and if the employer uses the money for something else he is in essence stealing from the federal government.

If you fail to pay over the employer tax withholding every month or quarter a Revenue Officer will show up at your business unexpectedly and want to interview you. You should hire a tax attorney before speaking with the Revenue Officer. I have handled many trust fund recovery interviews and have been able to reduce the proposed assessments dramatically if I was involved before the IRS Form 4180 interview took place. IRS Form 4180 is the form the Revenue Officer completes during the interview. The Revenue Officer will try to determine if you are the responsible party by asking:

  1. Did you make deposits or sign the business checks;
  2. Did you determine what bills were paid;
  3. Did you have ability to hire and fire employees;
  4. Did you sign the federal employment and income tax returns;
  5. Did you sign loans on behalf of the business;
  6. Were you involved in the day to day operations of the business;
  7. Did you make or authorize payment of federal tax deposits.

If the Revenue Officer determines that you are the responsible party he will issue Form 2751 which is a Proposed Assessment of the Trust Fund Penalty. I will help you determine If you do not agree with the proposed liability you can submit an appeal request within 60 days of the issuance of the notice. If the case is not resolved in IRS Appeals you can file a complaint in federal district court.

If a Revenue Officer does call or visit your business, please call Gregory J. Spadea of Spadea & Associates, LLC at 610-521-0604, in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Filed Under: Tax Law Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

What Happens to Your Debts When You Die?

September 9, 2014 by

When you die, your executor has responsibility to pay all your remaining debts if your estate has enough probate assets to pay them. Probate assets are assets that were in your name alone and pass by your will. Before your executor pays any creditors he or she must first pay the estate administration expenses such as funeral costs, grave marker, probate fees, medical bills, attorney fees and rent for the previous six months prior to your death. After the administrative expenses are paid, the secured creditors are paid and any probate assets remaining will go to pay unsecured creditors.

If the estate is not solvent, and a creditor is paid more than he is entitled to receive, the executor can be held personally responsible to the extent of the overpayment. The executor also may be personally liable if he or she distributes estate property without having given proper notice to those having a claim against the estate.

As a general rule, debt collectors may not try to collect from your heirs. However, there are several exceptions. The first exception is if an heir was a co-signer of a particular debt in which case they would be responsible for that debt or if someone held property jointly with you, they would be responsible for any debts on the joint property. The third exception is if an heir inherits a car or a boat that had an outstanding loan, they would have to pay the loan off or the car or boat would be repossessed by the lender.

Creditors cannot be paid from any assets that pass directly to a beneficiary. Assets that pass directly to a beneficiary are called non-probate assets and include jointly owned bank accounts and any account or life insurance policy with a named beneficiary. Therefore a jointly held bank account would pass directly to the joint owner, and the funds in that account could not be used to pay creditors. Similarly, life insurance policies pass directly to the beneficiaries, so creditors do not have access to those funds. In addition creditors cannot access funds held in an irrevocable trust.

A debt collector may not contact your heirs or relatives to try to collect payment unless they were co-signers of the debt or the debt was a jointly owned debt. Debt collectors are allowed to contact the executor of your estate, or your spouse, or your parents if you were a minor, to discuss the debts but may not discuss the debts with anyone else.

Contact Gregory J. Spadea

If you have any questions or need help probating an estate please contact Gregory J. Spadea at 610-521-0604 of Spadea & Associates, LLC in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Filed Under: Estate Planning, Family Law Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

When Does an Estate Fiduciary Income Tax Return Need to be Filed

August 26, 2014 by

The estate must file a 1041 fiduciary income tax return if the estate has income or property sales over $600 during the tax year. So if the executor receives a 1099 under the Estate Tax Identification Number for over $600 of interest or dividend income, or real estate is sold in a subsequent year after death, a fiduciary income tax return will have to be filed. The federal estate fiduciary 1041 income tax return is due 3½ months after the close of the tax year.

Normally, estate fiduciary returns result in “excess deductions on termination”, which can be divided equally among all the beneficiaries, and used by them as itemized deductions on their personal federal income tax returns to increase their income tax refund.

There is no income tax on inheritances except to the extent that such items represent tax deferred items such as pension plans, annuities, IRA’s, and accrued E bonds or to the extent that they represent income earned after death, there is no inheritance tax on such post-death income. Income tax on such tax deferred items is due by the beneficiaries in the year they receive the income. A final federal income tax return for your loved one must be filed, assuming he met the filing threshold which for the 2014 tax year is $11,700, excluding social security for a decedent over the age of 65. In addition, if federal income tax was withheld, you would file to get the federal income tax refund regardless of the income earned.

There is never any Pennsylvania income tax due on inherited property including tax deferred property such as pension plans, IRA’s or annuities.

If there are U.S. Savings Bonds, the significant factors are: (a) the turnover date; and (b) income tax on accrued interest. The turnover date means that since bonds increase in value every six months, there is a loss of up to five months interest if cashing is not made in one of the two months in each year in which value increases. There are three choices with respect to reporting accrued interest on Savings Bonds: (1) Report it on the decedent’s final 1040 return; if he owes no tax, even with the interest included, this is the clear choice; (2) Report it on the estate’s fiduciary 1041 return, if this is done, ensure you have sufficient estate deductions to offset against the bond interest; or (3) Transferring the bonds without cashing, which makes sense if the beneficiary is in a low tax bracket.

If you were named as a beneficiary of an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), then you should consider the possibility of electing to stretch the pay-out over your own life expectancy if the plan administrator permits it. If not then you can take distributions over 5 years or elect to withdraw the entire balance. However, you must pay federal income tax on any distributions you receive in the year received.

Real estate, like stock, takes a stepped up basis at death, so that original cost to the decedent is irrelevant for income tax purposes. If you decide to sell a house and do not need the aid of a real estate agent to find a buyer, we can handle all the paperwork from the agreement of sale to closing for an additional fee. Keep in mind if you do not sell the property within fifteen months after the date of death we must value the property using the common level ratio or based on an appraisal.

Contact Gregory J. Spadea of Spadea & Associates, LLC at 610-521-0604 if you need help administering an estate or find yourself being appointed as an Executor.

Filed Under: Estate Planning, Real Estate, Tax Law Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Wrongful Death Proceeds Are Not Subject to Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax or Federal Income Tax

August 4, 2014 by

The Pennsylvania Wrongful Death statute allows the personal representative of an estate to bring an action for the benefit of a decedent’s spouse, children or parents to recover damages for the death of the decedent caused by the wrongful act, neglect, unlawful violence of another. The statute entitles a plaintiff to recover damages for pain and suffering, loss of earning power, medical and hospital bills, funeral expenses and certain estate administration expenses.

Wrongful death proceeds are not taxable for Pennsylvania Inheritance purposes or for federal income tax purposes. On the other hand survival action proceeds are subject to Pennsylvania inheritance tax. Since Pennsylvania taxes survival actions but not wrongful death actions, you, through your attorney want to maximize the wrongful death recovery amount. The court tends to allocate the proceeds of wrongful death actions and survival actions based upon the facts of the case and the evidence presented by your attorney.

Under the Pennsylvania Probate, Estate and Fiduciary code the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue is an interested party in any orphan’s court proceeding. Therefore your attorney must get written consent from the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue regarding the proposed allocation since its interests will be adversely affected by the amount allocated to the wrongful death action.

Survival Actions are valued at the decedent’s date of death for Pennsylvania Inheritance tax purposes. Any unpaid Inheritance tax is due within thirty days after the estate receives the proceeds. If there is any tax due beyond thirty days the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue begins charging interest on the unpaid balance which is currently 6%.

Contact Gregory J. Spadea

If you have a question about a wrongful death action or survival action please contact Spadea & Associates, LLC online or at 610-521-0604, located in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Filed Under: Estate Planning, Tax Law Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

What Business Expenses Are Deductible?

July 31, 2014 by

Coffee cup and tax forms

If you are a self-employed sole proprietor or operate an LLC taxed as an S-corporation, any expense that your business incurs that is ordinary and necessary is deductible under Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code. Therefore, list the total spent on each of the expense categories listed below:

  • Accounting, legal and professional fees;
  • Advertising;
  • Car expense – indicate total annual miles driven, then break out total annual business miles plus parking and tolls including business log with date, miles driven, business purpose and destination or
    total annual miles driven, actual fuel invoices, auto insurance, repairs and total miles driven and total annual business miles plus parking & tolls;
  • Fixed Assets – If you bought a vehicle, computer, equipment, office furniture or placed it in service during the tax year, even if you already owned it. Also provide a copy of the purchase invoice so the total cost can be expensed it under IRC Sec. 179;
  • W-3 – Salaries that your company paid to others. List officer and shareholder salary separately;
  • Employer share of employment taxes like FICA and FUTA;
  • Commissions or fees paid to other contractors. Have them fill in form W-9 if they were not incorporated so a 1099 can be issued by February 1;
  • If you already issued them a 1099, please provide the 1096 showing total independent contractors paid.
  • Professional Liability Insurance, Workmans Compensation Insurance and Health insurance;
  • Office Supplies;
  • Materials or Purchase of inventory for resale;
  • Travel, Hotel, Airfare and Car Rental;
  • Meals – keep track of date, place, person entertained and business purpose. If you do not have a digital calendar (such as Outlook or Google Calendar) then you need a receipt for everything If you have a digital calendar then you only need receipt if you pay more than $75.00;
  • Telephone including local, long distance, fax, land lines and mobile;
  • DSL, cable and internet charges;
  • Postage including shipping costs like Fed Ex and UPS;
  • Continuing education and business seminars and conferences;
  • Interest expense paid on business loans and provide year end balances;
  • Rent for office space or equipment;
  • Utilities like electricity, fuel oil, water or gas.
  • Prior year PA franchise (Capital Stock) tax from Page 2 of the PA RCT-101;
  • Prior Year Local Income Tax paid;
  • Total State sales tax paid if you included it in gross sales revenue.

Never pay any personal expenses from your business bank account. Instead take draws from your business account and transfer money to your personal account and pay the personal bills directly from your personal account. Contact Spadea & Associates, LLC at 610-521-0604, if you have any questions or need your tax returns prepared.

Filed Under: Tax Law Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Your IRS Taxpayer Bill of Rights

July 11, 2014 by
Stop, pay your taxes!

Stop, pay your taxes!

The Internal Revenue Service announced on June 10, 2014, the adoption of a Taxpayer Bill of Rights that will become a cornerstone document to provide the nation’s taxpayers with a better understanding of their rights. The Taxpayer Bill of Rights takes the multiple existing rights embedded in the tax code and groups them into 10 key categories, making them more visible and easier for taxpayers to understand. The rights will be sent to millions of taxpayers this year when they receive IRS notices on issues ranging from audits to collection. The rights will also be publicly visible in all IRS facilities as well as online at IRS.gov.

The IRS released the Taxpayer Bill of Rights following extensive discussions with the Taxpayer Advocate Service, an independent office inside the IRS that represents the interests of U.S. taxpayers. I have given my opinion after each provision of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights on how I feel the IRS is doing with respect to each provision.

The Taxpayer Bill Of Rights are as follows:

  1. The Right to Be Informed. The IRS tries really hard to keep taxpayers informed but sometimes stops communicating for various reasons. Therefore, it is very important for you to follow up if you do not hear back from the IRS after 90 days of responding to a notice.
  2. The Right to Quality Service. The IRS is not delivering quality customer service. Whenever I call the IRS on behalf of a client, I am on hold for 30 to 60 minutes due to budget constraints and poor management. The IRS funding and employee headcount has decreased significantly since 2010, while its workload has increased due to health care reform and foreign account reporting rules.
  3. The Right to Pay No More than the Correct Amount of Tax. The IRS does a good job with this right and gives refunds when taxpayers file amended returns as well as billing taxpayers who fail to pay the correct amount of tax.
  4. The Right to Challenge the IRS’s Position and Be Heard. and
  5. The Right to Appeal an IRS Decision in an Independent Forum. Both these rights can be read together. The IRS does a good job giving taxpayers several ways to challenge or appeal its position either through the Taxpayer Advocate service, Appeals including fast track mediation, US Tax Court and the Court for Federal Claims.
  6. The Right to Finality. The IRS does not always provide a written report at the conclusion of a correspondence audit. Therefore, I always request a written report or statement from the IRS at the conclusion of an audit or when payments are applied from different years.
  7. The Right to Privacy. The IRS does a good job of protecting taxpayer privacy.
  8. The Right to Confidentiality. The IRS does a good job keeping your information confidential although it does share information with other federal agencies and state governments.
  9. The Right to Retain Representation. This is your most important right as a taxpayer. I personally know several clients that were not represented at the audit stage and paid more tax than clients I have represented at the audit stage with the same issues. I would never recommend a client go to an IRS audit by themselves.
  10. The Right to a Fair and Just Tax System. I think this right is the responsibility of Congress since they pass all the tax laws which are not always fair.

If you receive an IRS Notice or have any questions about your taxpayer rights feel free to contact Gregory J. Spadea online or at 610-521-0604. Gregory J. Spadea is a tax attorney, former IRS Agent and founding member of the Law Offices of Spadea & Associates, LLC located in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania.

Filed Under: Tax Law Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

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