Progressive Tax Announces the Ten Costliest Mistakes

Progressive Tax has been working with the IRS on a daily basis for more than 25 years to classify its accounts receivable. Before they begin the process of negotiating a settlement with the IRS, the Travelers Tax team of lawyers, accountants and federally licensed enrolled agents often must first undo the damage their client has already done.

According to the Internal Revenue Service: 1.Fifteen percent of all taxpayers owe back taxes. 2. In 2005, an estimated $120 billion in taxes went uncollected. 3. An estimated 76,686 taxpayers had delinquent tax bills of more than $100,000 (as of Fiscal Year 2004). 4. The number of levies (a key enforcement tool in which the IRS takes possession of assets to collect on unpaid taxes) topped 2 million during fiscal year 2005. These figures are a 21 percent increase from 2003 and triple the 2001 number.

First and foremost, the IRS is never - never - on your side, Here's just one example: The IRS will tell a taxpayer to go ahead and file an offer in compromise. The taxpayer thinks great, I can negotiate a settlement myself. Well, one of the reasons they do that is so you will divulge all of your financial information. It essentially gives them a road map to all of your assets.

Getting nailed for back taxes by the Internal Revenue Service is tough enough, but many taxpayers make a bad situation even worse by fumbling one of life's most delicate situations, according to Progressive Tax.

See below for Progressive Tax's Ten Costliest Taxpayer Mistakes.

The IRS works hard to collect full back taxes, penalties and interest. Progressive Tax specializes in pre-settlement planning using the IRS guidelines in order to get the client's disposable income as low as possible prior to submitting an offer in compromise. The goal: a settlement the taxpayer can carry.

Progressive Tax often starts by getting the IRS to release the levies on a client's bank accounts. If you lock up a person's bank account, they can't do business, they can't pay their employees and they are forced to shut down, that's not in anyone's interest.

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