Monthly Archives: March 2013

What do you do when there is an invalid charged-off debt?

TaxAct

What do you do when there is an invalid charged-off debt?

It’s nothing new to hear or see a dispute between the tax payers and the IRS. Of course, there are quite a few reasons behind the disputes, but most commonly these disputes involve examination and/or collection issues and also the different interpretations of tax law. The IRS reporting a charged-off account on the credit report also proves to be a great hassle for more reasons than one. Now, if you happen to be one of those whose credit report shows charged-off tax accounts and that too having been reported by the IRS, then it’s definitely worth disputing. In fact, if you sit on it without taking heed, then this’ll definitely have a negative impact on your credit rating and that can be far worse than not having accrued debt, yet souring your credit.

What’s a charge-off debt actually?

Before you get into surmises about what exactly charged-off debt is all about, it’s important for you to understand the concept behind a charged-off debt in the first place. A charge-off debt actually happens to be that debt which has been determined uncollectible by the original creditor and that’s usually done after the debtor is seriously delinquent. Now, it’s only after 6 months that charge-offs are known to occur. Moreover, creditors still have the right to collect on the charge-offs because the debt still remains valid. Charge-offs are also known to appear on your credit report at least for 7 years since the debt appears.

Hence, it’s obvious that you’d like to validate your debts before coming to any conclusion about whether or not you should dispute the charge-offs. Debt validation is necessary like you do when going for the programs aimed to solve your financial problems. In this case too, debt validation programs serve the purpose of telling you for sure whether or not you can dispute the charged-off account with the IRS.

How’ll you dispute a charged-off debt with the IRS?

As a taxpayer who’s looking to dispute a charged-off debt, it’s rather important that you evaluate all possible options before taking any conclusive steps. Have a look at the steps discussed below and you should know how you can dispute a charged-off debt with the IRS.

  1. Write out a formal protest: The very first thing you should do is write out a formal protest and request a review with the IRS Appeals Office. If an issue arises, then the IRS is bound to issue a Notice of Proposed Adjustment (NOPA), Form 5701 which details the position of the IRS regarding particular financial matters. You might as well reply to this by citing tax laws and other substantial evidences to support your position.

  1. Review alternative dispute methods: You should also try and review alternative dispute methods that might be available. Generally there are 4 alternate dispute resolution tools available at the IRS Appeals Office – early referral to appeals, fast track settlement, post appeals mediation and delegation orders. You can request the tax office for early referral to the Appeals Office.

  1. Look for the best method: It’s always advisable that you peruse for the best method when it comes to your particular case of disputing charged-off accounts. Advisably since it’s a dispute, hence you might as well take the assistance of a tax professional. The ultimate option of course remains litigation in a tax court or federal district court.

Keep in mind the above instances and steps when looking to dispute your charged-off debts with the IRS for unless you’re sure about what you’re doing, things can get even messier ultimately. Take heed now and conclude things smoothly.

How Your Kids Can Boost Your IRS Refund

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Law School (Photo credit: Tulane Public Relations)

IRS Refund

A considerable amount of tax can greatly help with your tax return upon declaring your legal dependent. Not only will it boost your own exemption but it can also make you eligible for other tax benefits. You can certainly avail of the child tax credit once you have claimed a legal dependent. Keep in mind that the IRS has restrictions or standard qualifications as to whom you can claim as a legal dependent. Never presume that any person or anybody living in your house directly qualifies as a legal dependent.

What is a Legal Dependent?

In general, a dependent is a person who relies on you for more than 50% of his or her finances. He may have an income from a source or totally depending from the help you are giving. But for the IRS, a legal dependent can be your child or anybody that you are providing aid financially.

A child or your spouse living in your home is the most common type of dependents that mostly everyone claims. Your elderly parents and if you have a child in college, they can still be considered as dependent. To claim a brother, sister, stepsister or any of your family relative as a dependent, he or she should only produce an income less than the standard personal exemption rate for that particular year. The IRS has provided 5 attributes to identify legal exemption of a claimed dependent. These are the following: support, citizenship, relationship, gross income and joint return. With regards to citizenship criteria, it requires that a dependent is a U.S. citizen, a legally adopted foreign child currently residing in the U.S., a local of the U.S. or resident of Mexico or Canada within the year.

Are YOU a Dependent?

Before you can claim a dependent, be sure that you are not claimed as a dependent by another person. Each qualified dependent can only be claimed by one taxpayer in that same year. To ensure that only one person has filed the person a dependent, no other relative should claim the child as a dependent. To fully qualify the kid, he should also be residing with the claimant for more than 6 months of the same year. Make sure that you support your claim with documents and keep those important files for future use.

After you have identified that the person is your qualified dependent, you should, at this time, be keeping significant receipts. It would be in your best interest to take note of any medical, daycare or even itemized expenses that was used or occurred for your dependent. It may seem complicated but the rules determined by the IRS are just very easy to follow.

Sean Harris is a tax blogger from Miami Florida. You can check out his blog irs-easy.com for more extensive information on doing your taxs yourself .