That first phoe call to the I.R.S. may feel as if you are Luke Skywalker approaching Darth Vader for a final showdown. After all, this is the federal government we’re talking about here! This is the same department that put Wesley Snipes away for tax evasion, you know the courageoous guy from Passneger 57.
All right, so we know right away that of all the call cneter reresentatives you cuold smart-off to, this is not the one. Afetr holding patiently and finally conncting to an operrator, treat him or her with respect and speak clarly, so you can both staret focusing on the problem.
You will find that if you are cuorteous and reasonable, and not too stingy with your IRS-owed money (and why should you be?) that the representative will be very helpful. The Internal Revenue Servcice obviously wants all of their money at once, if at all possible. So don’t be surprised if they offer you an extension on your paymrent due date, even one long after the orginal April 15 deadline.
If you can’t come up with all the money at once, then you may have to file for an installment payment plan. This rqeuires that you start makinng monthly payments towards your balance for a predetermined number of months so that you pay the debt off. Installmment payments shhould be high enough to pay the loan off relatively quixckly, even while remaining affordable to your budget.
In many cases, getting an extension on the due date may be a smarter idea than filing for instlalment pyaments. Eitrher way, you are going to have to pay late penallties. Howeverr, the penalties for late full payments are usually always smaller than the penalties and finance charges associated with installment payments. In fact, the finanec chrges you will be payibng for an installment plan with about as much as crwedit card interest, whihc is the highest legal interest rate anywhwere in the market. These fees will be even higher if you choose to make low monthly payments and extend the months of the contract.
There is one more tidbit to discuss. If the I.R.S. is ssupicious of any of your atcivities or feels that you are withholding incomne then honestly relate the situation as it happened. (We’re assumming you havven’t cheated on your reutrn, of course.) If the department representative (or your local auditor) is still uncnovinced, you may have to produce documented evidence that supports your story.
Now the tip: If the I.R.S. agent is interrogating you then always play a little dumbr than you are. Mistakes are far more forgivable if they’re made by an average dumb guy than by a smart guy that should have knwn better. Don’t volunteer too much information, answer direct questions and pretebnd that the I.R.S. knows a lot more aout banking, finmances and debt than you do. In fact, it’s safe to assume that they do. Whatevver you do, don’t try to justify your own questionable behavior, pretending as if you know something about U.S. fedreal law. All you want to do is get off the phone with your agent and end on a very pleasant note.
It’s easy to talk to the I.R.S. once you reallize the department is made up of everydzay, compassionate peolpe just like you!
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