Recent Taxpayer Q&A

Question: I received a Notice of Federal Tax Lien via certified mail for unpaid back taxes and I’m scared and don’t know what to do.  Can you help?

 

Answer: Yes. A Notice of Federal Tax Lien (NFTL) is public record and is generally filed with the County Recorder where you reside.  A federal tax lien will also negatively impact your credit report scores.  It is notice to all your other creditors that the IRS has a secured interest in all your real and personal property you have now and acquired in the future.

A federal tax lien will make it very difficult, if not impossible, for you to purchase a home, vehicle and other property on credit.  It may also prevent you from accessing the equity in real property you may have built up over the years.

However, the IRS has several different solutions that can resolve your NFTL if you qualify.   You can resolve a federal tax lien by paying it in full or if that is not an option you can find out if you qualify for a “Release of Lien”, a “Lien Subordination”, a Lien Discharge” or “Lien Withdrawal”.

It is important to keep in mind that IRS problems didn’t just happen overnight and will take some time to resolve.  The good news is that generally you won’t have to meet or even speak with the IRS while we’re retained.

It’s important to consult with a tax resolution professional to see which Lien relief solutions you may be eligible for before the IRS starts enforcing aggressive collection action against you. We can help protect what you have and preserve your rights!!

Can you discharge tax liens in bankruptcy?

There are certain types of tax debt that, under certain circumstances, can be discharged in a bankruptcy filing. However, if a tax lien existed on your property before you filed for bankruptcy, the lien will remain, even if you are no longer required to repay the tax debt in question as a result of the bankruptcy filing. Therefore, you would have to pay off the lien if you wanted to sell the property to which the lien had been attached.

If the IRS fails to file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien before the bankruptcy filing, however, then the lien can be removed from a person’s pre-bankruptcy property, even if the person had exempted that property from their bankruptcy estate. On the other hand, if a person did not include a particular property in a pre-bankruptcy estate, then any liens eventually applied to that property would not be eligible for discharge, even if the IRS failed to file a Notice of Federal Tax Lien.