What Are My Rights As a Taxpayer?

In previous articles I have discussed new laws for tax liens and their removal.  Often the IRS is considered the enemy and since it is a government agency, you feel you are helpless and can’t fight them.  Tax season is over, but you can be contacted at any time of the year for an audit. What are other rights you have when dealing with the IRS?

• Fair and Impartial treatment
• Audit rights guaranteed by law – right to:  privacy and confidentiality,  professional and courteous service, representation, help from the Problem Resolution Office, and administrative and judicial review
• Problem Resolution Program set up to handle problems not resolved within a reasonable amount of time
• The Collection Appeals process allows certain collection actions, such as filing of liens or seizures, to be appealed either before or after the action occurs
• Before making a levy, IRS must notify taxpayer in writing 30 days prior
• Levied property can be returned, in certain cases
• Filed liens can be released, in certain cases
• Administrative appeal of liens is permitted based an erroneous filing
• Taxpayer is protected from being subject to unnecessary audits
• IRS must notify taxpayer when issuing summons a third party
• Taxpayer Assistance Orders can be authorized  if taxpayer is suffering or is about to suffer a significant hardship as a result of the manner in which the tax laws are being administered by IRS
• Reasonable administrative costs can be awarded to taxpayer and reasonable litigation costs when IRS advances unreasonable positions
• Civil action of damages for the following: disclosure of tax return and return information, failure to properly release lien, certain unauthorized collection actions

You have rights and if you have to deal with the IRS because of an audit, tax liens, past due taxes, or failure to file, you need to be aware of your rights.  In some cases you need to contact an attorney, accountant or advocate.

John Ulzheimer is the President of Consumer Education at SmartCredit.com, the credit blogger for Mint.com, and a Contributor for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling.  He is an expert on credit reporting, credit scoring and identity theft. Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry.  Follow him on Twitter here.

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This post was written by John Ulzheimer