Orlando Penalty Abatement Attorney

Orlando Penalty Abatement Lawyer

Many unexpected and stressful life circumstances can impact your finances and plans, which can make you late on tax payments. This can be an additional stressor in your life, especially if you have a hard time paying the penalty and its interest. It’s important not to ignore this issue, however, and to speak with an Orlando penalty abatement attorney soon. An attorney can determine if you qualify for penalty abatement or other forms of tax debt relief.

Tax Smith Tax Attorneys: Your Orlando Penalty Abatement Attorneys

For decades, the team at Tax Smith Tax Attorneys has helped individuals and businesses navigate tax debt with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). We know how much stress tax penalties and tax debt can have on you and that the methods to solve tax debt can often be complicated and overwhelming. We help you understand your options for resolving tax debt, and determine what the ideal route for your situation is.

How Penalty Abatement Works

If you have failed to file tax returns, this means you owe back taxes to the IRS. When you do not file, you file late, you make information errors, or other errors, the IRS also assesses a penalty. If you do not address your back taxes, your penalties, or both, they will accrue interest over time. The longer you ignore tax issues, the more you will owe.

The most effective way to avoid this is to pay back all necessary back taxes, penalties, and interest. Unfortunately, this is not possible for everyone. If the penalty was assessed for something outside of your control, you may be able to apply for penalty abatement. This allows you to have penalties fully or partially cleared, and you can then address only the back taxes you owe.

Penalty abatement is available when you have a reasonable cause for the error that caused the penalty and only applies to specific penalties. This reasonable cause could apply to one or more tax years, depending on your unique circumstances. Some of the tax penalties that may qualify for penalty abatement include:

• Failure to file tax returns on time.
• Failure to file.
• Underpayment of the amount listed on the tax return.
• Failure to deposit.
• Payment with a dishonored check.
• Filing an inaccurate tax return.

Ignoring a tax penalty will not get rid of the problem. Many of these penalties will grow as time passes, increasing the severity of your tax debt.

Reasonable Cause for Penalty Abatement

Every tax debt case is unique, and the IRS will decide if something is a reasonable cause depending on the penalty assessed, the laws for that penalty, and a taxpayer’s circumstances. A failure to file or filing late penalty may have a reasonable cause of illness or disaster that prevented you from filing on time, while penalties for late or inaccurate information returns may have a cause of being a first-time filer of that type of form. Reasonable causes may include:

• Unavoidable absence, such as rehabilitation or imprisonment.
• Personal incapacitation or illness.
• Death or severe illness of a close family member or loved one.
• Inability to secure records outside of your control.
• Natural or civil disaster.
• Inaccurate information from the IRS.
• Inaccurate aid from a tax professional.

Penalty abatement may also be allowed if you have good standing with the IRS and it is your first penalty assessment. This first-time waiver could be available if you missed a tax filing due to unexpected circumstances.

How Does a Penalty Abatement Attorney Help Me?

In order to request a penalty abatement, you send in a letter covering the specifics of your situation. An attorney can help you write this statement and ensure all the relevant information is in it. It can be hard to convey the circumstances you are in, especially if you have lost a loved one or suffered another difficult loss. An attorney can make the process easier and more efficient and may increase the chances of being approved for a penalty abatement.

FAQs

Q: What Is a Reasonable Cause for Penalty Abatement in Florida?

A: Reasonable cause for penalty abatement in Florida with the IRS may include:

• You suffered a severe illness or other incapacitation.
• There was a fire, other natural disaster, or civil disturbance.
• You were unable to secure the necessary records.
• You lost a close loved one.
• You received inaccurate information or advice from a tax professional or the IRS.
• You were absent and could not avoid this absence, such as imprisonment or rehabilitation.

The exact reasonable cause will rely on your unique situation and the type of penalty you accrued.

Q: When Should a Taxpayer Request a Penalty Abatement?

A: A taxpayer in Orlando should request a penalty abatement when there was a reasonable cause for the error leading to the penalty, and the penalty is one that is possible to abate. If you have a good history with the IRS on filing your taxes, this also helps. Some penalties that are available for abatement include:

• Failure to file returns on time.
• Paying with a dishonored check.
• Underpayment of required tax written on tax returns.
• Failure to deposit on time.

Q: Does the IRS Forgive Honest Mistakes?

A: The IRS may forgive honest mistakes in situations where it is clear the action was not intentional and you made efforts to correct or avoid the mistake. However, you must prove that you acted reasonably and unintentionally when requesting penalty abatement. Otherwise, you could easily face penalties for honest mistakes, such as failure to file penalties, accuracy penalties, or information return penalties.

In severe cases, you could even face criminal consequences if the IRS believes your actions were intentionally avoiding your tax payments.

Q: Can You Negotiate With the IRS to Remove Penalties and Interest?

A: Yes, you may be able to negotiate with the IRS to remove penalties and interest, although approval will rely on your unique case and circumstances. Negotiations are typically much easier with a professional like a tax attorney.

Penalty abatement may be possible in certain circumstances, such as if you had a reasonable cause that prevented you from filing on time or a complex tax issue that resulted in accuracy errors. An attorney can also help determine other options for settling your tax debt.

Working With Skilled Orlando Tax Attorneys

There are many potential ways to mitigate or eliminate the tax debt you face. The team at Tax Smith Tax Attorneys wants to help. Contact us today.