The
IRS Ambush!
Most
people are surprised when the IRS comes knocking at
the door. Typically, the Revenue Officer starts asking
questions
and demands to enter the house. That is where the taxpayer
makes
crucial errors. The most important thing that the
taxpayer can
do is to stop the Revenue Officer and state the taxpayer is represented
by a tax professional. Get a business card or write
down the
name, address, and telephone number of the Revenue Officer.
Do not
say anything other than, "my tax consultant will call you."
Say
Nothing!
The
Revenue Officer is trained to trick taxpayers into making
damaging admissions which could hurt them in a later criminal
trial.
For example, one trick question is to ask a
delinquent taxpayer,
"didn't you know you had to file a return?". Or, "why
didn't you
file your tax return?". If the taxpayer answers the
question
it is an admission of knowledge that the return should be
filed.
That admission has sent many unsuspecting citizens to jail.
Warn
Your Family
Another
method that Revenue Officers use is to quickly get
information from an unsuspecting spouse or family member. For
example,
the Revenue Officer may ask a spouse where the taxpayer
works. The
Revenue Officer would then immediately prepare a wage
execution to
take most of the taxpayers income before it is paid by the
employer.
The Revenue Officer may also ask for banking information. If
the
unsuspecting spouse or family member reveals the name of the bank, the
Revenue Officer then levies against the account,
wiping out all
of the funds.
You
Need a Tax Lawyer
The
only intelligent way of handling the IRS is to not say
anything. Any conversations with the government should be
with your
attorney present. In fact, many times it
is better to have
your tax attorney exclusively talk with the IRS to prevent
possibly
damaging admissions.