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The IRS Wage and Investment Division

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About the IRS Wage and Investment Division

The IRS Wage and Investment Division handles roughly ninety million tax returns for individual and married taxpayers. The IRS Wage and Investment Division primarily works with taxpayers that fall under a particular tax profile. Taxpayers that receive W-2 wages, who are employees, and who pay their taxes through withholdings generally fall within the profile that the IRS Wage and Investment Division is responsible for helping. Most taxpayers who contact this division do not do so more than once a year. Finally, many taxpayers associated with the IRS Wage and Investment Division will receive a refund as a result of excess withholdings. The IRS collects third party information from these taxpayers in the form of W2s filed by their employers and information taken from banks, brokerage houses, and other third parties.

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The Current IRS Organization

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The IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998 triggered a comprehensive reorganization of the IRS, which modernized the Service and made it closer to being run like a private sector organization. As such, the IRS organization is led by the Commissioner serving as the chief official, the Chief of Staff and the Deputy Chief of Staff in the executive leadership roles below, and a number of “specialized IRS units” that serve different functions. [1] Staff members from each of these multiple units report to the Commissioner within the IRS Organization. Here is a list of the specialized units within the IRS Organization that report directly to the Commissioner. [2]

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Tax Lawyers: Selecting Representation – Part One

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Choosing a professional representative is an important decision when dealing with a tax or other legal matter. Usually when you bring in a tax lawyer to handle your matter, you are dealing with an issue that is fairly serious. As such, it is important that you choose a tax lawyer that you feel comfortable with and that you trust with your personal financial information. Although naturally I would recommend myself for any tax matter listed on this website, I wanted to provide some helpful things to think about when choosing from the many tax lawyers that practice in your jurisdiction. Following these helpful hints will ensure that you pick a good one.

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IRS Tax Lien Release – Part One – Avoiding a Lien

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Introduction to IRS Tax Lien Release

One of the biggest debates in the tax practitioner community is the efficacy of IRS tax liens. On one hand, IRS tax liens help the government protect its interest in a taxpayer’s property and secure the underlying tax obligation with real or tangible personal property. On the other hand, liens damage a taxpayer’s credit, place an obstacle in the way of the taxpayer selling that property or borrowing against it in order to pay off their liability, and generally do nothing to satisfy the immediate concern of the IRS. Furthermore, it is extremely difficult to get a lien release and liens are a noted hassle to dispose of once they have been filed against a taxpayer. However, there are a number of things that the taxpayer can do if they are affected by a federal tax lien in order to secure a lien release or achieve some other workable solution that allows them to make progress on the account. After all, the IRS is simply seeking a workable resolution to the problem.

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Tax Payment Plan Criteria: How to Get Approved

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Introduction to Tax Payment Plans

When an individual cannot pay the full balance owed to the IRS, one of the most common solutions is to get that taxpayer set up on a tax payment plan. However, payment plans are not a matter of right, and taxpayers must meet several requirements in order to get their tax payment plan approved. It is important that to be aware of these criteria, as making sure you have met all of the requirements in advance will help expedite the approval of your IRS payment plan.

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The BLT Mindset: Where’s the Bacon? (Or Why Lawyers Should Go to B-School)

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Let me tell you a quick story. When I was a second year law student, I had an idea about how to provide the perfect tax return by combining the expertise of a CPA and a lawyer to tackle the preparation process. I had my million-dollar idea! So I sat on my couch with my laptop and said, “Ok, time to make this work.” And then I came to the realization that I did not know the first thing about what it took to run a business or where to start. And then I came to another realization that, if I did not know the first thing about running a business, what made me qualified to give people legal and tax advice about how to run their business. I could not answer that, so I went to business school.

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