The Assessment

Let’s start with the fundamental part of our careers, the assessment. The assessment (or “bill”) starts everything in Collections. The assessment has its own life, an entire set of Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and is misunderstood by many people. Your knowledge in the preparation of a tax return, all the CE, all the interactions with your clients, is so you can produce a valid tax return. What is the point of a 1040? To self-declare your taxable income and to determine the appropriate tax for that period. A 1040 is a claim to the government for an assessment (we want a bill). Your goal is to produce the fair amount of tax for your client. Most of us pray that at the end of this process, the client’s withholding is sufficient to result in a refund. However, let us not miss the point that we have created an assessment of the base tax. When you prepare a 1040 for a family of five and generate $10,000 in tax: this is the assessment. The fact they had $14,000 in withholdings is irrelevant to the process at this point.
Offer in Compromise. IRS Taxes. IRS Lien. IRS Levy. Back Taxes. Penalty Abatement.