In face of tighter enforcement measures that the IRS is expected to use to strengthen its tax collection and monitoring policies, tax problems have become, if possibly, more stressful to deal with. Among truck drivers, in particular, the need to immediately address tax problems is more pressing than it has been in previous years. However, given the present economic climate, dealing with tax problems can prove hard for truckers, truck drivers. This is where tax relief for truck drivers plays an integral role. The IRS provides tax relief for truckers, provided that they certain law mandated qualifications and criteria.
Available relief for drivers
Truck drivers have at their disposal the same kind of tax relief available to all citizens of the United States. The first of these relief services is back tax return assistance. Back taxes are taxes accumulated from years of unfiled returns, delayed filings, or missing records. If left unattended, back taxes can cause major problems for a truck driver because he or she is likely to be considered evading his or her responsibilities. If you have a good amount of unfiled returns in your hands, you can set your record straight through services offering tax relief for truckers. Our firm, Mike Habib, EA, offer such service basically helps our clients to reconstruct tax records and prepare past due tax returns.
Another tax relief for truck drivers is installment agreement, which can be especially helpful for truckers with excessive tax debts. This type of tax relief service would allow a truck driver who is indebted with the IRS to pay his or her owed taxes through small installment payments. The amount to be paid for each installment and the repayment schedule would be based on the truck driver’s current financial status. This setup, along with the amount and schedule, can be negotiated with the IRS given that the truck driver meets certain qualifications. If you are yet unfamiliar with this kind of tax relief for truck drivers, you can retain our tax professional services to help you explore it.
Truck drivers also have the option to get relief through offer in compromise or OIC. This is perhaps, the best kind of tax relief for truckers since it would allow them to pay less than what they actually owe the IRS in tax debt and back taxes. On the same note, OIC comes with the strictest qualifications, rules, and guidelines to ensure that only qualified truck drivers and tax payers in general are able to avail of it.
Related to offer in compromise is a tax problem resolution called penalty abatement. This is actually a step above OIC in that it opens the possibility of eliminating penalties on the tax debt if the taxpayer is able to present reasonable and justifiable cause explaining why he or she accumulated the tax debt in the first place. Some examples of reasonable and justifiable cause accepted by the IRS are family sickness, natural disasters, and other situations that are beyond a person’s control.
Regardless of the type of relief for truckers that you can avail of, what is important is that you try and avail of one. Tax problems are hard burdens to live with. They are among the many number of things that you cannot live normally with. By seeking tax relief, you free yourself of tons of headache and worries. More importantly, you would no longer fear the IRS tax letters coming in, the phone ringing, or the doorbell ringing.
Knowing the right one
Before you seek tax help for truck drivers, however, you must know what kind to of option is best suited for your situation. This is because every kind of financial situation requires a different approach in the same way that each kind of tax relief approach comes with requires different qualifications. It is best to present your case to a tax professional so he or she can advice you on which tax relief is most suitable to your position.
Mike Habib is an IRS licensed Enrolled Agent who concentrates his tax practice on helping individuals and businesses solve their IRS tax problems. Mike has over 16 years experience in taxation and financial advisory to individuals, small businesses and fortune 500 companies.