June 4th, 2020
IRS Grants Further Relief – Extends People First Initiative
Posted in: Tax Law Tagged: Coronavirus, Jeremy M. Vaida
Author: Jeremy M. Vaida
In light of continued economic hardship facing Americans, the IRS has extended its People’s First Initiative, effectively granting continued tax collection relief beyond the previously identified July 15th deadline.
Key benefits to the People’s First Initiative include:
- Offers in Compromise
- Continued processing of Offer in Compromise applications.
- In certain circumstances, suspension of Offer in Compromise periodic payments.
- Installment Agreements
- Continued processing of requests for Installment Agreement.
- In certain circumstances, suspension of payments under current Installment Agreements.
- Collection Activity
- In certain circumstances, withdrawal of continuous wage levies.
- Continued processing of requests for lien withdrawal.
- Suspension of automatic levies.
- Suspension of lien filing.
- Suspension of transmittal of cases to private debt collectors.
- Suspension of action seeking to stop taxpayers from obtaining or renewing their passport.
- Audits
- Suspension of face-to-face audits.
- In certain circumstances, suspending or otherwise limiting the scope of audits currently in process.
Generally speaking, the above relief is not automatic and requires affirmative action on the part of the taxpayer. Given the IRS’s more lenient stance at present, and with more IRS offices continuing to open, now is the perfect time to pursue a tax collection alternative and get your delinquent tax liabilities under control. If interested, please contact our Tax Department.
You can find more on issues affecting businesses and individuals in our COVID-19 Resource Center.