Tax Matters - The Top Tax Defenders Blog

Receiving mail from the Internal Revenue Service is enough to make anyone’s knees quiver. It almost always means you owe more money to Uncle Sam for one reason or another. In the case of a Notice of Deficiency, formally known as CP3219A, it means that the information you provided with a tax return does not match up with the information a third party sent, like a bank for an employer.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2019 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

If you somehow missed all the clues that Tax Day is April 15 (every year), or all the specials from tax preparers running up to this year’s Tax Day, you may be wondering what to do now.

The IRS gives taxpayers until April 15 to file and pay their federal income taxes. People who cannot make this deadline to file can request an extension until October 15 by filling out and submitting IRS Form 4868. This extension will grant taxpayers extra time to file their returns. They must pay their estimated amount of taxes by the April 15 deadline, however.

The IRS utilizes a number of collection activities to recoup debts that taxpayers owe to it. Among them, tax levies are many times the most difficult with which to cope.

Creditors generally have a variety of options to collect on debts owed to them. Among them, wage garnishment is one that is used the most often to get money from debtors.

As an employer, you are required to follow precise state and federal laws when paying your employees. Along with paying them what they have earned, you also must withhold amounts from their paychecks whenever your employees are garnished. You can comply with a garnishment order fully by understanding what it is and under what circumstances the state or federal government requires you to withhold money from your employees' earnings. 

The IRS uses a variety of collection activities to collect what taxpayers owe to the government. Among these tactics, a federal tax lien can be among the most difficult with which to cope. 

When you owe money to a creditor, that person or company has the right to pursue the debt through a variety of methods. It can send you letters or make phone calls to your home to demand payment on the account. It can also ask a judge to have your wages or salary garnished until the debt is paid in full. 

The IRS can utilize a number of different methods to collect on a tax debt that you owe. Among them, wage garnishment is one of the most common. You may be able to avoid an IRS wage garnishment by learning under what circumstances it is used and how it could possibly be released if you owe a debt to the IRS. 

The IRS expects you to file and pay your taxes on time each year. When you fail to submit a return, you put yourself at risk of IRS collection activities that could result in financial hardships for you and your family.