If I cannot pay the taxes I owe, what is my best course of action?
345782
get an extension, and spend that time thinking about how to arrange the money to pay your taxes, or perhaps consult an accountant or someone to help you with your problem.  I think they will give you better advice than myself.
750204
OK, a couple of things you should do:\n\nFirst, next time they call, tell them explicitly NOT TO CALL YOU AGAIN.  By law if you tell them that, they cannot call you any more, they can only deal with you through the mail.  In writing there can be no he-said-she-said.\n\nSecond, forget the collection agency.  You are under no obligation whatsoever to pay them ANYTHING.  Call the company you have the original debt with, and set up repayment with them.  IGNORE the collection agency.  If they call, hang up on them.  I repeat:  you are under no obligation of any kind to pay them anything, your debt is with the company you owe, NOT the collection agency.  Deal only with the company you owe the debt to.\n\nFinally, find out where the collection agency is located, and report them to the local better business bureau and local Federal Trade Commission office.  In writing.\n\nThen pay your debt off *with the company you owe it to* and be done with it.
644752
I assume you are saying you didn't pay your estimated quarterly taxes for last year (if not, ignore this eMail).  I'd suggest figuring out what you should have paid, and paying it ASAP. You send in the payment with an extension request (you can extend your 2005 return until October 15th, but you still have to pay what you estimate you will owe when you request the extension).  Extend immediately since the extension request should have been received by 4/15.\n\nThe penalty is about 10%, the interest is about 8%.  The IRS will happily figure out this penalty and interest and tell you the extra you need to pay.\n\nOf course if you owe state taxes and didn't pay those either you better do the same for your state, and the state will also tell you the extra you need to pay.
8495
Dealing with the bank is your best choice. You can usually ask for a Forbearance, if you have sufficient income to continue making payments. Ask for the Workout Department, and tell them you are willing to work something out. They may put the past-due payments at the end of the loan, or allow you to pay a little more each month to catch up the past due payments. Depending how far behind you are, this may be your solution. If you still have problems, there are other options you can explore.
21493
You can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 (that's 800-TAX-1040, an easy way to remember the number). You can ask the IRS agent if there are any "debt indicators" on your account. A debt indicator is a sign that some or all your your tax refund will be offset to pay an outstanding debt.\n\nYou can also call the Treasury Department's Financial Management Service. This is the agency that issues the offsets and applies the tax refund money to pay other debts. Their number is 1-800-304-3107.\n\nAll the best,\n\nWilliam Perez\ntaxes.about.com
546913
You better talk to a tax person.  If you've filed already, and took the deduction, then you'll have to amend.  But if you went to file and realized your mistake, they can help you back out your money.
379956
You can go to jail for income tax evasion. Even if the government owes you money. If you knowingly did not file your taxes for the year 2004, you can be charged. If you owe money, you will pay that and penalities and intrest on what you owe. You need to contact a tax lawyer or just file anyway and get it over with.
52079
You should be getting a letter from the IRS about where the money went. That is standard practice. If not, the obvious one would be an outstanding Student Loan. They will take your money if you have not paid them. Have you done your research? Call the IRS and ask.
416154
the irs will make a payment arrangement and charge you interest. if the taxes are more than 3 years old, you may be able to file bankruptcy and have them discharged as well as your other debts.
772621
It is risky not to file.  When you don't file, the IRS sometimes does your tax return for you assuming the worst case conditions.  They may send you a bill for tax you owe based on bad assumptions.  It may turn out that you really deserve a refund, but because the IRS did the return for you, you may end up owing.\n\nRegardless, if you are due a refund and don't file within 3 years, you will never get the refund.  If you owe money and don't file within 3 years, you STILL owe the money plus penalties.  If you file late, but within the 3 years AND you are getting a refund, you will NOT have to pay any penalties.  If you file late and owe money, you will have penalties thrown in as well.\n\nOne last thing, sometimes when you go for a loan, they need to see your tax returns to see if you have income to support the loan.\n\nI can't think of a good reason to EVER not file a return.  Why get on the bad side of the government for no reason.  You may be forgoing a refund.  A lot of people don't file because they owe child support or something.  This is a bad reason not to file.  Why?  Even if your entire refund goes to pay child support, at least you will owe that much less child support.  The amount paid is credited to you.  If you don't file, you get NO credit and NO refund.  You loose both ways.  Plus, you make the IRS mad.\n\nAn other reason people don't file is because they will owe.  This is another bad reason not to file.  Even if you owe, at least file the return even if you don't send in any money with the return.  The fact that you filed will lessen the impact of the penalties.  Besides, if the IRS does your return for you, they may do it in such a way that you will owe more than you really do.\n\nPlease do your tax return each year.
122543
Go back to your tax preparer they can do an ammendment...it may take longer to get your taxes back, but it is worth it in the long run
1049844
If you are in the USA, go to the IRS.  They want your money, not you in jail.  Usually not paying your taxes and contacting them, gets you additional penalties, not jail time.  I have know a number of people who did not pay their taxes for a few years and the IRS worked out a payment plan for them, just like any other creditor.\n\nGetting a tax attorney could be a good idea, if you have something to fight about.  Like you disagreed with your taxes or you were contesting a claim, deduction or ruling, but they are costly.  \n\nA CPA can help you fill out the forms, but they also charge and the IRS will help you fill out the forms also.\n\nIf you really DO NOT want to contact the IRS directly, then there is the option of The National Association of Enrolled Agents.   Its 11,000 members are licensed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to represent taxpayers before all administrative levels of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), including examination, collection and appeals functions.
770913
Have you contacted the company?  That would be the first and most obvious step.  You may be mistaken about being owed money or the company may not be legally obligated to pay it to you at this point in time.
606726
You don't go to jail for owing taxes.  You can go to jail for committing fraud, such as filing false returns, and for evading taxes.  \n\nIf you owe a lot you can make payment arrangements, something called an offer in compromise (which is too technical to discuss here involving your inability to pay)or the IRS can seize your property and/or bank accounts.
173236
File an Installment Agreement (Form 9465) with the IRS.  As long as you're trying to hold up your end, they will work with you.  If you don't do anything, they can squeeze you like a turnip.
285862
Your financial institution (stockbroker, for example) is required to report those transactions to the IRS. There is a bit of processing time involved, but the IRS would probably find out you failed to report income within two or three years (probably faster nowadays--I can only hope they've upgraded their computer system since I worked there). \n\nYou would receive a long letter from the IRS when the paperwork caught up. Your consequences could include some combination of negative credit reports, interest charges, failure to pay penalty, jail time, and seizure of your property, depending upon the amount of taxes you owe and how quickly and politely you cooperate and pay up. \n\nThey don't have to do it often, but I understand IRS raids are considered the best-run raids in federal law enforcement.
757961
If you get a piece of paper in the mail issuing you a court date...you better go to court, otherwise they can arrest you for failure to appear.  If you owe the money, it's best to try and just pay it...we all hate doing it, but it's the right thing to do.