San Antonio Tax Penalties
You may be subject to tax penalties if you fail to follow our tax laws or tax reporting requirements, if you do not make tax payments or deposits on time, or if you make a mistake on your tax returns.
Civil tax penalties can add to already mounting tax debt and trigger additional interest, and additional penalty assessments, and may result in the IRS or state tax authorities issuing a tax lien or levying on your accounts. Criminal tax penalties can even come with jail time and restitution.
When facing a tax penalty in San Antonio, taxpayers should consult an experienced San Antonio tax penalties attorney to see if the penalty can be abated or removed or if there are other options for reducing or mitigating the liability.
About Tax Penalties
These tax issues sometimes involve math or clerical errors. In other cases, they involve deliberate acts, such as not filing tax returns. It can also involve mistakes or oversights, such as being unaware of tax filing requirements.
The most common tax penalties are for failure to file, inability to pay, underpayment of tax, and inaccurate tax return filings.
We frequently work with the following civil tax penalties:
- Underpayment tax penalties and interest
- Failure to pay tax penalties and interest
- Tax fraud penalties
- Failure to file penalties
- Accuracy and negligence penalties
- Frivolous submission penalties
We also work with the following criminal tax penalties:
- Willful failure to file a return
- Tax evasion
- Willful failure to collect or pay tax
- Failure to obey summons
- Fraud and false statements
- Unauthorized disclosure of information
- Aiding and abetting the understatement of tax
Criminal tax penalties can involve fines and possible jail time. For instance, an individual may pay up to $100,000 and be imprisoned for up to five years if convicted of tax evasion. Also, the taxpayer may be ordered to pay court costs and restitution to the IRS.
If you have been assessed a tax penalty or have a question about tax penalties, we want to hear from you. Call to see how we can help.
Removing Tax Penalties
Most civil penalties can be removed or abated going forward by correcting the conduct that triggered past penalties.
The past penalties may be removed or abated based on having a good compliance history or by establishing reasonable cause. It is up to the taxpayer to seek out these remedies. The IRS typically does not offer them to the taxpayer on its own accord.
The IRS may abate or remove penalties if there is:
- Death or serious illness of the taxpayer or member of his/her immediate family. In the case of a corporation, estate, trust, etc., the death or serious illness must have been of an individual having sole authority to execute the return or make the deposit or payment or a member of such individual’s immediate family.
- In the case of the unavoidable absence of the taxpayer, a corporation, estate, trust, etc., the absence must have been of an individual having sole authority to execute the return or make the deposit or payment.
- Destruction by fire or other casualties of the taxpayer’s place of business or business records.
- The taxpayer was unable to determine the amount of deposit or tax due for reasons beyond the taxpayer’s control. However, this cause will be acceptable for taxpayers required to make deposits or payments of trust fund taxes only when the taxpayer was unable to have access to his/her own records.
- The facts indicate that the taxpayer’s ability to make deposits or payments has been materially impaired by civil disturbances.
- Lack of funds is an acceptable reasonable cause for failure to pay any tax or make a deposit under the Federal Tax Deposit System only when a taxpayer can demonstrate the lack of funds occurred despite the exercise of ordinary business care and prudence.
These are just examples. There are other circumstances that can warrant removing penalties that should be considered.
If you receive a notice from the IRS about a tax violation, clarification, or penalty assessment, contact an experienced San Antonio tax attorney to understand your choices. There may be options to reduce or waive the tax penalties in your tax case.
Mitchell Tax Law: The Preeminent San Antonio Penalty Attorney
Some taxpayers turn to tax relief companies that are staffed by master salesmen. These firms will often make promises or guarantees about being able to remove penalties. While it is true that penalties can be abated (as noted above), any promises or guarantees carry no weight. No one can predict if and how the IRS and/or courts will abate or remove penalties.
Your best bet to get penalties removed is to contact a reliable San Antonio tax attorney that you are comfortable working with. They can analyze your facts in light of the law and administrative procedures for the penalty in question.
Our San Antonio IRS tax attorneys have a successful track record in getting IRS and some state tax penalties removed or abated.
Abatement of IRS Penalties and Interest
The Internal Revenue Service adds insult to injury by piling on stiff penalties and interest when taxpayers are unable to pay — or dispute — the underlying tax debt. Our tax attorneys work on all fronts to (a) halt the accrual of interest, (b) rescind tax penalties and (c) challenge the original tax obligation.
Reducing or Eliminating Penalty and Interest
We have practiced in the field of tax law for over 20 years. Our attorneys hold advanced degrees (LL.M.) in Taxation. They have also worked for the IRS. Our in-depth knowledge of the Internal Revenue Service enables us to aggressively challenge IRS penalties:
- Failure to file
- Late payment
- Understatement of income tax
- Understatement of estate and gift taxes
- Overvaluations
- Tax fraud
- Trust fund recovery penalty (individual liability for the failure of the company to pay employment taxes)
Penalties range depending on the IRS infraction, and interest accrues from the date the tax was due. It is not uncommon for penalties and interest to compound to more than the underlying tax owed. Unpaid, it can lead to liens and seizure of assets, wage garnishment, or levies on your bank account.
Our tax attorneys exhaust every means to clear these surcharges. This often includes fighting penalties in appeals and in court, to prove that the late filing or underpayment was an honest error and that the IRS improperly applied the penalty.
Contact us today to get the IRS to back off while you resolve your tax penalties.
Fighting IRS Penalties and Buying You Time
Our firm represents both individuals and small businesses in San Antonio, and we have helped many clients statewide and throughout the United States.
Call our experienced tax lawyers today.