Show how the levy-seizure would prevent you from working:
If the items they have or are threatening to seize are used to create income this should be a no brainier. For example, if the IRS is threatening to levy your car you cannot get you to and from your job. What if you are a paid computer geek and they seize your laptop – same results you make no money. In fact, if you work at it you should be able to demonstrate almost any seizure will have a negative affect on your ability to earn and thus pay them back. Be Sure To Notify the Collection Agent of this Fact: Normally assets that create income are exempt from the levy process, but IRS agents do not always think clearly and may need some help. As an example, we had a client who owned a comic book store and the IRS was threatening to seize his entire inventory. I asked the agent what he intended to do with 15,000 comic books and he said he stated they were headed for auction. I helped him understand how that would ultimately play out. First, the IRS rents a truck and hires some movers. Next, they pay the local Sheriff to come along with to enforce the forced confiscation of the books. After that, the comic books are transported, unloaded and placed in a storage facility. The IRS pays for all of this up-front. Now they have a number of steps in the legal process before the comic books can be cleared for auction. The process thus far takes about a year and will cost the IRS about $7,500. I asked the agent to tell me how much experience he or anyone at the IRS had in selling comic books; of course, the answer was none. I queried what he expected the auction price to be on the books relative to retail. He said he hoped for five cents on the dollar. I exclaimed to him that not only would the seizure put our client in the unemployment line along with his two employees, but that the IRS would not even come close to breaking even. When he saw that the seizure would probably cost the IRS about $3,500 at the end of the day, he changed his mind. We put the client on a reasonable payment plan and everybody won. |