Call us today to get immediate releases of levy on your social security benefits. The IRS is not looking to levy on social security benefits, this is a last resort and usually happens because of a lack of communication between the taxpayer and the IRS. If IRS has levied your Social Security Benefit we can help you right now.
We are composed of Board Certified Tax Attorneys, CPA’s and Former IRS Agents, Managers and Instructors. We have over 205 years of professional tax experience and over 60 years of working directly for the IRS in the local, district and regional offices of the IRS.
We can easily negotiate a release of your Social Security Benefits and work out a tax settlement with the Internal Revenue Service.
The IRS Right to Levy On Social Security Benefits
Internal Revenue Code section 6331(h) allows the IRS to take (levy) up to 15% of your Social Security benefits to pay your overdue taxes. In some cases they can take 100% of the social security benefit.
The Levy Process on Social Security Benefits
Before any Tax Levy goes out the IRS always sends a series of tax notices and letters indicating that money is owed. The IRS generally sends a series of 4 notices to each taxpayer. If you receive these notices, first make sure you owe the tax.
If you do, you must respond to the IRS tax notice. Failure to do so will result in a tax levy on any income sources including Social Security Benefits.
You will always receive a Final Notice before a Levy on Social Security Benefits
Before IRS can actually levy your social security benefits the IRS must send you a final notice and a right to a hearing. This is your final chance to settle or resolve the matter before the Notice of Levy is issued on your social security benefits.
If you are going to ask for a Collection Due Process Hearing and appeal the tax notice, make sure you file for the hearing timely and send it by certified mail.
There are Two different types of Levies on Social Security Benefits.
There are two types of levies on social security benefits. The Automated and the Manual. There is a huge difference between them:
1. The Automated ASC Levy.
This tax levy is generated out of the IRS Automated Collection System Computer.
These notices are all systematically generated and untouched by human hands. These represent about 98% of all tax levies.
If you have not responded to the IRS Final Notice the IRS will check there CADE system and internal sources for income being received by the taxpayer. If the IRS finds you are receiving entitlements from social security, the IRS will forward a tax levy to the social security administration and continuously receive portions of your monthly benefit until you call the IRS and settle your case.
Pursuant to section 6331(h) of the Internal Revenue Code, the IRS can take 15% of a your social security benefit each month.
The automated social security levy is one of the most used IRS collection enforcement tools. It is simple and provides immediate results.
It also causes the most financial hardship to all taxpayers. In 2010, the Internal Revenue Service received $2.46 million in payments from automated levies on social security benefits. The IRS sent out over 3.8 million levies in tax year 2011.
2. The Manual Tax Levy.
This is normally a situation where a local Revenue Officer is assigned your case. By law, the Internal Revenue Service is not limited by IRC 6331(h) to taking only 15% of a your Social Security Benefits.
Under Internal Revenue Code section 6331(a). The IRS can and will issue a manual levy that can take all of the social security benefits.
3. Exemptions on a manual levy.
The IRS publishes a table for the amounts that can be claimed as tax exempt. A single taxpayer getting a monthly social security benefit can currently claim $779.17 as exempt from a manual levy. This means that the IRS, although it can make a manual levy, will only get amounts over $779.17. Social Security Benefits Eligible for the Federal Payment Levy Program
However, benefit payments, such as lump sum death benefits and benefits paid to children, are not included in the FPLP. Additionally, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, under Title XVI, and payments with partial withholding to repay a debt owed to Social Security are not levied through the FPLP.
Beginning February 2011, the FPLP may exclude certain delinquent taxpayers who receive social security payments if their income falls at or below certain established levels, based on the Department of Health and Human Services poverty guidelines.
