michaeljames2k[at]hotmail.com (MichaelJ) writes:

- quote -

Yes and no. The lien expires 10 years after the date of
assessment unless it's been extended. An OIC is one way of
extending the statute, but it's not the only one.

Frankly, I don't think your CPA knows what he's doing. I
think you'd be better off with an Enrolled Agent experienced
in dealing with delinquent returns. There's a searchable
database at www.naea.org.

Phil Marti
Topeka, KS

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->

My father owned a house for about 20 years, until he passed
away in Dec of 2002. He had 2 federal tax liens on the
house, one which was filed in Dec of 1994, the other a few
years later. The first lien is the largest, about $30k, the
2nd only $1k. I moved into the house for a little while,
then moved out and decided to sell. We found a buyer fairly
quickly.

In the meantime, I hired a CPA to work with the IRS. We
decided not to file an official Offer in Compromise, as that
would take 6 months to a year. But now at this point, the
only thing my CPA has received from the IRS is a letter
stating the total amount of the liens, including penalties
($80k). He sent a letter in return asking that penalties be
abated, but it is my understanding this is not an 'official'
OIC. He has spoken to an IRS agent just last week, and they
have no record of anyone from the IRS working on this case,
and that the status of the account is currently
"UNCOLLECTIBLE".

It is my understanding that tax liens expire after 10 years,
unless there has been an Offer In Compromise. Is this true?
Would it be worth it to ask the buyer of my father's house
to allow me out of the contract (I'm thinking they will,
even if I have to offer them a payoff of some type), and
then wait until after December of this year and see if the
1st lien has been lifted?

Or has the fact that my CPA contacted the IRS about this
matter and mailed them a letter asking for some penalty
abatement extended the lien beyond Dec of 2004?

<< -------------------------------------------------> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org > << ------------------------------------------------->