A tax lien is the government's right to seize a property when taxes on it are not paid on time. It is placed on a property to encourage the tax payer in paying the taxes. But if tax lien has been placed over you property, it makes some serious impact on your credit standing and make sale of property almost impossible. Now let us see the methods to avoid debilitating circumstances invited by imposing of tax lien on your property.
The first and foremost thing that you can do is waiting till the tax lien expires. Such a lien remains enforceable for a particular span of time, unless renewed within that time period. But if the period smoothly passes away without any renewal of, then it has been removed probably. This is not a very good option as you will have to live with a constant fear that the lien can be revived at any time before it expires. Besides this if you donor pay the taxes to remove the tax lien, it will show in your credit report.
The best method is to pay the taxes to remove the tax lien. If you pay it, it will be removed within 30 days. It will also not show in your credit report. Once the lien is removed on payment of the taxes you will receive a certificate as a proof of it.
Paying back the massive taxes, well sometimes it is easier said than done. So there is one more tax lien help. You can ask for a repayment deal. In such deals there is mutual agreement between either party about paying the taxes over a period of time. Some times an IRS tax lien expires without causing any trouble to you. This is because the IRS incurs some expenditure to get hold of the taxes that it owes. So if the expenditures are too high to make the collection of taxes worth it, then they might let it go. But even after the tax lien expires your credit report does show it. So repaying it will remove the blemish of lien from your report.
Another option you have in your hands is the offer of compromise. Here you offer to pay a sum that is lower than the tax amount. If IRS agrees upon it then they will remove the tax lien. If the amount you offer is reasonable and it is approved by the IRS, then it is better way of extricating yourself from the trappings of taxation than paying it over extended period of time. Hire the services of an expert in tax lien to calculate the amount to be offered.
You can also sell your property to acquire enough finances in order to pay your taxes. To do this you will need to remove the tax lien for that period of time when you are carrying out the sale. You will require the help of tax relief professionals to proceed with this.
Michal is the author of this article on Tax lien.
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