Posts Tagged ‘Can’t’
What to do if You Can’t Pay Your Income Tax

In the UK employees pay their tax liability through the Pay As You Go (“PAYE”) scheme. Under the PAYE scheme the employee will suffer income tax at source, i.e. the employer takes it off the employee’s gross salary and pays it over to HM Revenue & Customs. Whilst many employees dislike the PAYE scheme, this arrangement is actually very good since an employee who has no other sources of income will never be in the position where it is not doable to settle its individualized tax liability.
Those individuals who are registered under the self-assessment pay their tax liabilities in a completely different way to employees, and these individuals might find themselves in the situation when they do not have the funds acquirable to settle their tax liability. So what do you do if you find you do not have the funds to pay your tax liability?
Many people stick their head in the sand and are of the view that if they ignore it the problem will go away. In reality, this is not the case and a representative of HM Revenue & Customs will continue to chase for the outstanding monies. The debt will not be written off and thinking it will, is very naive.
Once you have identified the funds are not acquirable to settle your tax bill it is ideal to inform HM Revenue & Customs as soon as possible, and preferably before the tax becomes due for payment. As soon as the payment deadline is missed interest starts to accrue. The interest is calculated on the amount of tax outstanding at the due date, therefore the higher the tax bill the higher the interest charge is.
Contrary to favourite belief, HM Revenue & Customs are co-operative to those tax payers that do not have the funds to settle the tax bill and will always try and help out in any way they can. A favourite way is to devise an instalment payment plan allowing the individual to settle the tax liability over a number of months. Whilst there will be a small charge for this, it is seldom as massive as the interest that accrues when there is no payment plan in place. Having a payment plan in place also keeps the tax man off the individual’s back and stops nasty reminder letters dropping through the letter box with regards to the overdue tax.
Debt often brings about a lot of emotion and the financial burden affects many people, nearly to breaking point. Payment plans for all types of debt are often seen as a way of lightning the load since they offer a clearly defined, and often more importantly, concurred course of achievable action. Because of this it makes sense to get a payment plan in place to settle a tax liability if the funds are not acquirable at the due date.
Many individuals who do not have the funds to settle their tax liability change to file their self assessment tax return. This is a huge mistake as missing a filing deadline automatically incurs a £100 penalty, regardless of the amount of tax to pay. Incurring these automatic penalties does not make sense since they are an additional cost that has to be paid. An individual might appeal against a late filing penalty but the chances of getting it revoked are often very slim.
So, if the 31 Jan tax payment deadline arrives and you do not have the funds acquirable to settle your tax bill. Don’t ignore it. Call your local tax office and get an concurred payment plan in place. If you show you are genuinely willing to rectify the situation and settle your tax bill HM Revenue & Customs will be willing to help you out, which might well save you a lot in interest, charges and penalties.
More Tax Course Articles
A Strategic Marketing Plan? Can’t we just throw money at it?
Article by Tom Cartwright
Without a doubt, you have heard or read about the importance of creating a marketing plan. Each business plans to succeed. Those with a realistic marketing plan and realistic goals are those that will have a much superior chance of success.
Experience shows that a great many companies don’t invest the time and money to create a strategic marketing plan. The typical plan is to throw their budget, if they have taken the time to determine one, at multiple media outlets in the hope that something works. Quite often the message varies with apiece outlet – advertising / website / search optimization / social – as there is a demand of consistent message.
Without a plan, there is no clear or easy way to assess your success or failure. If a particular program happens to work, why did it work? If not, what have you learned and what will you do differently? Did you reach the right audience? Without clear objectives and a strategic plan to reach them, any results you achieve are accidental and relatively unpredictable.
The investment you make in strategic market planning is one that will pay dividends with apiece marketing initiative. It helps you to spend your marketing and advertising dollars wisely. Otherwise, it can be like the old adage – throw it at the surround and see what sticks. A plan provides the capability to check your progress against milestones you have set for yourself and your company.
Defining your saint customers and what you have to offer them is easier stated than done. It takes time and the willingness to ask (and answer) tough questions about your business – your market advantages and disadvantages. The substitute ‘spend first, ask questions later’ is a short-term solution with long-term consequences.
There are prepackaged software programs offering easy steps to achievement you through the process of creating a strategic marketing plan. Some online services are free, and perhaps that is good enough for your business. Typically, they start short when you reach a point where your experience and expertise just haven’t prepared you for the myriad of decisions acquirable in today’s world wide web age. Knowing how to present your one-of-a-kind market advantages, and accommodate them to apiece specific media, is outside of most business professionals experience.
Creating a strategic marketing plan with a professional firm will wage an outside appearance and challenge some potentially limiting beliefs. Today, market conditions and the economy are changing at an accelerating pace. Being prepared in advance for these changes will enable you to more easily adapt when needed. But, if you don’t know where you are going, any path will take you there. Trite, but true.
Creating and following a logical plan can be the difference between success and failure. Marketing is a pillar of any business’s long-term success and an integral part of a comprehensive business plan. Ask your banker whether they will wage capital without documented planning. Investing your time and effort in the strategic marketing plan of your business will help you realize the success you envision. Anything less is uncertain and unpredictable.
About the Author
Media Synthesis is a creative design firm offering a full spectrum of strategic marketing and planning services. We help you refer your saint client, and build a realistic, marketing plan to attract them. We also help you create marketing materials so you can sell yourself effectively.
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I Can’t Afford to Pay my Taxes, What Happens Now?

Each year, on April 15, millions of Americans file their tax returns to the IRS. Some of them meet their liabilities and pay their debt to the government. However, mostly as a result of the current economic downturn, many of them change to pay their taxes and grappling the harsh consequences of the tax legislation.
Fortunately enough, the IRS is willing to work with those who are financially incapable of meeting their obligations, except for several extreme cases. Of course, like any bill collector, the IRS wants their money, but they feel like working out a suitable payment arrangement rather than going after your assets provided you inform them about your case as soon as possible. So, the first thing you need to do when you realize you can't pay your taxes on due date is contacting the IRS and speak to them. By explaining your situation to them as soon as possible, you are more likely to be offered the ideal solution to your problem.
In particular:
a) Installment Payment Plan
Normally, after reviewing your case, the IRS offers you the option to make monthly payments on monthly due date. This is known as Installment Payment Plan that can help you pay off your total debt in smaller, more manageable amounts over a period of three years. You select the monthly payment amount provided you can meet your obligation apiece month. You can always pay more than this amount, but you should at least pay that predetermined minimum. You also select when it is convenient for you to make the payments provided it will be any fixed day between the 1st and 28th day of apiece month.
For participating in an Installment Payment Plan you need to submit Form 9465 “Installment Agreement Request” and move almost 30 days until the IRS approves your request. The typical criteria are that your total tax does not exceed ,000 and the monthly installments will pay your tax debt in full within 3 years. Keep in mind that the IRS charges a set up fee for the payment plan that ranges from to 5 depending on the situation. Fee discounts are also acquirable if you concur to have installments directly withdrawn from your bank statement or if you are a low-income taxpayer. If you are approved, installments can be prefabricated by credit card, check, money order or automatic withdrawal from your bank account.
Even though an Installment Payment Plan is a good option for making payments on the tax you owe, the ideal you can do is make a full payment of your debt the soonest doable to minimize the interest charges and the penalties charged for any delay. Of course, if you can't do that, an installment agreement sounds like a really reasonable payment option for resolving your tax debt as soon as possible.
b) Offer in Compromise (OIC)
The Offer in Compromise (OIC) is a settlement for a lump-sum payment of a lesser amount than the total amount of taxes owed. Although OIC is a feasible option, in most of the cases the IRS does not approve, unless the amount offered by the taxpayer is reasonable by the IRS standards. The IRS computes the taxpayer’s reasonable collection potential (RCP) which the taxpayer’s capability to pay based on the value of certain assets such as real property, vehicles, bank accounts, and estimated future income minus basic living expenses. If the amount offered by the taxpayer when negotiating an OIC is not equal or greater than the RCP, the IRS declines the Offer in Compromise.
To request an Offer in Compromise, you need to submit Form 656 “Offer in Compromise” and Form 656-A “Income Certification for Offer in Compromise Application Fee and Payment”. There is also an application fee of 0.
Overall, if you find yourself in a situation that you have a huge debt to the government, do not settle for massive amounts that are beyond your financial capacity. It is superior to make small, regular payments, than miss making massive payments. The IRS means well up to a certain extent, but don’t forget but they are out to collect unpaid taxes. If this means filing a tax lien against you and take over your assets, have no doubt that they will if they have to.
Even Qualified Buyers Can’t Get a Home Loan – Owner Finance!

You and your spouse hold steady jobs and you have both had those jobs for over two years. You don’t have a home to sell to move into a new house, you have perfect credit and a down payment to boot! So nothing should be holding you back on buying your dream home should it? Real estate broker’s hands are tied in today’s market. They are struggling to get even the “textbook” buyer a home loan.
Today’s one-of-a-kind real estate market situation calls for a one-of-a-kind solution. A solution that protects both the buyer and the seller. The seller gets the full asking price for the property. In exchange, the seller retains the mortgage for a period of time. The buyer assumes the payments (mortgage, taxes and insurance) when moving into the property. Further, the buyer assumes maintenance of the property. Both the buyer and the seller become part of a holding company, called the trust. This becomes a business arrangement, which requires the buyer to perform fully and properly. At the conclusion of a specified time, the buyer then obtains a conventional mortgage on the property they have been living in during the specified time, at the price agreed-upon, when the trust was created.
This provides the buyer a “track record” towards limiting for a mortgage. The seller knows they are getting their asking price, and is relieved of the burden of the expenses associated with property, now.
There are other advantages to both the buyer and the seller for utilizing this time-limited trust arrangement. The key point for the buyer and seller is they can move NOW, and apiece party’s interests are protected. While the trust does have finite time duration, it does wage some “breathing room” and certainty to both partners in these difficult times.
To learn more about Owner Financing and the many benefits it has to both buyers and sellers in today’s real estate market, please visit our blog at:
http://www. AustinOwnerFinancedHomes. com
http://www. GreatHomesTexas. com