Last comment and I am out of this portion of the discussion . . .
That’s just silly. Late is still paid. I prepare between 150 and 250 tax returns every year for the last 10 years. I spend hours on the phone with the IRS every year. I don’t give advice like this lightly. If you have entered into a payment plan and are up to date with your payments you are paying your taxes.
Not everybody who enters a payment plan has done anything at all wrong. You seem to think that payment plans are for those who tried to avoid paying taxes and got caught. That is FAR from accurate. I could give you a dozen examples of other situations but not here.
Seems the government standard calls it a tax delinquency and similar to unpaid credit card debt. For me, I will advise based on overall credit health. If they are at least fair, and are in active repayment plans, no other factors…I will submit. But clearly the guidelines views payment plans negatively.
Just to be clear to everyone…i submitted my SF86 and they said having a payment plan is not what they are looking for. They are looking for the people who don’t pay their taxes.
On the contrary…reading the whole paragraph clearly states a payment plan is a good thing in that it EXCUSES a failure to pay taxes, and meets the obligations (I understand where folks got a bill and started paying; separate train of thought) But read the last sentence closely…
In this respect, tax delinquency may be treated like any other financial problems, such as an unpaid credit-card bill.”
It is treated like any other financial problem…their words. OP made clear the difference is for one who refuses to pay taxes or knowingly isn’t paying vice simply not having enough withholding and making payments.
You are clearly not reading the whole paragraph. Yes a payment plan is good, even more so if you filed, found out you owed 4K and started payments, all on time. But if you did not file and had to establish a payment plan…different animal and their words are cleared “in this respect…tax delinquency MAY BE TREATED LIKE ANY OTHER FINANCIAL PROBLEMS SUCH AS UNPAID CREDIT CARD DEBT.”
I don’t agree. It clearly says that regardless as long as you setup a payment plan, then that is looked at positively. If at the time of adjudication you are behind then it’s a negative aka no payment plan. It doesn’t say how long only that you are absolutely behind. Payment plan at any time to resolve delinquency is good. No payment or payment plan is bad.
It is still treated like any other financial problem. Their words. in the quote. Yes being in a repayment plan is a positive. But in this respect it is treated like any other financial problem.
Yes if you are still delinquent then it is a problem. If it is delinquent then you go on payment plan to fix it then you are good. It’s really not that difficult
I understand the IRS portion. I’m speaking to the literal words above (backed by my experiences these past 8 years on this compound) …“treated as any other financial problem.” Yes showing payments faithfully made is a mitigation, but circumstances leading to it are scrutinized.Even a bill where payments are caught up can and are regularly called into question by my client’s clearance office. Admittedly, mine has a larger roll in determining who and what meets their standard. But I can tell you making catch up payments (different from simply establishing a payment plan due to not withholding enough. This normally involves call back interviews and reviews of documentation. Even with a fully recovered credit score of 800. For my client, they clearly use the literal words of the adjudicative standards. This is above and beyond what the BI may reveal.
So I realize this is an old topic but I have run into the same issue sort of. I work as a contractor and by mistake last year I made a mistake on my W4 so not enough taxes were withheld from one of my employers. So long story short I am owing alot more then normal unfortunately. Luckily I have had a good chunk of what I owe sitting in a savings account and am able to pay off a good majority of it before the April 18th deadline however I will still have a small portion left after to pay. I have reached out to the IRS and established an payment plan online as well. I spoke to my security office to report the issue and the payment plan and submitted a self-report which I guess is passed onto the client. Given all the effort I am putting into this to show that I am wanting to resolve the issue do you all see any risks this could possibly pose to my clearance? Before anyone asks this is not a common issue for me so no repeat issues or behavior. My concern is how the government will view this as being unfavorable or put my job at risk. Thanks in advanced!!
Sounds like you have done all the right things and there shouldn’t be a problem. One suggestion, try to get documentation of all this stuff (if you have not already) so you have it in case somebody asks for it.
Thanks! Just curious but do you know by any chance if your allowed to make payments towards your taxes owed prior to getting a bill knowing that you already owe?
I am pretty sure the IRS will always take early payments. You need to ensure you supply whatever documentation needed (voucher) with the payment so the monies go to the right “pot”.
I paid directly from my online account so hopefully that should solve that possibility of it going into the wrong pot. I also have kept any all receipts and confirmation emails to verify if needed. I thank you for your response.