If you owe the United States Government back taxes, don't worry about how they will collect on the debts. The first step is when their computer automatically sends you a letter. After that, they may actually pay you a visit. A revenue officer from the IRS may leave a card on your door or they may attempt to call you, even at your work (it can get messy). After that, they may attempt to put liens on your possessions or garnish your wages. They could even seize your assets, including your home!

Time Frame

Do keep in mind that any or all of these actions take some time to accomplish. You don't get kicked out of your house on April 16th when you first have debt from back taxes. There will be plenty of notice before actions are taken against you.

By the time that anything actually happens, you should have already hired an attorney to back you up. Make sure that you hire a lawyer who is well versed in the ways of the IRS. These are usually attorneys who specialize in help people who owe money to the IRS.

The best thing to do is make sure that you don't get to this point at all! Usually, people get in trouble with back taxes only after they have been inundated with personal debt. Keep up on your bills and you may not even have to worry about owing back taxes. There are a variety of methods that you can use in order to reduce your debts or even become debt free.

If you owe back taxes to the IRS then you are probably beyond the point where traditional debt consolidation will help. The idea is to reduce your debts before you start to own money to the government.

This can be accomplished with a debt management plan or by getting help from a debt consolidation loan or by using one of the many debt settlement companies out there.

If you are past that point and you do have back taxes then the best action that you can take is to hire an attorney. If you are not quite at that point yet then you might want to use one of the methods below.

A debt consolidation loan may be a good option for people who have not quite reached the bottom of the barrel yet. These are people who typically still have a decent credit rating but are drowning in debt.

If you have been in heavy debt for a prolonged period of time then it may be difficult to qualify for a debt consolidation loan. In this case, you may want to look into a debt settlement service.

Debt settlement is also referred to as debt negotiation. These companies will negotiate your debts with your creditors on your behalf. They can often cut down the amount of money that you owe by 50% or more. They may be able to negotiate a lower interest rate or make it possible for you to pay one lump sum payment per month, for all of your debts. In the end, what really matters is that you are able to actually afford your debt.

You could also attempt to negotiate your debts on your own. This would require you to make contact with your creditors and to let them know that you are having trouble making your monthly payments. You could tell them that you are seriously considering bankruptcy. They might be willing to lower your monthly payments so that they would get something rather than nothing.

If you were to file bankruptcy, they would most likely get nothing from you. Many creditors will jump at the chance to get some amount of money from you rather than taking their chances in a bankruptcy situation.

One of the best places to start in the debt reduction process is to try debt counseling. A good debt counselor will be able to look at your debts and make a plan for you, based on your particular financial situation. Then they can direct you to either a debt consolidation loan specialist or a debt settlement company that can give you the help that you need.