IRS Tax Lien
Once an IRS tax lien is filed in a state or commonwealth court of common pleas, the lien remains in the court document for ten years, unless the lien is satisfied or a payment schedule is reached with the IRS before the expiration date.
Last year, General Electric had a net profit of around $12 billion dollars and thanks to the company’s battery of tax lawyers and certified public accountants, the huge conglomerate did not pay any income tax. Despite this huge amount of net income and no tax obligation, G.E. was able to take advantage of tax-loss-carry-forwards and in effect was able to write off it’s future potential income tax obligations without paying the Internal Revenue Service any income tax. G.E. is not alone in receiving favorable income tax treatment and thus avoiding an IRS lien. Many other major international corporations, such as Exxon, Chevron and a few other companies, avoid paying income taxes and despite earning huge profits often receive tax returns from the IRS in the $100 million or more range.
On the other hand, there are many ordinary Americans, including some on social security disability, that have IRS liens filed against them for outstanding tax obligations. Some of these unfortunate people may have won a personal injury lawsuit for injuries sustained in a car accident and invested or traded stocks and had a capital gains tax obligation. To pay this tax obligation, the IRS will freeze and drain bank accounts and sell personal and private assets to satisfy these unpaid liens.