Taxation & Estate Planning

Why does the IRS ask on Form 433A if you have lived out of the country six months in last 10 years?

By howardlevy

It is always important to understand what the IRS is asking, and why.

Resolution of most collection cases involves providing answers to IRS questions about you.  The questions are asked on an IRS financial statement, known as Form 433A.    

One question the IRS asks:  Have you lived out of the country for more than six months in the last 10 years?

Why does the IRS want to know that as part of its efforts to collect taxes?

Because it extends the statute of limitations on collection under Internal Revenue Code 6503(c).  The IRS has 10 years to collect - any continuous absence of six months or more suspends the collection timeframe. Internal Revenue Manual 5.1.19.3.7 summarizes the interest in this question: “The application of this paragraph can result in the CSED (collection statute expiration date) being suspended for a very long time.”

This is information that the IRS ordinarily would not know, so it is asked as part of the financial investigation into case resolution.       

Simple questions, big ramifications.  A “yes” answer may be called for, but it always helps to know how the other side thinks. 

Full post as published by IRS and the Law on June 07, 2009 (boomark / email).