If you’re going on a vacation outside the United States you might want to read this post.
Recently Congress tacked on a provision to the Internal Revenue Code that allows the US State Department to revoke or deny a passport to leave the country for anyone having a serious delinquent tax debt!
Yes you got it right. That means you can be at the airport with your passport in hand and your sunscreen and sandals in your luggage when you’re given some awfully bad news.
Sorry to tell you this ma’am but your passport has been revoked.
Yikes.
What could even be worse is if they catch it on your return HOME into the good old USA.
Imagine you are stopped at customs and told you cannot enter the United States because your passport has been revoked. Think about that for a second.
Can you see how that would mess up in a very serious way your day and life?
Now the good news is the IRS defines a serious delinquent tax problem as one involving over $50,000.
But this illustrates how EASY it is for the government to take your US passport.
It gets worse if you are not a US citizen to begin with.
In that situation your chances of getting back into the US are slim and her close cousin none.
Remember John Ono Lennon from the Beatles who tried to get back into America after a minor drug conviction?
The above information came from an article in the Pennsylvania Lawyer that I read yesterday.
How can a judgment in a civil accident case be used against you?
Suppose you are in an auto accident that was your fault and are sued by the other side for catastrophic injuries. A jury awards the victim $100,000 against you. Folks don’t have that type of money to pay out-of-pocket. At that point, there is a judgment rendered against you that is on record at the local Courthouse.
That judgment can affect your ability to renew your driver’s license for example. So suppose you decide to drive anyway even with an expired license.
Can you imagine the stress that driving around without a valid license would cause you?
Constantly worrying that you’re going to be pulled over by the police?
All of this illustrates how easy it is for anyone, myself included, to get in trouble with the government over a money problem. Probably the best advice I can give is to contact an attorney who deals with these kind of issues if you have any questions about it.
You can call Pittsburgh passport civil judgment and auto accident attorney Bernie Tully and I will provide you the name of an attorney that I feel is able to help you. That’s part of the service we provide.
That’s a benefit you get from reading these posts.
Did I mention the referral is free? lol
Thanks for reading. Your friend attorney Bernie Tully.