Continuing on with the rights that all taxpayer's in the US have, we now get to the area of payment. The IRS states in the Tax Payers Bill of Rights that all taxpayers have the Right to Pay No More than the Correct Amount of Tax which means that taxpayers only need pay the amount of tax legally due, including all legal interest and penalties, and to have the IRS apply all payments properly.
Most people don't agree with the amount of tax they owe or how much they need to pay, but those tax due amounts are determined by applying the somewhat convoluted US Tax Code. It's not an easy system to understand or administer. There are constant challenges and questions being asked of the IRS to explain why a certain amount is owed or to help determine what might be owed. One thing that must be remembered is that the IRS is there to administer the Tax Code, not write it. The Tax Code is written via legislation that is discussed, argued about, fought over, and ultimately passed by the US Congress and signed into law by the President of the United States.
No matter how much you owe, you have the right to only pay what is legally owed. But the request for payment doesn't end with a one-time statement from the IRS. My next post will be about the Right to challenge the IRS's position on tax owed, what the law says, and to the right to have your challenge heard.