Tax Tip of the Week | No. 470 | The Offer In Compromise - IRS Debt Relief For Those Who Are Eligible

Tax Tip of the Week | July 25, 2018 | No. 470 | The Offer In Compromise - IRS Debt Relief For Those Who Are Eligible

Do you owe a huge tax bill to the IRS? If you meet certain conditions, you might be eligible to file for an Offer in Compromise (OIC), and if successful, to eliminate thousands of dollars in tax, penalties and interest – permanently! An OIC is not a payment plan, although there will undoubtedly be some payments involved. Some OIC’s will require payments for 24 months, others for 5 or 6 months, and some will require only one or two payments, depending on the “offered” terms, and / or the “accepted” terms.There is a multitude of paperwork involved in applying for an OIC. Forms that will have to be submitted will include Collection Information Statements and the Offer in Compromise packet itself. These are not easy forms to fill out. They require information on all of your assets, liabilities, and income and expenses. You will also have to provide at least three months of bank statements, any mortgage statements, pay stubs and other personal information. If you want to see if you qualify for an OIC before filling out all of the paperwork, you can go to IRS.gov and use the Offer in Compromise Pre-Qualifier tool.An OIC is an agreement between the taxpayer and the IRS that settles a tax debt for less than the full amount owed. It can provide the taxpayer with a fresh start for tax purposes. In order to get an offer accepted, the offer must be appropriate based on what the IRS considers your true ability to pay, but there are conditions. For example, you must have filed all tax returns legally required to be filed. You must also be receiving notices from the IRS for your tax debts. And you cannot be in an open bankruptcy proceeding. Generally, the IRS will not accept an offer if they believe you can pay your tax debt in full, either currently with cash or equity in assets, or through an installment agreement.The IRS will look at your situation extensively before accepting your OIC. They will only agree to proceed if they believe one of the following situations exists: there is Doubt as to Collectibility, Doubt as to Liability, or it will help with Effective Tax Administration. Doubt as to Collectibility is the reason used most often.In the application for an Offer in Compromise, you have to name the terms of the offer you are submitting, and 24 months is the default time span for payments. For example, you might offer to pay $100 per month for 24 months on a $50,000 debt, thereby saving over $47,000. And there is generally an application fee of $186. So there will be a payment due with the submission of the OIC of the application fee plus the first payment as offered in your application. Both of these payments can be waived if you meet the Low-Income Certification.As you might suspect, submitting an Offer in Compromise can be a very long and drawn out process. After submission of the application and any payments due, it might take a few months for the IRS to get back with you. And undoubtedly, they will want more information. However, the end result can be very rewarding if the offer is accepted. Rules continue to apply though, even after acceptance. You must stay current on your tax returns and any taxes due after acceptance, and any refunds on returns filed while the offer is being considered or while it runs its course are applied toward your tax debt, and are not considered payments toward your offer. Other rules might also apply and remember, this is a negotiation, so you should probably have a professional on your side.Thank you for all of your questions, comments and suggestions for future topics. As always, they are much appreciated. We may be reached in Dayton at 937-436-3133 and in Xenia at 937-372-3504. Or visit our website.This week's author – Norman S. Hicks, CPA--until next week.