When You Owe
It is real, it is called an offer in compromise, and it is also the most oversold program in the tax world. Here is who actually qualifies and how it works.
The short version. You can settle a tax debt for less than the full amount through an offer in compromise. The IRS accepts one when the amount you offer is the most it can expect to collect within a reasonable time, based on your income, expenses, and assets. It is a real program, but most people who see the pennies on the dollar ads do not qualify, and the math is strict.
The IRS looks at your reasonable collection potential: the equity in your assets plus what it expects you can pay from future income. If that total is less than what you owe, an offer can work. You also have to be current on filing and on this year's payments. The offer amount is largely a formula, not a negotiation.
Offers work best for people whose assets and income genuinely cannot cover the debt within the collection period. Someone with steady income and equity in a home usually will not qualify for a deep discount. That is the reality the settlement ads leave out.
Each is something you request and the IRS reviews. None is guaranteed.
An offer is real but narrow. Send your case in for a free review and we will tell you whether the numbers actually work for you.
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These are the controlling Internal Revenue Code sections and Internal Revenue Manual parts. Links go to the live IRS.gov pages so you can confirm every point yourself.
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Send the short version of what you owe, your income, and your assets, and we will tell you whether an offer realistically works for you.
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