You see ads on TV about the IRS accepting “pennies on the dollar” to clear a backlog of tax debts. It seems an easy answer to a big problem. But, “too good to be true, usually not true.”
Bad News on Offers-in-Compromise
IRS rejects 60% of compromise offers it gets, per the 2018 IRS Data Book. This makes sense. After all, why would an agency with more collection powers than Herod be willing to forgive debt? IRS agents certainly don’t win awards for giving away money!
Good News on Offers-in-Compromise
The IRS does accept 40% of the Offers-in-Compromise. These are offers that they decided were in the Government’s best interest to accept. Meaning, that they ran the numbers and decided this was the max they could expect to collect from the taxpayer.
So, how do you tilt the pinball machine to make it more likely to be in the 40% accepted? It starts with running your numbers on potential future earnings with the same formula that the IRS uses. This is called the “Reasonable Collection Potential” formula which calculates your disposable income on a monthly basis. Whatever this amount is times the number of months left before the Statute of Limitations nulls the debt is where the IRS is going to start. To make it into the acceptance column, you must make it a better deal than just sticking with the status quo.
If you or someone you know has received a Notice of Intent to Levy or some other federal or state tax issue, please feel free to contact me at either (352) 317-5692 or email jim@taxrepgainesville.com
