Offers in Compromise

            The IRS is authorized by federal law to accept an offer from you to satisfy your tax debt (including penalties and interest), however, you must be qualified to make an offer and the IRS must determine that acceptance of your offer is in the best interest of the government.  Arthur Weiss has developed software which will determine quickly and accurately whether an offer in compromise is right for you. 

            You should be aware that an offer in compromise is more than a phone call or filling in a single form and mailing it to the IRS.  The offer will consist of dozens of documents and must be well organized.  To give you some idea, we use a 1.5” three ring binder to organize each offer.

            The IRS response to an offer will likely take several months, so be prepared to wait.  Unfortunately penalties and interest will accrue during this time so it is very important that you do not submit an offer unless you have confidence that the IRS will accept it.

            If you are interested in exploring whether an offer in compromise will work for you, please call today to make an appointment.    Together we will evaluate your situation, the character of the tax debt, your financial position and determine whether an offer is right for you.  This appointment takes about 1-2 hours and costs $250.00.  The professional fees for compiling and sending an offer vary depending upon the complexity, but will range from $1,500 to $2,500.

            Cost of making an offer:  The IRS has a filing fee of $150.00 for each offer.  This can be eliminated when the taxpayer falls below certain income guidelines.  In addition to the filing fee you will have to send another check to the IRS for 20% of your lump sum offer.  If your offer will be paid in monthly payments you will need to make the first payment with your offer and keep making the monthly payments throughout the time the IRS is considering your offer.  For example, if you offer $20,000 to be paid at one time, you will have to send a check for $4,000 with the offer.  If you offer $20,000 to be paid over 20 months you will have to send a check for $1,000 with the offer and $1,000 each month while the IRS considers the offer.